I've decided to do one more build, hopefully, before my surgery and would like to do a spiral wrap.  I've read a little about it, mostly about performance and some technical information.  What I'm in need of is specifics on guide placement. It's my understanding that the spiral is done on the base of the rod before the area where it begins to flex. I am also aware that there are a few different ways to achieve the final, 180 degree guide placement. The rod I'm building is a 7'6" M/XF, so I'm thinking three guides to achieve it, 60-120-180 with a stripping guide at 0.  Is there a general rule for guide spacing.  I know I'll need to do a static test prior to wrapping, I'm just looking for a starting point.

Can anyone point me in the direction of a tutorial or link to a video that will guide me through the process?

This might help-

 

http://www.mudhole.com/site/files/MGG_Instructions.pdf

 

http://www.rodbuildingtutorials.com/Papers%20charts%20tables/degreewheel_wInstructions.pdf

 

http://clients.criticalimpact.com/newsletter/newslettercontentshow1.cfm?contentid=858&id=178#

Try Batsons site, I'm pretty sure there's spiral wrap set-up on there. Better yet just PM him. Brian.

I am sure Mike at DVT will chime in on this topic. I know the rod he built for me was spital wrapped and the first guide was NOT at 0 degrees but off a few degrees. He said his static test indicated the placement of the first guide.

I am sure Mike at DVT will chime in on this topic. I know the rod he built for me was spiral wrapped and the first guide was NOT at 0 degrees but off a few degrees. He said his static test indicated the placement of the first guide.

Like most things in rod building there's more than one way to skin a cat. You'll see several variations on spiral wrapping referred to as Simple, Roberts, Revolver to name a few. In a Simple spiral the guides are laid out as usual all on top, then the second out to the tip are all turned to 180* and a transition guide is added between the stripper and second guide (some are skipping this step and just letting the line rub a little. A non-issue on a bass rod). I use more of a Revolver method. Install the tip top at 180* and the stripper at 0. Mount the reel and run line through the stripper and tip. Put a running guide where the line hits 180* and 1-2 transition guides in between. place running guides as static testing indicates. The stripper may or may not end up at 0. It may need to t be at 10* or -10* depending on line lay which needs to be checked by casting and retrieving under load. There is no "right" or "wrong" either way hence the Custom part. Scott H will probably chime in to. Once you try a spiral wrapped rod you'll likely never go back.  

I've tried several different spiral wrap configurations.  Each seems to work as well as any other so my last rods were done with the "simple" wrap where you have one guide at 0 degrees then the next at 180 degrees, with no transition guides.  I like it just fine that way and although the line may occasionally touch side of the blank, it gives me the straightest line flow of any of the schemes and of course, it's the simplest scheme to wrap.  My least favorite was the Revolver that had the first stripper guide offset a little to the left at ?320? degrees to counteract any line stacking, which I found to be a non-issue on any bass rod.  I cannot detect any performance advantage to a spiral wrap except that it usually allows you to use one less guide near the end of the rod, which is a good thing for lightening up the tip weight. They also say it prevents torquing the rod tip over while fighting fish, which can happen on an "all guides up" rod under heavy strain.  But we aren't fishing for black marlin and I don't see that as a big issue for a bass rod either.

This is what I use to start with.  I then adjust under load.

 

 

 

ATC Gold/Black Nano         tip top                      rotated 180* from the reel seat

ATC Gold/Black Size 8         5" from tip               rotated 180*

                                  8          10-1/2                       rotated 180*

                                  8           16                             180

                                  8            22                             180

                                 10           28                              135

                                  10           36                              90

                                  10           46                              45

                                  12           59                              10

It also depends on the rod.. We have several "blueprints" on our main www.rainshadowrodblanks.com and www.guidespacing.com 

If you need anything specifically, we can write you a rod blueprint for rod! 

I normally do it with 3. I start with one at 30, leave the next guide out, then the next one at 160. I string it up with line and put it under load and move the middle guide around until it keeps the line the farthest off the blank. Then just continue spacing as normal.

The 30* stripper may make too sharp on angle when the level wind is on the far end. This may be mitigated if the stripper is pushed out a little further than usual.