Hi Gents,
I'm stripping and old favourite beach rod to give it a new lease of life. I've got everthing off except the reel seat. The bottom of the seat is a snug fit on the blank while the top has got about 1mm clearance between the seat and the blank. I've tried heating the seat with a gas torch, 6 lots of 30 secs and I can't get the bond to break. I've let it cool down then reheated it with the same result. I'm reluctantant to heat it more than this as I don't want to cause any damage to the blank. I'm also not keen on cutting it off as one small slip is going to cause damage but this looks like the only way it's going to come off. I'm considering using a Dremel cut off wheel to carefully cut through the top half then cut the rest 90-95% through and hopefully I can peel the rest off. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. It's a glass blank with eight wraps at the butt end and the seat is chrome plated brass.

ESFNEM Col



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2011 11:19PM by Col Chaseling.

Have you tried putting it in boiling water for at least 10-15 minutes? The heat of boiling water will not damage the blank. You may have to repeat this a couple of times, but it has always worked for me.If for some reason you don't want water on the seat, put into a plastic before putting in the water.

If the reel seat is a graphite seat you can use a small blade hack saw to make a few cuts and the seats tend to feel off with some ease. I prefer a small hand saw than a dremel. Too fiddly with a dremel and more chance of cutting the blank. I tend to have more control using the saw.

hope this helps but others might have some suggestions.

Here is what I would recommend. Take your time and you'll be fine.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Here's a decent step by step explanation

[www.worldseafishing.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2011 12:52PM by Martyn Rowland.

G'Day Col

I've only done this a couple of times & both times I spiral cut the seat with a hacksaw (take your time doing this) & asI cut through a small section I heated the seat with a hot air gun to soften the epoxy . Once that section was done I rotated the rod about 20 deg & started the process again until the job was completed , about 1 to 1.5 hours to make the cuts & clean up the old epoxy

Hope this helps Regards Baz

Bruce and Martyn that's the method I generally use to get them off but there is only a very thin layer of epoxy between the seat and the blank and there is too much chance of damaging the blank. Thanks Phil I''l try the boiling water and see how it goes and if that doesn't work I'll give Barry's method a go. Thanks to all.

ESFNEM Col

Hi Phil,
Great call as it worked well. Had to use a hammer and a chisel behind the locking nut to get it moving. Lucky it was an uplocking seat as I had already cut the fixed hood off. That's one for the memory bank and another reason why this forum is such a great and valuable asset to builders worldwide. Thanks to all again.
Found a hole drilled in the blank about 1/2" from the top of the seat about 1/16" diameter!!!!! Never seen this before. Anybody got any idea what it's for. It would be of no use for marking the spine as you wouldn't be able to see it.

ESFNEM Col



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2011 12:28AM by Col Chaseling.

Col, on some rods i have repaired that hole will have a brass pin through it to secure the seat onto the rod. The pin sometimes has rounded head like a rivet, may be chromed too. Sometimes it is flush on both sides.
Those are the worst as you have to drill them out from both sides.
If you ever miss one, it can cause you big issues.

Hi Lou,
Thanks for that. Looks like that was what it was although this blanks only got one hole in it. Must have been what was stopping me from twisting the seat trying to get it off in the first place. I'd ground the top of it off when I was removing the fixed hood and must have been very lucky that the rest of it must have fallen into the blank when I gave it a few hits with a hammer and chisel to loosen it or maybe the boiling water expanded things enough for it to fall in. Fortunately the blanks not damaged as the hole is still round.

ESFNEM Col