I have probably cut and sanded about 80 graphite reel seats over the past couple of years. When I cut the extra threads off, I have not been using a foolproof system to sand them square/flat. I have used free hand against flat sand paper and free hand against a mounted dremel flat sanding disc. I get decent results, but they are rarely perfectly square. What do you all use to get a perfectly flat edge that is squared off and at a 90 degree angle to the reelseat? Please share with me what works well for you and what if any tools you use. Thanks

What I do is wrap a piece of masking take around the seat to provide a straight edge to cut along with a dremel cutoff wheel. If you put 4 or 5 wraps of tape on the seat it will provide a nice edge to cut along. I always cut the seat about 1/16" long and then sand it down to get it perfectly square. For the sanding, I use the same drill press mounted sanding disk that I use for guide foot prep. The paper is 100 grit and by placing the edge of the fixed hood on the drill press table and lowering the sanding disk to the seat, you are pretty much guaranteed that the threaded end will be sanded at 90deg to the barrel.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2007 07:46PM by Joe Hepp.

Josh,
I do not cut down reel seats but I would think that you could get a large nut at the hardware store that fit the reel seat and is made of steel. You could screw this nut on the reel seat and then cut and sand against the nut which should give you a square edge.

Josh;
I use a little post-it note or some square piece of paper as a straight edge, wrap it around the threads and mark it with a silver lead pencil.
I then saw it off with a dremmel and a thin cutoff blade .Then I file it square, rotating about a quarter turn after each stroke with the fine cut file. Watch close to be sure you are filing each edge with each stroke. If you rotate it , it will end up square on the end. Scrape off any burs with a sharp pocket knife or exacto knife. I never have a problem with them not being square on the end.

I cut them on the lathe with a parting tool, then no sanding is required.

I use a Lapidary machine with fine diamond blade to cut mine off square and smooth at the same time, one shot and done.

Unless I choose to bevel the edge to create a smooth transition from seat to blank, then
I use a belt sander to bevel with

What difference does how square the end is? AS long as your grip material butts up against it so that there are no gaps, that's all that matters.

I cut all my seats - I use to do with with an Exacto saw and the masking tape straightedge method, then clean it up and square it off with a disk sander. I now use a bandsaw and touch of the "burnt" edge with a razorblade.

Josh,

Never thought of cutting the threaded area of the reel seat down, but I will certainly make it a consideration from now on. Thanks for sharing your preference. The only concern I have taking this approach is what the end of the graphite handle looks like after the cutting.
Does the cut come out clean, or are there "fuzzies" created from the graphite thread, as a result of the cutting?

What I do is ream out pre-made handles/foregrips to the desired depth, and then insert the extra threaded area into it. Never had a problem with chipping or peeling away as long as I applied enough rod bonding.
If I build my handles from cork rings, I take the same approach fly-rod builders use to cover the hoods of reel seats, bond additional rings to complete the handle, and then turn to desired shape and diameter.

Emory: Great idea using a nut as a cutting edge.

I just cut them off on the band saw. Since I don't have a lathe yet (soon to be purchased at High Point) I sand them flat on my drill press. I have some pieces of aluminum rod scrap that is about 3/8" diameter. I have masking tape bushings on them and I simply slide a seat on and drop it down on the sandpaper. I start with 150 and progress to 400. It works pretty slick, and I usually do several as long as I'm set up.

I hate excess threads showing and I always set up a handle so I have to force one end of a reel foot in the seat with barely enough room on the other end to get the reel in when the nut is backed out.

I have tried cutting them on the drill press and the saw tries to follow the threads. I wouldn't recommend that method.

"What difference does how square the end is?"

Just a simple matter of fit, finish and personal pride. You know, the whole form vs function debate if you will. A standard length reel seat will probably work just fine, a chopped seat may just be better in some situations and as long as you're going to take the time to cut the excess threads away, might as well do as clean a job of it as you can.

In my case, buildiing bass casting rods.
I don't use foregrips so a nice clean straight cut just gives a better looking job
extra threads is extra weight might be just a tad, but if you remove enough "tads" at every point you can. You end up with lighter rods that perform better



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2007 10:04PM by Steve Gardner.

I tape line mine and folow the tape with a diamond cut off wheel on a dremel tool. The Diamond wheel is so thin it cuts better than the standard cut off wheels and with less mess. Then I hold them in my hand and lay the front on a flat sanding block and work the front of the seat until I'm happy with it's squareness. Then I round off the first thread a tiny bit with a soft sanding block by pushing the end down into the block and twisting a few times to take off any sharp edges.

DR

Josh, Harbor Freight has a small 4" electric disc sander that has a bed in front of it. I sand mine down to size using that and get a square edge. The heat that transfers when sanding mildly melts the reel seat allows me to just pick off the residue so as not to have any fuzzies that was mentioned on a post.

Steve Gardner Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In my case, buildiing bass casting rods.
> I don't use foregrips so a nice clean straight
> cut just gives a better looking job
> extra threads is extra weight might be just a tad,
> but if you remove enough "tads" at every point you
> can. You end up with lighter rods that perform
> better

Right on Steve. I usually cut off an inch or better on a Fuji NPS seat. An inch of threads plus epoxy and arbor has a bit of weight to it. If it isn't needed I eliminate it.

I cut using a hobby miter box and an Exacto saw. I lightly sand to get rid of the "knife" edge. I mount the seat with a slight gap between the end of the arbor and the end of the seat - about 1/8". I wrap a layer of masking tape around the end of the threads. I complete any other tasks I can and when I reach a point that I won't be working on the rod overnight I stand the blank with the mounted seat next to my work table making sure it is perfectly straight up with a level. I tape the blank to the edge of the table to hold it. I mix up some finish and add black pigment (Tap) and using an old bobkin I fill the gap I left with the black finish. I carefully slightly over fill to get a very slight bulge. I let dry overnight and remove the masking tape. The end looks like it was drilled exactly for the blank OD. I add a ramp or not depending on the design I'm building out.

A large nut with square threads?

Chuck - if your are REALLY interested in saving weight with an NPS seat - forget cutting teh threads whic barely weigh anything - cut the front of the seat where teh fixed hood is - that is much heavier than teh threads - you can cut about 3/4" off, and you'll see just how thick the seat is there. Only problem with weight is that you'll end up using a thicker OD grip materiak to butt up against teh seat, which will be heavier tha a thinner shaped grip.

Of course if you aren't using the lightest reel possible to begin with, you're wasting your time saving .0001oz.

Billy, I saw a picture of one you did that way and i want to try it. I took a look at an NPS and as you get farther away from the end the flatter it gets, so do you flatten the cork to match or just let it go?

Let me clarify - I do it because it looks stupid to have 1 1/8" of extra threads that serve no purpose on a custom rod (not to save weight). I use the lightest reels I can possibly afford. :)

"Lord of the Strings" - Very cool! When did you get that title?

Steve Rushing - That sounds good. Any pics?

Chuck