I watched the mudhole videos posted on youtube, when hes putting on the reel seat, he uses an arbor to attatch the reel seat to the blank. I'm just getting into rod building but have been reading and watching the videos for a few years now. In the past, they always showed building the blank up to the reel seat diameter with tape. Is this arbor method the norm now? It seems way easier to do. And do most reel seats come with the arbor already, or do you buy that individually? One more question, I'm wanting to buy a beginners kit with a hand wrapper and dryer. I'm going to mudhole in oviedo next saturday. any suggestions on which one to get?

i use tape when arboring less than say 3-4mm. Too hard to ream a piece of foam to that thin of a wall. Tape is fine as long as you make sure to completely encase it in rod bond.

Regards,
-Justin

John,
Several answers here.
For many years - both custom builders as well as production builders have used - something - to get the diameter of the blank to fit the inside of the reel seat at its mounting condition.
Things like paper, tape, cardboard, fiberglass tape with epoxy, graphite arbors, cork arbors, and most recently poly arbors.

All of these systems have been used with varying degrees of success. But generally speaking each and every method listed above has worked just fine to hold a reel seat securely to the blank.

There are some reel seats being made today that have semi bendable fingers on the inside of the reel seat to adjust for various blank diameters. So, if the area is filled with epoxy, the reel seat is secure.

But, in a word, use any system that makes sense to you, that works for you, that you can afford to use and works well for you.

One of the very simplest thing to use is simple masking tape. If you space circular wraps of masking tape 1/16th to 1/8th of an inch apart, and have these thin areas well filled with epoxy, you have a very rigid, long lived inexpensive reel seat arbor.
The current widely used poly arbors are a wonderful way to go, especially if there is a significant difference between the outside diameter of the blank and the inside diameter of the reel seat. The poly arbors are easy to ream to the size of the blank, are sized to nicely fit on the outside to the inside of the reel seat and are quite inexpensive. There strength is quite sufficient to hold the reel seats in place long term without losing their grip, nor failing.

Use the system that makes the best sense to you for your particular application.

Good luck
Roger

Also those arbors can be reamed until they are quite thin. So even if you ream most of it away, it will still hold up if done properly. I've seen them reamed out to where only about 2mm thickness is left on the arbor. I really like using them because 1) they provide a solid attachment to the blank, which increases sensitivity, 2) they are porous allowing the adhesive to penetrate and provide a solid bond. IMO thick masking tape bushings absorb vibration, which decreases sensitivity and feel.

David Dosser
Coshocton, OH

How thin the poly arbors are after reaming is not really an issue if you epoxy them inside the seat first. Then ream the whole assembly. This leads to an extremely light, rigid and strong fit. Also extremely easy to do and fast if you get the Flex coat bit to do the initial cut. If you glue the arbor in the seat the night before you build, you can literally drill, ream and fit perfectly in less than 5 minutes.

Flex Coat has good videos on their site that shows the process better than I can explain it.

I'm a new builder with 10 rods under my belt, but 8 of them have poly arbors and 2 have fiberglass mesh tape arbors. I can't see a reason to use something that is affected by water like masking tape. Lots of previous discussion on this topic.

Drew
Sacramento, Ca

I have used a couple of the poly arbors recently that came as part of a spinning handle kit from Batsons. They work really well and are simple to install. On one occasion I reamed the abor out to a wall thickness of only about 2mm - I was worried it was going to break in my hand, but it didn't.

I do it like Drew. Glue them in first, ream them out to size. They work great and are inexpensive.

David Dosser
Coshocton, OH

Ok, that sounds good, glue it into the reel seal first, then ream to the rod size. Thanks for the info! Like I said I'll be going to Mudhole on Saturday to get a "starter kit" I'm looking at the one for $180.00 that comes with a hand wrapper, rod drier, epoxy, razor wands, cups, thread etc. to get started. I'll probably get one of their kits (not sure if I should get a regular cork grip or split grip) for my first build. Is there anything else I should pick up while I'm there? I know my first rod won't be perfect, but I cant wait to build it! (or catch my first red on a rod I built!) Thanks for all the info so far, John.

When you go, tell the guys you are just starting out and they will be more than happy to help you. I'm not sure which kit you are looking at. I started with the Mudhole wrapper kit. It was easy to work with especially because of the tension rods on top so I could back up while wrapping. I eventually had one built for me and added tension rods to it. This is what I started with ( I added the rollers on the wrapper). (first picture). Second pic is what I have now except for a few more recent modifications.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

[www.rodbuilding.org]

David Dosser
Coshocton, OH

Once the arbor is glued into the seat it gets stronger and can be reamed to a thin size. they work very well light and sensitive

Bill - willierods.com