Nice idea...

 

Glad it appeals to others. I think it'll be particularly useful aligning the tip ring, something my aging eyes find tricky.
I didn't want 15 ft of braid and a bead lying around ready to tangle so I've put mine on an old bobbin, one which traps the thread well.
I've knotted the loose end to prevent fraying then threaded it through the central hole, pulled the line through and wound it on.

Nice and neat until it's needed.

 

. I think it'll be particularly useful aligning the tip ring

Have I been doing the guides and tip in the 'wrong' order? I fix the tip first, sometimes aligning it with the spine if I think it's important. Then I whip the guides on, aligning each with the tip as I work down the rod towards the butt.

 

As someone who has failed to get guides alligned I think it's a great tip.

 

I also saw this and tried it out. I think it may work better for boat or heavy rods, when I tried it on a light fliy rod I found it difficult to not bend the blank slightly when pulling the line tight.

 

Nothing wrong with your method, Teme fisher, and I should probably do the same!

 

Thanks James.
I do like the method you describe though.

 

Makes sense but I feel I can align rod rings very accurately by eye. I make micro adjustments just before epoxy. I've not put a rod together and found a single eye was out, even a little bit (thankfully as it would really annoy me)

 

I put the tip on first and work up!
I did try the bean and nylon trick but still feel a single eye-glance along the length of the rod is better for me. What I still strive for is a better way of fixing guides before the thread goes on. I use 2 or 3 mm tape but once my greasy paws have been near it the tack dissappear! Me and hot glue just don't get on. Still to try dental floss.

 

A Quick Look down the length of the blank looking through the rings is all you need. They appear as a load of circles, one inside another. Very easy to see if ones slightly out of line

 

It may be all you need, fruinfisher, but my near-sight is not what it once was and pulling focus along a 12' 6" double-hander isn't straightforward anymore.

@RobMason: Rob, at a guess my taping strips are about 7 mm to 1 cm wide. That works well for me.

 

I use a yellow fly line that I got as a freebie years ago, it’s great for checking the alignment of the spacings 👍 ( after taping them in place)

 

Laser level ?

 

I bought a laser pen some years back but mounting it at the correct height confounded me.

 

I feel your pain James, my eye sight is quite poor too. Section by section is far easier to work with and it all comes together when they do, I'm pretty sure a company, possibly CRB, had a laser alignment tool that mounted on the reel seat, I'll have a search.

Just realised why I enjoy building short glass rods so much 😂

 

the guy who does my physio has one mounted in a simple wooden jig to paint a vertical line up the wall. But I’ve seen screwfix type building ones which I assume are pretty cheap. Just a question of making a jig I guess

 

I got as far as mounting the laser pen on an old reel foot but one needs to adjust the height for each rod to pinpoint the beam and I abandoned the idea at that stage.
Yes, Jason, I think it is CRB who make one, but I don't know whether they're any easier than the method above. Certainly more expensive.

Many years ago I was a theatre techy on a production of 'Peter Pan'. The LX department was all excited with their new toy, a laser! It was going to be used to represent Tinkerbell and had cost a fair bit of the budget.
When we came to the first Technical Rehearsal and Tinkerbell's 'entrance' the laser was pointed at the stage and switched on ..... And all one got was a red line emanating from the lighting box, travelling over the auditorium (and audiences' heads) and onto the scenery. Utterly unmagical, wrong and unacceptable.
The voice of a tired, peeved director was heard shouting, "Cut the laser. Get a bloody spotlight out."