I have tried the boiling water method and have a seat that is NOT coming off the fly rod blank. It took a loong time just to get the hood off and I give up (on that method).

When people say "cut around the seat" with a Dremel tool but "don't cut in to the blank" are they assuming that you can cut through the metal of the seat but that as soon as you hit the epoxy STOP? Also, when people say "spiral cut" do they mean continuous cut around the seat or "around the circumfrence"?

This particular seat is smallish in diameter (REC RSLS) on a blank that is [I think] larger than average for its weight rating, so the distance between the inside of the seat tube and the blank is not so great. However, there is drywall tape and Rod Bond in there.

Any advice before I plug in the Dremel?

Thanks,

Tony

Cut almost but not all the way through the seat. Then insert a flat bladed screwdriver and give it a twist. It will pop apart and you should be able to slide it off the blank. Expect to do some clean up where the epoxy and bushings are.

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Sense you are not saving the reel seat. I would put a quick torch to it wrap the blank with a cold iced towel. When applying heat look at the reel seat where the blank come threw as soon as you see a puff of smoke pull off the seat. Have pliers ready to pull. It is better to have 2 people to do this. If you cut the reel seat do it at 15% You well now have to peal the the seat off. You will have to put a lug in the butt section to align the 2 pieces, The 15 % cut well align the 2 blank parts

Good Wraps Bob

If the rod performs well and has nice parts on it, Why not sell it and start another.

Bill - willierods.com

Toms idea is better than mine. Just check the blank to cut marks, and plug it if you have them.

Good Wraps Bob

I was just thinking if they are high priced componets - leve it and build another rod. A shame to distroy any nice components or a blank ???

Bill - willierods.com

Bill ! It sounds like he has destroyed the reel seat hood, Why not just cut it off length wise and pop it off with a screwdriver I any case if he scratches or cuts the blank , He can just plug it with a old piece of blank. In the past when I even tried boiling a seat . That method failed and I also destroyed the reel seat any way. Hey by the time he reads all these emails the job would be done

Good Wraps Bob

A great deal depends upon the adhesive used to secure the grips and reelseat. If boiling does not work I have resorted to sawing off the blank about three inches in front of the grip, and rotating a large, coarse rat-tail file on an electric drill inside the remaining section of blank to ream it out. When the blank wall seemed to be thin enough I grasped the blank in front of the grip with needle nose pliers and pushed inwards, which eventually resulted in the remaining blank separating from the grip and reelseat in long strips. A rotary, radial cut done gradually and gently with a sharp, thin bladed utility knife will separate the reelseat on either side from the grips, and each of the three elements created can be gradually and symmetrically reamed.
Some fly rod grips are not worth the time and effort; however, if you have the determination and patience you can salvage a fly rod grip and reel seat worth some big change, and the re-used result will be indistinguishable from new.

You may find that a simple hacksaw or triangular file is safer and just as effective as the dremel tool! The latter can get you into the blank in a second!

Thanks all.

The blank is discontinued and has sentimemtal value, hence the reason for the project.

I had a bad reel seat on the end of a fly rod. A friend just cut it off. He then matched some graphite blank to the part of the rod already embedded in the cork grip. He did some things I am not sure of...but he just fitted a new piece of graphite back into the grip, inside the existing graphite rod. Then he made the arbors and mounted a new reel seat on it. He did this in just a matter of minutes while I was standing there watching him and talking. I can put you in touch with him. But you may have the idea from this post.

Another option is to just plain send it to Roger Wilson on here. I had a rod someone was going to make a two hander out of. It was a 3 piece blank. The person mistakenly mounted the reel seat on the mid section of the blank! I traded him some cd's for this spey blank. Sent it to Roger. He not only got the reel seat off, he saved both the reel seat and rod. It all looks brand new.

His charge was not al that bad either. He is on this board, or I can put you in touch with him also. And this is the option I would choose.

Jim

How long didf you boil the seat? I have use3d this method for years and it has never failed me yet. If you used jb weld for get the boiling method.Cut the bugger off, when i did have cut one off, i took the cap off and then just used a pocket knive to cut it off.

How long didf you boil the seat? I have use3d this method for years and it has never failed me yet. If you used jb weld for get the boiling method.Cut the bugger off, when i did have cut one off, i took the cap off and then just used a pocket knive to cut it off.