I'm fairly new to rod building. I'm building a rod for my father. I ordered him a pacific bay woven graphite reel seat. Well this is the first seat I got that wasn't a one piece deal. This seat has four pieces. I have a few questions that I hope you can help me with. There is an insert for the reel seat, which I didn't account for, so my arbors don't fit. But I can fix that problem, if need be. My main question, do I have to assembly the components on the insert? Or can I assembly the components with the blank? I appreciate the help.

I love this site and if it wasn't for this site, I'd be wondering aimlessly around the rod building world.

I haven't seen that particular seat but I suspect you can do it either way. You may find it easier to mount the seat barrel to the blank and then mount the barrel and hoods to that, just for the sake of making hood alignment easier.

Make sure to carefully mock everything up and measure where things need to be if you do it this way.


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You don't have to use the insert, but it does help in keeping everything aligned to each other. Just gotta make the arbors a bit smaller. I find it easier to assemble everything on the blank, but there's nothing wrong with glueing it all together off the blank for mounting at a later time.

I have built 3 rods using these woven graphite reel seats this winter.I glued up all 4 pieces using Rodbond off the rod.What I did was to glue everything together,put it in a c-clamp,snugged it up a bit.Then I used a reel to make sure the hoods lined up alright.Removed the reel and tightened up the clamp some more and let dry overnight.
I used a flexcoat arbor by reaming it to fit the blank.Then I sanded it down so the glued up reel seat fit over it.Joel

This is what I wanted to do. Put the assembly together off the rod, let it dry then mount on the blank in a conventional manner. Can I just use my regular two part epoxy (I believe flex-coat) or is this 'Rodbond' a better glue for this purpose?

Matt,

I think there are pros and cons on using Epoxy as an adhesive. Some would say that epoxy is not an adhesive, that it is just a coating that sticks things together well, but does not bond two parts together. I don't know for sure. I use epoxy quite often to secure component reel seats together. Most like to use the rod bond because it is thicker and won't run. I prefer the epoxy and have never had a rod come back because the reel seat or anything else let go. I am sure that you will get other answers to your question, so hang in there and maybe this answer and others will help you decide the way to go.

Rick Case
RodsByRick

Use Rod Bond. Regular Flex Coat or any other finish is just that, a finish, not an adhesive.

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That is what I have to use currently. Should I still be using the rod bond?

Matt , if the rodbuilders glue is what your using ( I went to the link ) then your all set . I use a number of those seats and I do as Mick described , but the other methods work too . I just like to mix one batch of glue ........guess I'm lazy ? JD

Matt, as long as the bottles say Rod Building Epoxy Glue, you'll be fine. I used FC epoxy glue for a long time with no problems. Very good stuff. FC finish is also an epoxy, but it's not an adhesive, so if you just say the word "epoxy", many times people will not be sure of what you mean.

Last year I gave Rod Bond a try and won't go back. It's a paste so it is far less messy. It doesn't run or drip so you get a much nicer result with less cleanup and babysitting. I've never noticed that it is any stronger than the FC stuff, but it's a breeze to work with.

John, that is exactly why I like to do those seats all at once on the rod! One less step I have to deal with. Mixing epoxy isn't that hard, but I am that lazy too. I throw a reel in too like Joel does to make sure it's lined up right (after any wicks are cleaned).

Also Matt, what I like to do is to with the arbors is to fit the arbor that will be on the "static" hood about 1/3 to 1/2 into the sleeve, the rest to the hood. The static hood on these seats is the weakest spot so you want to make sure it's supported well.

I'm a little hesitant to put a reel in the seat , even if it's clamped , I get the funny feeling in my tummy that somthing is not going to turn out right ......... just me I think , I dont want the seat to separate when I tighten up the ring . Just my thoughts........ JD

Got Fish ?

One reason I glued it up off the rod was that I did up 4 of these reel seats at one time.Regular epoxy glue should work out just fine.These make for some sharp looking reel seats.Joel