hey guys im just wondering do you guys when putting on new eyes do you underbind the eye s,? as in do you run a seat of binding around the rod first then bind the eye on top ,ive done a little reading on the subject and its half and half as to what you want to do ,i myself do underbind as i think it protects the blank and stops it from rubbing weak spots ,,,what do you guys reckon ?

mate ive never done it, but from what i understand it depens on the what you want from the blank and the action?

underbinding may make it last longer but will affect the action/weight of it...

Yep Yep I allways underbind.

Factory built rods dont have any underbings but they are built to budget & thats the reason for no underbings on those rods.

If you remove a guide from one of thos factory rods wsp the graphite ones you'll see for yourself how the guide foot actually imprints into the blank sort of compress's into the blank.

Exept in the case of a single foot guide another reason why under bings are used is more a cosmetic thingy, under bindings allow the rod builder to add a pattern into the bindings.

When you're binding on the larger guides such as rollered guides you can break up the section between the feet with a few rotations of a different colour.

I never built a rod from scratch. (Pardon the pun)

I underbind all that I replace no matter what the rod is used for. If I am going to spend some time replacing a runner then I think that it should not scratch the surface that it is going to be sitting on.

I also remove the sharp edge on the feet using a very high wet and dry so that it is slightly rounded.

Good question Jason as Jumpy said an under will help protect a blank from damage due to excessive pressure e.g a game rod or heavy line class rod, beach rod....... I agree with the lad on alot of what he says but for me when building a light weight rod e.g 1-2kg I use single foot guides for a few reasons and I don't underbind them. Reasons are as follows. They don't restrict the action of the rod as much as two footed guides, they are lighter, they help prevent line slap when casting . I'm not sure if you are aware but you can get singles in a high or low frame configuration, in the case of singles I use high frame guides. Christos mentioned filing off sharps or burrs. This is a must when not underbinding or as The Jumping one said it will actually damage the rod and eventually the blank will snap. I go as far as using wet and dry paper to make sure the foot is smooth. I build alot of rods and do workshops for a mag. Any questions don't hesitate to send a PM. I am building two Sabre game rods at the moment with Aftco detachable butts and fully rollered with Big Game roller tips to accomodate wind on leaders. These rods in parts alone are in the $500 range. Glad I'm not buying them. Take care and keep up the good questions