custom rod building

when it comes to guild placement is it matter when building ice rods or is there a general rule of thumb

Guide placement and the number of guides will affect the action of the rod. What I do is take braces rubber bands, wrap them around a forceps and roll them on the blank. After I get the guides where I think they should be I pull line through them and see how the blank reacts while putting a load on it. Than move the guides around until I like it. I like bigger guides for my ice rods to help with icing up. I start off with a #10 stripper guide and then go to a #5, #4, and the rest are #3 all the down. Some rod makers go to a #2 and then a #1 guide.

Rodwork wrote:

Guide placement and the number of guides will affect the action of the rod.

X2
There is a chart that works awesome. They are pricy, so it really only pays to spend the money if your building a lot. Basically, you bend the blank to “load it” against the chart, and all the guide placements are there to mark,

Otherwise, I just tape the guides in place, with a reel on it, Pass the line through and load the blank with enough weight to bend the rod. Then I start moving the guides as needed to get the right action

Randy Wieland wrote:

here is a chart that works awesome. They are pricy, so it really only pays to spend the money if your building a lot. Basically, you bend the blank to “load it” against the chart, and all the guide placements are there to mark,

This chart is more suited for open water rods. I don’t think it would work for ice fishing rods.

It works. Go tip backwards