Since i have to use a lot of Rod Bond to fill in about 0.100" (2.5mm) betweeen the blank and the reel seat, I was wondering if I can mix graphite powder/granules in the Rod Bond to make it stronger and lighter. Good? Bad? Has anybody did that?
Do not want to use shims or arbors to fill in the gap. Have done the same for other applications (not using Rod Bond and not for rods) and worked very well.

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Danny, adding graphite to rodbond mix will not hurt anything. You could also add chopped fiberglass. All you are doing by adding something to the mix is to lighten it up a little. You will want to wrap some tape at either end of the blank where the reel seat lives to make sure it is centered up unless the fore and butt grips will do this on your installation.

I think if you were to contact Ralph at Trondack he would not recommend adding to Rod Bond , nothing you add to it will make it stronger just my opinion

I could be wrong but would it be lighter with the arbors and the thiner coat of rod bond ??

Bill - willierods.com

It will not make it stronger. RodBond is not a gap filling adhesive.

The proper method is to use shims or bushings to take up any space between the items.

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As other said....not a good idea. By using so much epoxy you are adding weight. Then you have the matter of how to keep the grip centered. Just use some drywall mesh tape. Or masking tape if that is all you have.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

The best way is to use an arbor. It appears you are concerned with weight so why not a foam arbor? It's like adding stones to cement. You use less cement but still have the weight.

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

The foam arbor is impractical since the ID is 0.505 "(blank dia) and the OD is 0.695" (reel seat ID). That is a difference of 0.200" total, divided by 2 the wall is 0.100".
Both ends of the reel seat (Alps aluminum) will be supported by flanges for 1/2" inside between the blank and the reel seat. The only space left is about 4 1/2" long and 0.100" that I have to fill in.

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Make a spiralled wrap of D size thread and adhere the seat over that.

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Or glue a foam arbor in place inside the reel seat, and ream the foam to size. You can get pretty tight tolerances that way.

You can get larger arbors and sand them down to fit the seat

Don't over think this it is not hard if you can wright your name you can build a rod

Bill - willierods.com

Danny,
Actually a very good idea.
Folks use micro spheres all of the time as a filler when working with either resin or epoxy glue of various sorts.
You can mix any of these microshperes with rod bond or other types of glues. Normally, the spheres work better if the base epoxy is of the fairly runny variety, so that all of the spheres get well coated when mixing.

You can reduce the overall weight of a filled area by many times by use of these microspheres. By adding these microshperes to the glues, it also makes the area easy to sand and shape.

One thing that I did for another type of activity that I used the epoxy and spheres was to either use clear saran wrap, or the use of clear sealing tape to contain and shape the filled area

[www.fiberglasssupply.com]

I would NOT suggest that you se graphite for a filler but rather, use one of the afore mentioned microshperes which are about 50% air for lighter weight.

As I suggested earlier, be sure to use a thinner epoxy that will completely coat the microshperes, and be sure to mix long enough so that you have a uniform mix before applying. No dry spots please in your mix.

These microshperes are used by hundreds of folks every day in many different industries, and model shops to get their jobs done in minimum time, with minimum work and maximum cost effectiveness.

Be safe
Roger

Never heard of the micro spheres but will check it out. What if I make my own graphite foam and fill in the gap? Is it hard to make it?

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And old reply from Ralph as true today as when he first posted this
Posted by: Ralph O'Quinn (---.pstbbs.com)
Date: September 28, 2002 04:40AM

Ed

You won't make your epoxy (or any resin polymer or otherwise) stronger by adding fillers of any kind. There are fillers that will make the resin more flexible, fillers that will make it more brittle, fillers to withstand abrasion, fillers to increase the compressive strength --- fillers for just about anything you can think of EXCEPT make it stronger. Any of the fillers will basically weaken the epoxy as far as tensile strength or shear strength of the bond.

Any epoxy you purchase on the retail shelves has been adjusted with fillers to do the job for which it is marketed. Any addition of fillers or anything else will simply degrade the product, not improve it Tungsten added to epoxy will improve the compressive strength, but the amount added must be adjusted to the existing filler. If you know what the filler is in the epoxy you are using and the percentage, you may be able to add another filler and you may not. Rod Bond is best left as received for ANY application on rod or gun.

Ralph

I agree with wrapping some D thread on there. It sounds like you might even have room for one wrap of mesh tape. I recently put a reel seat on a rod with a large butt OD where an arbor or shim was out of the question. I had just enough room for 1 wrap of self-stick drywall mesh tape. Came out great. Simple and fast, excellent adhesion.

David Dosser
Coshocton, OH

For those who might not know, Ralph O'Quinn is the formulator of RodBond.

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I have used foam arbors in a similar situation and reamed it out to less than .100 . Perfect fit .

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

It is so much easier to glue the arbors inside first then ream them out. There has been many times where I know I barely have any of the arbor left after reaming. With the foam type arbors you can buy now, they ream out very easily, so gluing them in first helps alot when reaming them.

Will give it a shot with the foam arbors. My fear is not to ream dead center and have the reel seat off center.

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They sand Real Easy so be careful and don't try to take too much out too fast - Check often

Bill - willierods.com