I've been playing around with a skeleton/split reel seat for the first time (it's a Fuji SKSS seat, if you're scoring at home), and this has been a neat project for me. I really have enjoyed tinkering around with this stuff, and I really like how light the finished handle assembly is turning out.

While playing with the setup last night, though, a question about torque came into my mind. Unlike traditional tube seats, where the tube itself provides the rigidity against which the reel nuts are tightened, and epoxy just attaches the tube to the blank, with split seats, the epoxy bond between the seat and the blank provides the anchor against which the reel nuts are cranked down. This got me to thinking that maybe this might be too much stress on that kind of an epoxy bond. Is glue strong enough for this job?

Has anyone had any experiences, or problems, with any kind of epoxy failing to live up to this kind of torque? Should these reel seats be loosened between uses, to prevent possible failure? Or are good epoxies (I use Rod Bond) strong enough that I should I just shut up and fish this thing, and forget about it?

The epoxy is more than strong enough. Do pay attention to good surface preparation techniques. You can read up on that in the online library here.

Yes, fish with the thing and forget it.

...........

Just pay a good attention for what my father teached me a long time ago..and then Mr. Kirkman remindes us all when it comes to bonding...a good water break surface preparation before glueing and for sure there will be no problems at all with that reel seats.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2013 03:14PM by Mihalyfalvi Gabriel.

i'll suggest you to cut the arbor in 2 pcs and place it on blank with some gap and fill the gap with rodbond
my concern is not the epoxy strength but the arbor strength.
my first experience with SK2, the arbor broke when i accidentally twist the reel
with the method above the blank will have direct glue contact with the reel seat

I did everything I was supposed to do: sanded the finish, used an arbor, etc. If this thing does not hold up, it will be because of epoxy failure. But it seems that this is something that I'm not going to have to worry about.

Thanks for the replies, fellas.

If you are concerned about arbor strength, you could always turn an arbor out of wood, glue it to the blank and then glue the seat to the wood arbor.

Roger

Chris,

I have had a couple of guys bring drop shot rods back to me with the rear reel seats loose. On those rods I had installed the threaded portion of the reel seat in the down position and had reamed the rear grip out to accept the collier covering the reel seat nut. I caused myself several problems with the reel seat installed in this manner: one the rear grip was very thin where reamed to accept the reel seat collier and two: one of the guys had the nervous habit of tightening the grip / nut while fishing. I noted when repairing the reel seats on the two rods that the epoxy had held fine; but the failure had occurred as a result of the reel seat arbor being sheared or split lengthwise. I had advised these two clients not to over tighten the reel seat nut.

I eliminated the problem by flipping the reel seat around so it tightens from the front, (which is probably the way Fuji intended it to be installed but I was too stupid to realize it)! The EVA fore grip / nut cover available from Fuji works great too.

The suggestion made by Ernest above is worth considering. My inspection of the reel seat failure on the two rod I mentioned showed the problem was not a result of the epoxy breaking loose; but a shearing off of the reel seat arbor.

Everyone seems to want the split grips on their rods and the work great as long as you can keep them out of the hands of Mr. Gorilla Grip!!

Don Campbell
don@sensorfishingrods.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2013 11:38AM by Donald R Campbell.