I was wondering how i can take a reel seat off a fly rod and if I can reuse it.

You can certainly cut it off - spiral cut the metal hardware with a hacksaw or dremel tool with a cut-off wheel and pop it off. Be careful not to cut into the blank.

Now if you want to re-use the seat, things will be a bit tougher. Put the seat into a plastic bag and immerse it into boiling water for a few minutes. If you're lucky, you can pop it off that way. But if the people who glued it on did a very good job, this may not work.

...........

Tom
What's the use of the plastic bag in your last post?

Josh Markvan
www.markvanheirloom.com

Paul, if your still watching this post, I removed a reel seat without damage last night. First I tried Tom's method of submerging the seat / bottom grip area in high boiling water inside a ziplock bag. I kept it submerged for about 15 minutes to ensure that the heat penetrated the seat to the cement. I discovered that the boiling water wasn't enough to raise the heat enough to loosen the rod bond. I pulled like @#$%& and it didn't budge.

I might mention that this was a very meticulous reel seat mount, about the best possible, done by me a couple years and many fish ago with Rod Bond and fiber mesh arbors.

After the boiling water didn't work, I put the reel seat directly into the fire on my kitchen stove. (I'm sure a propane torch in my shop would have worked as well!! Though it might get it too hot...) It was a gold anodized aluminum REC RGML and the direct flame didn't affect the anodizing at all, not even a tarnish. I blazed it until the stabilized wood insert caught fire then I grabbed it with a towel and pulled like @#$%& again and it wrenched loose. Terrible blue smoke all through trhe kitchen. The Rod Bond was liquified by the heat.

That's the trick: if it's Rod Bond and it sets up properly with a good bond and well-prepared surfaces, you actually have to heat it to melting.

NO damage to the seat skeleton. And NO damage to the blank either. However, the grip will have to be trashed, actually shredded right off the blank.

Josh Markvan
www.markvanheirloom.com

Tom
My apologies for the bleeps in my last post. Gotta be more careful.

Josh Markvan
www.markvanheirloom.com

Thanks for the info ,I really appreciate it and the bleeps don't bother me any.