I purchased several beautiful Bellinger ULSB Deluxe seats recently and had them shipped to me by mail.Unfortunately the seller(it was a private deal) sent them in a large but thin cardboard envelope with little padding inside to protect them and when the package arrived,it was literally torn in half,and one of the nicer seat inserts was broken in half right where the swelled butt starts.

The insert is amboyna burl and being from Bellinger I believe that it is stabilized wood(although I'm not 100% sure of that).Fortunately the break was a perfectly clean one,and combined with the swirling pattern of the wood,when the 2 halves are clamped tightly together the crack is virtually invisible.

I would really like to salvage this insert if possible and was wondering what glue or epoxy would provide the strongest bond possible in this case?

Would Rod Bond be the way to go,or would a wood glue like Titebond III or Gorilla Glue be better?

I plan on using the seat on a blank that is very close to the inside diameter of the seat so as to avoid needing arbors and to provide optimum support for it throughout it's length.I figured if I ream each half of the insert to fit the blank properly before gluing it up,there will be less chance of breaking the bond of the insert itself when installing it.

Any advice on the strength of glues and epoxies for something like this would be most appreciated.
Thanks.

Tony, I have never used stabilized wood, but I have epoxied different materials together that create a similar problem. I'm sure that you could use epoxy to put it back together; I use 30 minute epoxy for adhering aluminum to wood. I would think that rod bond would be ideal if you have the time to wait for it to cure. You should not have any problems after the seat is bonded to the blank, the blank will help support it and you should not have to worry about it breaking again.

Builders of tradtional style bows use Titebond for glueing laminations together, and other wood to wood applications. Might be a better choice than two part epoxy for your application.

I would use anything but a Gorilla typa PVA glue. A recent test in a popular woodworking magazine showed that the PVA glues are actually not as strong as a good two part epoxy or wood glue. Titebond III is awesome stuff.

Any of the epoxies will work great. Rod Bond is good but stays pliable. Any of the Titebond glues are good but they have high temp. tolerance, starts to become soft at 150 degrees. Titebond III is water proof.
Talk with any of your wood working stores or friends and show or tell them what your doing, they can suggest some other options also.

Quite frankly, I would use CA(superglue) to repair the break. When putting the reel seat on the rod, I would ensure that I had plenty of rodbond between the seat and the rod where the break is. The break line just has to be held together by the CA. The seat itself will be very well adhered to the blank once you use the rodbond and that should have sufficient strength to keep it from breaking again.

CA glue makes the best repair for your situation. It bonds well, quickly, and leaves no glue line.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"

Thanks for all the advice everyone.Looks like a lot of differing opinions though,LOL.

I have access to Rod Bond and Titebond III already but would have to order in CA glue.

Don't order CA....just go to Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, even CVS carries it. I prefer the "Duro" brand of superglue. Its water thin and works amazingly well.