Rod Question

[Hairstacker]

Hi! I was wondering if one of you might have insight into the following: I just got an 8 1/2 foot 4-piece "Traditional" model 5 wt. rod in the mail from Cabelas today and I noticed that when you sight down the blank and twirl it with your fingertips, you notice a very SLIGHT turn in the blank at the last guide before the tip-top. So, the tip-top rotates in a small circle rather than in place. You have to actually sight down the blank to notice it. If it was bent side to side or something, I would immediately conclude it was a defect, except in this case, it very slightly bends EXACTLY away from the side the guides are on. So, I wasn't sure if the supplier engineered that in somehow. I don't recall seeing such a bend on any other rod and I compared it to several other rods I own. The net effect is that this last section of the 4 pieces is softer on the forward cast and ever so slightly stiffer on the back cast. So, at least they placed the guides in line with the spine but I had thought all sections of a 4-piece blank should be perfectly straight, regardless of the nature of the spine and regardless of the action the rod was intended to have. Frankly I'm a little confused and am trying to decide whether to return it and would appreciate your thoughts. I hope this isn't a stupid question. . . . :oops: Thanks!

[Darian]

Not sure that I understand what a "....turn...." is. :? Could it be a set in that section :?: :?: :?: Just guessing but if it's a set, maybe the rod was stored assembled for a lengthy period with something resting against that section causing the rod to take the set.... :( :(

If you feel this set affects the rods casting abilities, return it. If not, maybe it's just a cosmetic thing that you can get used to.... :?: :D :D

[PaulC]

Reading your post it sounds like one section has a curvature/bend to it.
That definitely would give a different cast backcast versus forward, depending on where the curvature is. Also, with a curvature like that in your rod tip, when you cast, it loads the rod in bending opposite to the curvature in the rod, the stress level is higher than normal. To keep it simple, the rod tip lifetime is reduced.
From an engineering standpoint, I can't see why that could be desireable and would view it as a defect and return it.
We have stress vs. number of cycle to failure curves for most materials. Higher stress...lower number of cycles to failure. One major reason why you don't want to overload your rod line wise is casting produces alot of cycles.
Heavily sticking large fish repeatedly will also cause high stress levels reducing the lifetime in the long run.
Odds are, for whatever reason their process control wasn't working right that day and the rod cured under a thermal or mechanical load, giving the curved "zero stress" state.
Hope that helps.
-Paul

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

A common practice is to put the guides on a blank so it appears they are in a natural bend downward.

Partly what you pay for in a high end rod or blank is getting a straight blank.

We send back any rod or blank that appears to not be straight.

Rather than putting the guides on the right place according to the 'spine' or power of blank some manufacturers will put them on the bend so they can sell crooked blanks.

Blanks that are not straight are usually sold as 'blems' or 'seconds' for ~$25.

[Hairstacker]

Thanks guys, I sincerely appreciate the comments! I posted this same question on the NCFFB shortly after I posted it here, but I now have all the answers I was looking for thanks to you guys. I will return it. Guess that's what I get for trying to go real cheap instead of coughing up the extra few bucks for a decent rod at Kiene's Fly Shop. Lesson learned.