Ok guys, thanks for a great forum. I am building a couple of Purglas blanks and the handle assemblies included have some nice graphite seats but I want to remove them and put on some aluminum seats that I have. These are the handle assemblies that you cement into the bottom of the blank if you are familiar with them. Any recommendations on how to get them off would be appreciated. Thanks.

Jason,
Use a dremel tool with an abrasive wheel on it. Then, slot the reel seat for the length where it is glued on the blank. Do it again on the opposite side. Finally take a screwdriver, put it into the cut slot, twist, and pop the reel seat off of the blank.
Good luck
Roger

Hi Jason,
If you haven't got a Demel a hacksaw will do the job. Make sure there is a bit of a gap between the blank and the reelseat (arbors) and do a spiral cut from one end to the other. Then get a screwdriver and you can prise it off. If the reelseat is a close fit to the blank, ie no arbors, then cutting with any tool is not a good idea as there is a chance you will cut into the blank. If that's the case you can immerse the reelseat in very hot water to soften the epoxy and then pull it off ( towards the tip end). A little bit of twisting may help but not too much. You may need to immerse it a number of times before it will come loose.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

Thanks Col and Roger, yes Col it is very close. i.e. no arbor. if ya'll have an email I'd like to shoot you a pic of the assembly so you can see what it looks like. it is seperate from the blank and I fear if I damage it, I'm finished. I like Roger's suggestion and I have a dremel but one wrong move and I'm done so I'm leading towards the Col's method. At any rate, this is a unique situation so I think a visual would help but there doesn't seem to be a method to upload pics so here is my email if you can link to me: jvcallaway@yahoo.com

I wouldn't be such a stickler but I only got 4 handle assemblies and four rods so any mistake means I've trashed a rod. Thanks.

Hi jason,
You can uploads pics but you need to register and log on to the picture page. My email is unhidden if you want to send a pic.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

Jason Callaway Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks Col and Roger, yes Col it is very close.
> i.e. no arbor. if ya'll have an email I'd like to
> shoot you a pic of the assembly so you can see
> what it looks like. it is seperate from the blank
> and I fear if I damage it, I'm finished. I like
> Roger's suggestion and I have a dremel but one
> wrong move and I'm done so I'm leading towards the
> Col's method. At any rate, this is a unique
> situation so I think a visual would help but there
> doesn't seem to be a method to upload pics so here
> is my email if you can link to me:
> jvcallaway@yahoo.com
>
> I wouldn't be such a stickler but I only got 4
> handle assemblies and four rods so any mistake
> means I've trashed a rod. Thanks.


Actually with a fine abrasive wheel on a dremel tool it is quite safe, but you have to do it very gently and veeery carefully. As if your private parts were immediately underneath ;-).

Hot water is certainly non-invasive, but dremel works fine.
I've gone down the hacksaw route and had to get a new blank. With another rod - I used The Tool and it worked just fine, without a scratch on the blank. Actually in the latter case I was cutting a metal tube glued directly to the blank and it was OK.

Cheers,
Michal

I use the boiling water method, and have done many that way, but it takes a lot more than just a quick submersion in hot water. I use a turkey fryer since the pot is deep enough to get the reel seat under the water, and the burner has enough power to quickly get such a big pot of water boiling. I have had to let the rod boil in the water for up to an hour, but it always eventually comes off.

"As if your private parts were immediately underneath ;-). "

That woujld do it! LOL

Mike H,

What are your thoughts on weekening the blank resin during such a long boil time?

DR

Duane,
On that very subject, the neighbor was using a big 6 inch 6000 rpm grinder with a wire cup on the end. He was cleaning rust off of metal that was going very well. Unfortunately he had the piece of metal near his lap, suddently things jumped and the wire wheel jumped and grabbed his jeans and his body parts. He had to take a trip to the ER where the tools, clothing and metal pieces and body parts were all nicely separate by the ER staff. Fortunately, nothing was cut or severed and live continued. But he never ever gets a spinning wire cup near that part of his body again.

Be safe
Roger

It shouldn’t be a problem, no matter how long you leave it in the water it is never getting hotter than 212° or so. The temp used to cure the resin in the prepeg is signifantly higher.

Thanks for posting that Roger.

That even made me hurt.

I don`t think I will be able to climb the steps, and it is getting close to dinner time.

Bill

ps Did he get the grinder back from E.R. staff ?

Ohio Rod Builders

Canton, Ohio

I just use a heat gun, heat the seat until it start looking like it is changing color and make sure you keep the gun aimed at the seat. Then with a good rag for insulation give the seat a twisting pull. I've removed a truck load of them with no problem and can only remember two or three that I couldn't get off.

You have to be very careful with the heat gun, you can destroy a blank in a second if you are not careful.