Hello Everybody,

Apologies if this seems repetitive. I've looked through out most of the posts and can't seem to find the answer to my question. This is my first time using these abors and am putting them on a dropshot rod. I'm using the Fuji two-piece "cobra" spinning reel seat. The threaded portion fits the arbor perfectly. The second piece, the hood, has to have the arbor shapped to fit it. By the way, these things are light and shape really easily.


How tight should the arbor fit the reel seat?

Have these ever failed on any of you?


Should I be worried about the life of these units, I'm going to be doing alot of tournament fishing with this rod.

Any other input that you may have would ALWAYS be respected and appreciated.

Thanks,
TONY

Tony, the arbor should have a slip fit, but should not be sloppy loose. You are only going to have a thin film of epoxy between the arbor and the inside of the reel seat. Be sure to scuff the inside of the seat with scotchbrite, or fine sandpaper and clean with alcohol to remove any grease, silicone, etc. I have heard of no problems with the longevity of the arbors, particulary with freshwater rod usage. As you said, they shape and ream easily. That doesn't seem to contribute to any failures that I've heard of. It is just a nice feature that makes them such a pleasure to use. Probably one of the easiest tasks to perform while building a rod! It is a good idea to blow off the dust from the arbor or vacuum it before applying epoxy. Apply the epoxy to the inside of the reel seat, and apply to the outside of the arbor and assemble the two parts. After cure, ream to fit the rods taper, clean, scuff the rod with scotchbrite (I wouldn't recommend sandpaper here, though), apply epoxy to the inside of the arbor and to the rod, and install. I feel it is important to apply the adhesive to both parts to be assembled to thoroughly "wet" the surfaces to be bonded.

Right, the fit should not be overly tight - you shouldn't have to force or beat anything into place. Nor should they rattle around inside the seat. Just a light slip fit.

You can read more about using epoxy and preparing surfaces for bonding in the online library here in the article on surface preparation.

The arbors will not fail you. Use them with confidence.

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Sorry to highjack post but I have a related qyestion.
I have been using REC fly rod seats because they have matching arbors to the seats. All I have been doing is cutting the arbors into 4 sections before reaming for more accurate simulation of the blank's taper. I then epoxy to the blank. After epoxy sets I will then epoxy the seat to the arbor. Now, however, I wish to use larger I.D. diameter seats than REC can provide - i.e. Struble. But other mfg's do not provide arbors that fit to size. So, I am conflicted on how to use "universal" arbors. Some builders have suggested that I ream as before - epoxy to blank - then turn the arbor down to the I.D. of the seat. Risk there is that I create an off center platform for the seat. The risk of epoxying arbor into the seat first is that I will definately not have as acurate a taper as I have with the REC arbors done in pieces.

Advice please.
Herb



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/31/2008 12:26PM by Herb Ladenheim.

Size and epoxy the arbor into the seat. Turning on a lathe - cutting, not sanding, will create a concentric arbor so that part is a given.

Now, working with the Flex Coat pilot bits (buy them or make them), you can bore to size just close to that of your blank. The pilot shaft ensures a straight bore. At this point, you need only inset a reamer that closely matches your blank tape and give it just a little bit of work and you'll have a nicely fitting seat/arbor assembly.

............

Tom,
Thank you.
Herb

Tony - if the arbor is too tight we rotate it by hand in the reel seat until it slips through with just a little pressure from the tip of your finger. Thge reels seat will grind off the surface of the arbor. Just do it a little at a time so it won't twist and break.

Another trick is to take a round file and go round the arbor to make a "groove". Do it so there's four or six of these shallow grooves in the surface of the arbor. When you put your glue on the arbor, make sure to get it in these grooves. These will help in providing more surface for the glue to stick to, and will not weaken the arrbor unless you've got it unusually thin - then, of course, don't do this.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods

I would make one point about the "grooves" in the arbors - they create a weaker bond, albeit one that is certainly still strong enough for what we do with a fishing rod.

The thinner your glue line, the stronger it will be. Deep recesses and grooves weaken the bond, not strengthen it.

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The only time I groove arbors is when I close the back-end of the seat with a threaded (female) fighting grip plug to provide a path for air to escape as I slip seat over arbor.
Herb