Methods and Techniques

In the nearly 14 years that RodMaker has been publishing, over 100 authors have penned the most cutting edge and thought provoking articles ever put into a rod building publication. Occasionally, however, I get a letter or an email from someone wanting to know why an author advocates doing something that seems to contradict a method  that I’ve written about in the magazine or on the forum (www.rodbuilding.org).

One such instance happened a few years ago when I’d just published Don Morton’s Equal Angle guide spacing system. A confused reader called and asked me why I would publish such a thing just after publishing a different guide placement system of my own in one of the preceding issues. He demanded to know which one was the “correct” method!

L to R: Andy Renzetti, Buddy Owens and Don Morton trying Don's Equal Angle system outside the RodMaker shop in 2002.

The fact is, there are certain areas within the realm of custom rod building where there are absolutely right and absolutely wrong ways to do things. But beyond those absolutes, there are myriad other techniques and methods which are all very much correct yet different ways to achieve similar results.

RodMaker wouldn’t be much of a magazine, nor much of a help, if it only served to expose builders to how I personally do things. In fact, if that was its purpose, it wouldn’t still be around 14 years later and have the huge readership that it enjoys.

Therefore, outside of making sure that something isn’t patently incorrect or possibly dangerous, I’ve always been happy to publish the widest variety of techniques, methods and viewpoints possible.  And that’s a policy that I intend to continue for the life of RodMaker.

Tom Kirkman

………………..