I am a beginning rod builder. I just purchased a dan craft ft1008-4, with a .412 inch OD on the butt, what size ID reel seats will work with it. I am looking at the Pac bay channel lock.

Summary: how do you know what size reel seat to buy for a particular rod?

You don't need to fit it exactly...can always use masking tape arbors, fiberglass tape arbor soaked in epoxy, or a flex coat reel seat arbor between the reel seat and blank.

Scott Kinney
The Longest Cast Fly Rods
[www.thelongestcast.com]

Robert,
Take a look at the REC website (sponsor to left). You will be able to see a variety of reel seats, but more importantly you will be the ability to see the specifications of their seats, including inside diameter. Take note that some reel seats can be purchased with wood inserts available in more than one inside diameter.

Then look at the component sponsor sites and look for reel seats. Some may provide specifications for the seats they sell.

You will find that .420 I.D. is common, and is just a bit larger than the butt diameter on your FT. That won't be an exact match, but as Scott mentions above, three spaced out rings of 1/4" wide masking tape will allow you to center the butt in the reel seat nicely for epoxy bonding.

Hope this helps,
Jeff Shafer

Just make sure the reel seat has an inside diameter larger than .412. a great deal of seats come in 420. You can almost pick any seat you wish but as mentioned above, you must make bushings from masking tape, usually three, to make a snug fit when you slide the seat down to the end of the butt section. The two outside bushings are normally placed on the blank 1/4 in from the ends of the seat and the center in the middle of the two. I use rod bond and find it works really well for the job. Good luck!

The PacBay channel lock will work fine on that rod assuming it is the large, black aluminum one (I have one on my 8wt FT).

Scott Kinney
The Longest Cast Fly Rods
[www.thelongestcast.com]

If you are building a switch rod as R. B. Meiser has suggested for this blank, which I have done, you might prefer the Struble U-15. It has a trim ring that really adds a nice touch. If you are building a standard single handed rod, the Pac Bay channel lock is a good choice.

A nice way to go is to use some of the REC or Flexcoat ureathane arbors to fill the gaps. I was using masking tape to start off, but have really converted to using those arbors. As for specific reel seats, it depends on what you want. For a cheap, decent aluminum reel seat it's hard to be the Pac Bay A-8 or A-7. On a recommendation from Dan Craft, I went with the larger A-8, and I must admit, it balances the longer rod a bit better as the tip doesn't feel quite as heavy in the hand now.

I too used the U-15 on mine.