I have a casting rod that has an exposed blank reel seat on it. The threads on the hood are stripped and the owner wants me to replace the reel seat. The easiest way would be to strip off the butt grip and put on a new seat, but I don't know how tight an exposed blank seat has to fit. Can I get it snug enough going from the bottom end up or do I need to replace it with a tradtional seat so I can use bushings?
DE

Dan,
I have never done what you need to do, but I wouldnt think you would be able to get a tight enough fit replacing the ecsm seat from the rear. Unfortnately I think you best bet for a good repair is to strip the guides and do it from the tip. Personally if i had a rod with an ECSM seat I wouldnt want to get it back with a TPS. The exposed seat feels alot different than the standard style. Obviously it will be more work for you having to strip all the guides, but you may want to give the customer the option and just tell him the amount it will cost to do it that way. If it is a good rod it is probably worth it to him to have it done right.

Scott Sheets

In order to get the proper fit you will have to come form the tip. You cannot get the proper fit coming from the butt section. The seat has to be as snug as possible where the balnk is exposed.

David Banaka

Hello,

Pretty new, but I just installed a couple on some casting rods I'm building, and they are sold in ID increments of .5 mm (I put on 11mm ID's) .5 mm is huge when it comes to these seats. I have a couple of 11.5mm seats I ordered because I wasn't sure about the caliper measurement, they ended up down by the butt cap. And I had to really put some pressure on the 11's to get 'em in the right spot coming down from the tip. No way they would go on from the bottom.

Mike,
You are right that .5 is a huge difference with this stuff, but you shouldnt really have to push a correctly sized seat into place. If you spend a little time reaming a small sized seat you can get a good snug fit without pressuring the blank too much.

Those reelseat are designed to fit the taper of the blank. I would not do it by going up from the butt end. I guess you could shim it withe thread that is not a NPC. I my self would Bite the bullet and come down threw the top. There is one other way if you are a experienced in replacing reel seats. In this one you mark where the exposed section is on the blank Now carefully cut off the old the old reel seat. Once the real seat is removed look where the exposed area is . You well need to cut the blank at 45% but do not cut across the exposed area. The 45% cut well keep the blank aligned, when reassembled. Now remove the butt cap . what you need to do is find a fiber glass plug that is about the same length as the reel seat this plug well hold the blank tegether, later when re-glued . The plug should fit snug. Glue the plug in from the back side first, (clean glue off the exposed end of the plug), let dry over night.) Next check the reel seat for fit you may have to put a small shim on the top half of the tip section of the blank. Now glue the reel seat on to the butt section also glue the top section in place. Do not skimp on glue make sure you have put lots of glue in the top section hole that receives the plug. Reassemble and clean up all the glue before it dries. To rod builders with more experience than I do please correct me if I am wrong
Good Wraps Bob

I would treat this as a repair and not a rebuild. You can replace a reel seat fairly easily by cutting the existing seat and blank in the middle. Insert a piece of blank inside the cut and oversleeve the outside. Install a traditional seat with a couple of arbors and glue up with Rod Bond. This will result in a strong repair without replacing cork and guides. If this guy wants a new rod build him one from scratch. This information is courtesy of the Jesse Buky repair center!! I have done about a dozen and it is quick and effecient. Get one of the new flocked Fujis with the silver ring and tell the guy it is an upgrade. With a good arbor system the new seat will be as almost as sensitive as the blank exposed.

Gon Fishn

Bill check with my suggestion and let me know what you think
Good Wraps Bob