William I'm not disputing the fact about glue line thickness. I have had flexcoat arbors break up in my hands, for that reason I always now pre-glue into the reel seat. It's not the arbor shape or design but what it is made of.

I understand. They sand sooo easy and are quick.
But has any one ever had one fall apart after being glued into a seat ?

The Flex Coat arbors are a urethane product. They will outlive any of us. If they break up in your hands, it's not because they're failing, but because of rough handling or similar, but not because they're in any way decomposing or such. Once they're on the rod and mounted with a seat over them, they cannot fail nor will they "break up."


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Thanks Tom
What do you think is best for Salt Water use ? Are they good there ?

SW, FW - does it really matter? Use what works for you, and stick with it. If you're not happy with the results, afraid of failure, etc - look around to find something else that works.

What are all the options we have for bushings?

Thread, cork, cardboard, fiberglass blank, graphite arbors, FC arbors, drywall tape, 1/64" masking tape spaced 7/128's apart, twine, cord, 15mm graphite tubing with an ECSM15 seat.

I miss anything?

Don't think so Billy
Think you spelled it all goad toooo

Good going Billy. Problem solved. Next?

OK for what ever it's worth I will add my two cents worth. I have been using The Flex Coat arbors since they came out, what 3/4 years ago and like them. That being said I have built several hundred rods using masking tape arbors under the reel seats. I have never had a reel seat failure as a result of the tape. Believe me when I tell you that this true. I went to the arbors because folks were making me paranoid about the tape.

Later,
Gerald Mc

I do not wrap rods for profit. I wrap for my own use and a few for friends. I have Doc's video. I have spoken to Leon Todd at Calstar as well as Martin at Yo's Custom Rods and they all use masking tape. This is the way I learned and I have never had a failure. I think that Billy and Doc stated it correctly. There are many options to use. Use the one where you have the most confidence but do it correctly.

Bill,

I'm lazy but I demand good materials and good work on my part. So, if I can find something that saves me time but does the job as good or better than what I might have been using previously, I'll go with it. As far as what is best really comes down to what you have. what you need to do and how much time you want to spend. For me, the Flex Coat arbors provide the lightest and strongest mount and I can install them start to finish in a matter of minutes, seconds really. You measure the blank OD at the seat location, chuck your matching pilot bit and bore the arbor. Takes maybe 5 or 6 seconds I'd guess. Check fit and then two or three quick passes with a reamer if need be. If you don't have pilot bits, then a regular bit in a lathe works equally well. Then just slide it on and be done with it. Slide the seat on and go. Or, mount the seat first and then bore. Makes no difference. Saltwater will not harm them.

I've made arbors out of all sorts of things and as has been pointed out here, there are a multitude of items that make good arbors that will hold up and last, even tape (most of the time). But the Flex Coat arbors are so inexpensive, so light, so long lasting and so quick to use that I just won't use anything else at this point. I don't have time to wind tape or string anymore and I find the drywall tape, good as it is, a bit too messy for my tastes and time. Everybody has their favorite, but these are my new favorite.

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I am curious as to why a reel seat needs to be fully supported at all. Why not an arbor on each end?

That would certainly work. Flex Coat supplies the arbors full length and because they're so light and so inexpensive, it's just not a big deal to install them full length. But if you wanted to cut them into sections (1 to 1.5 inches) and install one at each end, you could do so with perfectly good results.
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And I take it that there would be no need for any glue between the two arbors, only thin glue lines between the arbors and the blank & reel seat.

Right, any glue between the arbors would do nothing other than add a little weight and cost you a few pennies in extra epoxy.

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