I got to thinking over the past few days. Would it be easier to use drywall tape to level the blank/fill in for the taper, that way you just have to drill or ream a straight ID hole instead of a tapered one in the arbors, EVA, cork, etc? I was looking at my Shark/Tuna blank and saw the pretty good taper around where the reel seat goes and was wondering if this was ok to do? I would basically cut thin strips and build up the blank so it is relatively straight, that way I can just drill the foam arbors and not have to worry bout tapering the ID's of them. I would secure with either superglue or hot glue to hold the edges in place while setting up the arbors and stuff.

Sure, this would work. You can cut the tape in narrower strips to locate the bushings where you want them. You can adjust for any taper this way and get a snug fit, which is always best for good adhesion.

You can use a bit of masking tape at the start of the bushing, then fill with rod bond as you go. You can hold the whole bushing in place with some wraps of D size thread while you proceed with the others.

Terry

Yeah, but then your components are oversize, and you use more epoxy adhesive than absolutely necessary. Ream the pieces to fit, or in the case of EVA, just stretch to fit. A thin glue line is stronger than a thick one. If it came to repair/replacement, cleanup after stripping down is easier if you don't have to hack through a hardened glob of epoxy.

Why don't you use just drywall and epoxy? That is what I do on the majority of my off shore rods..