I attached a reel seat yesterday (a size 17 Fuji deluxe spinning seat) using rod bond. I was looking at my work this morning before I started wrapping guides and noticed the real seat was not centered and was affecting the look of the foregrip. I imagine the brick foam arbors i used were not bored perfectly centered? Since the rod bond has cured how can I fix this.

Thanks for any suggestions.

-Mike

Well, you can cut it off and start over. Sometimes boiling water will do the trick and if the RodBond has been on there for less than about 18 hours this might do it. But, that's the fix that takes the most work.

How bad is the off-center reel seat? Are we talking about something that is going to affect rod performance or the way the reel lines up with the butt guide? If we're only talking slight, you can hand shape the grip to more closely match the reel seat and thus it won't really be obvious to the naked eye.

I do understand how this can mess with your mind - you want to have confidence in your rod and something like this can really ruin your impression of your new rod. You'll just have to decide how much work you want to go to in order to get things to suit you.

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The seat wasnt so bad that it would affect the line flow from the reel too badly, if at all. However just knowing it is off drives me crazy. I cut off the foregrip to gain access to the seat. I have the seat mounted with the threads on the bottom (uplocking). I cut the arbors into 3 sections, a small one for the top and bottom and about a 1 inch section for the middle of the seat. I have begun digging the rod bond and arbor material out of the top with a small spatula. If im lucky it was the top arbor that was off and all others are ok. If my luck plays in, it will be the middle or bottom arbor that is off and I will be up the creek. If I decide to try and boil some water will that affect the rod material (Lamiglass XMG50/LC862) at all? Will it do the same thing at using to much heat from a flame, weakining the blank? I hopo I can dig this out and glue some shims in to center the seat.

Fingers crossed, and still open for advice/encouragement.

Thank you for the assistance.

-Mike

SInce you've gone that far, just cut off the entire $5 reel seat. How aure are you that the reel seat was not centered? I recently had this same issue with an NPS which I thought was offcentered, based on my foregrip. A quick way to see what is off is to spin the rod really fast (lathe helps) and look at the reel seat threads. IF you see it woblin, the seat is off. If not, more than likely it's teh foregrip which is not perfectly coencentric with teh ID hole - which often happens when installing foam grips.

By looking at the back of the seat there is a line that runs up the back and I could see the line running to the right and not centered with the blank. Thats how I assumed it was the seat. Im to the point now where I can get the blank to move with pressure and am pretty sure I can get some brick foam shims in to center it? I hope.... I dont have a spare seat or i would cut this off with a hand saw and order a new seat. And the rod is to be delivered on Friday for my father in law and his girlfriend. The girlfriends rod is done so id hate to deliver hers and not his.....

Thanks for all the suggestions,

-Mike

Heat, beyond a certain point, can and will ruin your rod blank. The thing about boiling water is that in most cases, you're only taking a couple hundred degrees which isn't enough to really harm most graphite rod blanks. An open flame or even a heat gun, however, can easily push up towards 300F, 400F and above and then you've got a problem.

Most of the factory supplied arbors are nearly perfectly center bored. Do you perhaps change this by reaming?



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I did have to ream the arbors. I tried my best to center them but since the factory hole is so small there was no way for me to put something around my drill bit to keep it centered as I pulled it through. I was able to get an arbor shim in and just about get it perfectly straight yesterday. I really appreciate the quick responses yesterday. I was in a panic as this is the second problem i've had with his rod. I keep learning with every rod and I know from experience now to pay very close attn. to the reel seat alignment and also that a bad epoxy job will ruin a weeks worth of building to perfection, and cost alot of money to fix.......

Thanks to Tom for writing a GREAT article in Rod maker about a "better epoxy job"..... That article really helped me get nice level finishes.

-Mike

Glad to hear it.

There has also been an article on how to make arbor boring bits that guarantee a centered bore. Or, you can buy them pre-made from Flex Coat. Either way, they're a great help if you plan to build more rods.

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Mike, Tom is right on. You can pick up a spade bit and quickly make a boring bit by sharpening the backside of the spade. I use a 3/8" for drilling most arbors on my bass and walleye rods. Get the Rodmaker back issue on how to make your own, or just buy them. Basically you shove the back of the bit through the arbor, chuck it in the drill and drill backwards. The bit shaft centers the bit. If you're pressed for time and you have a large drill index you can use a drill and go up a size or two after each hole. Arbors drill and ream very easily and we've all reamed then off center or over sized the hole at times. Go easy and rotate the reamer. The in and out reaming is an easy way to ruin an arbor. Hope this makes sense - I'm in a hurry.

Mike,
When I do my reaming; I use a steel tapered file in a variable speed drill - running backwards.
I start with a file small enough to fit in the small center hole and go to a larger file as necessary.

The secret, is to wear a pair of cloth gloves and let the manderal, or cork slip as you ream the hole.

By letting the mandral or cork slip as you ream it, the hole will self center. Also, I never ream all the way through from one side. I go part way through from one side, then flip it over and ream from the other side. This really helps to keep the hole centered.

Take care

Roger