I brought the sublect up here as it was getting kind of long.

I may be way off base, but is it necessary to support the entire length of a reel seat?? Wouldn't a Flex Coat arbor (love them) be just as effective, and even lighter) if 3 short pieces, one at each end and one in the middle were used (actually, why not just a 1" piece at each end?? I can't imagine enough pressure being put on a seat by a reel to cause any damage or failure) Denny Venutolo also had a good point! Does filling the void with epoxy serve any point other than adding weight since it's purpose is to adhere NOT support.

I would think that supporting the ends with Flex coat arbor and leaving the void between them empty would be more than enough I think that short pieces of Flex coat arbor properly bonded with Rod Bond to the blank and seat would be every bit as strong as completely filling up the space.

What do you think? Am I completely out in left field on this?

Mike

No, from what we've learned epoxy is meant to adhere our parts not to be used as solid bushings. It's heavy and there are much lighter materials that can be used as bushings. I guess there are some gap filling epoxies that can be used for that sort of thing like PC7 but that makes for some pretty heavy bushings.

The thing about the Flex Coat arbors is that they're so light and so inexpensive that taking time to cut them in half or thirds just isn't necessary. I use them full length just to make a quicker job of the whole process. And those who are saying that you can mount a seat with them in mere minutes aren't kidding. You really can.

Mike,
William is of the same mindset as I am. Using graphite arbors, I generally only use two. One at each end to support the stress points.... the reel seat hoods.

If graphite arbors came in 3" lengths, I wouldn't cut them down. The weight difference between the two is negligible.

But with the FC ones, it's a matter of simplicity. If I can get more strength with less work out of a 3" FC arbor over two 3/4" or so graphite arbors, with weight that is lost in serious noise, I go with what is easy. I honestly love how easily the FC arbors are to work.

You can cut them down, as I have done myself, but if you can find me a guy who can tell me which rod has two 1/2" arbors over one that has a solid 3" arbors in terms of perfomance, I'll marry him.. or her, for you lady rodbuiders....

With the FC arbors you get a full length support with next to no weight increase, and a LOT less work for the same support if you are using graphite.

Ok - I've checked a several sites to the left with no success and would like to support the sponsors. Where are you all getting the FlexCoat arbors as you have convinced me to "modernize" .. I moved from carboard to cork (to an early graphite arbor product) to masking tape to drywall tape .. time to move on again it seems.

I'm still thinking seriously about changing from the brick foam (graphite) arbors; have QUITE an inventory of them, though, so it won't be anytime soon...
I sure don't see any disadvantage to switching unless it's price??? I haven't checked on that, yet.

Putter

How hard would it be to cut the FC arbors into smaller pieces? Doesn't sound like it would take much.

I second Ken's question.Who sells these things?I searched the sponsors with no luck.

Mudhole has them, and Custom Tackle has them.

I get mine from Bingham Ent.

DG

The article showed how to cut them into shorter lengths, if you want. You can use a fine toothed saw and it's quite probable that a razor blade will cut them as well, although it might take a tad more work.

Roger Seiders will at the National Rod Builders' Show and I'm sure he'll be happy to demo these arbors and the related pilot bits. But you'd better not blink or you'll miss it. It just doesn't take very long to size, bore and mount these things.

.........

Janns' has them under their own heading, under rodbuilding supplies. Mud hole , and Janns' were the only two I checked .....I must have gotten lucky. JD

I should mention that to get best results with them you need to buy or make the pilot bits. This means you will need to spend a few dollars on upfront tooling costs, but if you plan to build more than one or two rods, it's money well spent. You can usually find cheap woodworking spade bits at flea markets or places like Harbor Freight (these don't have to be high quality bits in order to work with the urethane foam). Flex Coat sells a package of the pilot tubes along with a jig that aligns everything. Those of you who are the enterprising sort will probably find that you can make these with pieces found at your local hardware store. And once you've made a set, they should last forever.

This system is also great for mounting butt caps, uni-butts, sleeves, etc. You can do a lot with it.

.....

I had not even thought about butt caps until you mentioned it Tom. I have put an awful lot of butt caps on with masking tape but for some reason I have not had a problem over the years with rods being returned with loose but caps. As I think about it that is strange.

I am going to give the FC arbors a try. I have not been completely satisfied with drywall tape mainly because it is a bit of a mess to use and requires a lot of epoxy if there is much distance between the reel and the blank. I wonder if there isn't another type of tape available that will hold up over time with exposure to moisture. There is Duck tape and there is also a glass impregnated tape that carpet layers use to stick the edges of two pieces of carpet together that is very tough and must hold up reasonably well when exposed to moisture but I think that the adhesive in it is heat activated. Anybody have any other good ideas?

Heavy cord makes a good shim or bushing but again, there is a limit to how much space you'd want to fill with it.

............

I was at Jann's Netcraft today.They don't handle flexcoat arbors yet.Also I tried the sites at Mudhole and Custom tackle supply.All I found was Pac Bay or Fuji arbors but no Flexcoat arbors.

I couldn't find them on any of the 3 sites, either.

Putter

I know that both Custom Tackle Supply and Bingham Enterprises have them as I've gotten them from both places.

...........

I didn't realize you were looking for Flex Coat specificly , my pardons, John

Unfortunately, many, if not most, vendors web sites are the last place to find out what they carry. Most rarely update their sites. One prominat (and very good, vendor still prominately displays and advertises an idea on their front page that they not only don't carry, but hasn't even been manufactured in quite awhile.
Your best bet is to give them a call or shoot them an e-mail! I think most carry them, they just don't tell you (A new product is a different story!!).

Personally, I refuse to make a long distance call to find out if someone carries something, just because they don't update their web site. If you are going to have an internet presence, you should be professional about it!! End of Soapbox!!

Mike

I just wanted to chime in on both the arbor and the tape issue. I always cut my arbors into inch pieces and I position them so they are equi-distant I from each other under the reel seat. So far so good. As far a using masking tape, I use it when the space is so small, that I can barely get 1 to 2 turns on the rod, the less the better. However, I noticed on Flex Coat's website that they promote 3M masking tape as a lifetime assembly tool. While I prefer arbors over tape, the oldest rod in my inventory is 10 years old, and it has not failed yet, so I will give tape it's due.
Patrick Vernacchio