Can anyone tell me what the difference between graphite real seats and aluminum real seats. I'm going to be building a crankbait rod for an up incoming pro bass fisherman and he told me to go outside the box when building this rod and i really like the looks of alps casting aluminum real seat in the 16 size.i know its an expensive real seat compared to most of the graphite real seats.So if i could get some suggestions or advantages or disadvantages i would appreciate it.

Tell him if he travels far enough outside the box with the Alps he may end up landing another crank bait rod in the Rod Show Case at ICAST. This year it will be wild! Anything goes to get an edge in the market.

I have knowledge of six other entrys that are in progress featuring "micro, sub-micor, advanced micro and pro-micro. All you have to do is build it and "work the right marketing spin with a proper name" - maybe Maxi Sensi Seat. In this world of marketing anything is possible.

Jerry,
Just from a fishermans perspective>
Metal reel seats are both hotter in warm weather and colder in cold weather than a graphite reel seat. This may or may not be important to you.
Roger

Although almost all my personal rods are tennessee type handles. It seems the few rods that I do have reel seats on, the graphite seats seem to hold their looks longer than the aluminum ones. I'm on the water from 110 to 130 days a year and most of my reel seat rods spend a lot of time in a rod holder, so wear is a greater issue as far as looks go. If your customer is the type that takes really good care of his equipment then it's probably a non-issue.

You may want to consider a minima seat... [www.rodbuilding.org]
Much less weight and full blank contact. You will want to position the locking nut using the reel that he plans to use on the rod.

Or one of those Great Swampland exposed seats

I'm with Barry. Go with the CastAway seat. I really like them.

Barry, so I take it they are strong enough for serious saltwater use????

Sorry about not finishing up with you on reversing sewing machine motors. After looking at what grainger now offered I wasn't comfortable in my ability to help you. I went straight DC for my motor needs.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

If you look at the crankbait rods some of us have been building lately, that ALPS seat probably weighs more than a complete rod. Those seats would work nice for a heavy saltwater rod, but for a bass fisherman you would just be building a rod a lot heavier than it needed to be. My favorite seat is a CastAway that I then split into a 2 piece.

Jerry;
Mike is spot on with his input.
While the Alps Aluminum seats are awesome, it is the last seat I would put on a bass rod.

If you are building for a "Pro fisherman" I would suggest that the majority out of the box design be geared towards performance. That is what will put money in his pocket and the money from more orders into yours.

But before splitting the seat I would take into consideration
The diameter of the blank and the size of your client’s hands; if the blank is small or his hands are large?
I would suggest against splitting the seat as is can become uncomfortable over the curse of the day to grip something proportionately smaller then your hand.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2010 03:10PM by Steve Gardner.