I have been asked to build a flyrod for a relative, and the request included an acrylic (Clear) reel seat insert. I have milled acrylic before, so that is not a concern, but what does concern me, is how brittle the material can be and its susceptability to chipping and or cracking. I have ruled out a mortise style insert due to the fragilness of the mortise edges chipping out, so I will go full round. Has anyone had any long term experience with this material as a reel seat? Are my concerns with chipping and or cracking valid? Just want some input since I have not used this material as an insert before, and may look for alternatives.

Thanks, Paul

I've only made a couple SO FAR and I have fished one of them. What I did was make the reel seat insert long enough to be the arbor for itself, meaning: the insert and arbors are all one piece acrylic. Worked GREAT and I suspect it will be there when I'm gone.

DR

Have you thought about polycarbonate (lexan) instead of acrylic? It's some very tough stuff which can be had in clear rod, is machinable, and will polish up crystal clear.

I'll do the stupid thing first, then you shy people can follow. -FZ-

At my shop we used to machine quite a bit of acrylic. Our trick was to aneal it before machining. It could be done in your oven at home (assuming the wife is out shoping). Would have to reasearch the temperatures again but they wern't that high. Simply bring it up to temp, let it set for a while and then let it cool slowly. Makes the acrylic much eaiser to work with (If you horse it you can still make it shatter and/or crack).

Jim

I just finished another: [www.rodbuilding.org]

i second the lexan...i use it on my drag car and most everyone else that has a fast drag car uses it as windows you can beat on it with a hammer no prob