Do you find graphite arbors any more sensitive than ones made with mesh tape? When you use graphite arbors do you epoxy the arbor to the seat and then ream and mount or position the arbors and then mount the seat once the arbor has set up?

It is easier to glue into the seat, then when dry ream to fit the blank Check often they ream fast

Bill - willierods.com

I use polyurethane arbors. epoxy it to the real seat. let it dry, then. they are reamed to the correct size. then just epoxied on. to the rod.

I do what Bill and Gabe do.

I have no idea whether an arbor is any more "sensitive" than mesh tape. But there's one very good reason why I use arbors: gluing up mesh tape makes an ungodly mess; I can't seem to do it without getting epoxy all over everything. With arbors, it's a piece of cake.

I recently replaced a reel seat, as a matter of fact: I removed a plate reel seat and installed a new tube seat. Because I didn't want to redo the entire handle, I worked from the butt end; because I slipped the reel seat over the butt, I couldn't use an arbor (if I reamed the ID of the arbor to be large enough to fit over the butt, it would have been too big to fit on the blank where I wanted it), so I used drywall mesh tape. One job with this stuff made me glad that I swore it off forever - I got glue everywhere.

I'm a big fan of arbors, because they work great, and make a messy job much, much easier.

Chris

My thoughts are the same even though I have not tried the tape. Just sounds like one big mess LOL

Bill - willierods.com

Mike, to answer your first question, I think the constant contact between the reel seat and the blank gives better sensitivity and better glue contact. I do like the others. glue the arbor to the seat & ream to fit the blank after the glue has cured.
Bill

If the total weight of the arbor and the epoxy that is applied with it weighs less than the total weight of the mesh tape and the epoxy that is applied with the mesh tape then YES the arbor will result in a rod that is more sensitive.
If there is a significant distance between the blank and the reel seat that must be filled with mesh tape a good deal more epoxy is required with the mesh tape and the weigh difference can be quite a bit because epoxy is pretty dense.
The sensitivity difference will be most pronounced when the rod tip is at a low angle relative to the water and less pronounced when the tip of the rod is at a high angle relative to the water. The reason for this gets a little messy so I will not try to explain it unless someone is really interested and wants to put up with a long winded answer.

Having just read all of you guys comments I wish you could have seen the Demo I did on Saturday morning concerning handle makeup. Not to say your way doesn't work but I think you could have picked up on a few ideas that I put to use. The weight factor and the sensitivity acheived is amazing when applied to your rod blank. Everyone that looked at the completed rod was very complimentary and I want to say thank's to all. Our main goal is to feel the slightest tap at the end of our line and put the fish in the boat. Good fishing to all.
Fuzz Morgan

The instalaltion of the mesh tape abor need not be messy. If you hold the rod at an angle with the tip downward and fillthe epoxy as you are moving the reel seat upward towards the butt grip while also rotating the seat to distibute the epoxy it's not so bad. I like the mesh arbor because I have the epoxy directly contacting the blank at intervals between the mesh. Also the mesh allows the epoxy to fill in the gaps in the mesh and bond directly to the blank. Every rod I have stripped down had built up arbors placed at intervals along the length of the seat. If there are no intervals, there are two glue joints and no direct bond of the reel seat to the blank. As for sensitivity, introducing a softer material between the reel seat and the blank will dampen the vibration somewhat. The arbor (if it's full length) will act as a vibration damper. Having the rock solid epoxy between the reel seat and blank will better transmit the vibrations. The few times I have used arbors, I have made them up in one inch sections with epoxy in between.