On my last build i glued up the reel seat and 1 pc foam arbor at the same time. The arbor spun a little and moved a little when i installed them. This time i thought id try gluing up the arbor first. Should i glue the arbor to the blank first or should i glue the arbor to reel seat first then install on blank? thanks, mark

Arbor to the seat Let dry then ream to fit the blank I find is the easiest way When reaming I do by hand and turn the seat on the reamer so as not to get the hole off center

Bill - willierods.com

hi bill, i already reamed the arbor. Is that a problem? thanks, mark

I would not think so Glue it in the seat Then on the rod A lot glue them onto the blank Then glue the seat over I also mark where the top or reel goes to make sure the guides line up with the seat
measure twice Cut once

Bill - willierods.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2015 06:37PM by bill boettcher.

thanks bill. i like the sounds of that method. a little hesitant to try it as my arbor is shorter than my reel seat. can see a mess of glue inside reel seat tube! mark

That is why I hand ream the arbor When using a drill if you put any pressor on what you are reaming it can get off center They ream like butter

Bill - willierods.com

You can do this either way. For whatever reason, I tend to mount my arbor/s first, let set, and then glue the seat onto the arbor.

Others mount the arbor inside the seat and then mount that assembly to the blank.

Shifting or movement off your preferred alignment isn't likely to improve either way - that's really a matter of getting it set right, sitting the thing off to the side and then coming back every so often to check to make sure it hasn't shifted. Depending on the adhesive you use, there should come a point where you don't need to worry about it.

...............

I do my seats and arbors like Bill does - glue the arbor into the seat, let cure. Then hand ream and glue to the blank.

Rog

Thanks alot guys. I'll do some experimenting. Is it a bad idea to do it all in one batch? Glue arbor to blank then install reel seat with same glue batch? I just tried it and it seemed to work pretty good. Was able to twist reel seat on without twisting arbor. Then i installed front grip and clamped....mark

Arbor to reel seat and then if possible entire handle assembly at one time so as to line up all parts at once. Held in place with handle assembly press.

Ray Zarychta
Glastonbury, CT

To add to what's already been posted, I like to epoxy the arbor into the reel seat ahead of time.

I make mostly spinning rods, and almost always use the same size seat, so when I can, I will epoxy arbors into 5-10 seats at the same time. Then, when building a rod, all I have to do is ream to fit and epoxy to the rod.

Makes me feel efficient, or something.....

Take care,

Chris

Mark,
For all of my assembly work, cork rings, into grips on the blank, arbors and or reel seats to each other or to the blank, I prefer to use slow drying epoxy. I dry fit everything, so that the fit is perfect at the spot where it will be installed.

Then, I insure that all parts have epoxies where needed to insure a good glue bond between parts, and I do a single glue layup for all of the parts in a grip, onto a rod blank, or arbors and reel seats.

This way, I get the perfect fit with the perfect bond, since I only use one glue mix up and set up for the entire setup.

Yes, one can do separate gue ups for arbor onto the blank, or arbor into the reel seat, and then another glue up for an assembly onto the glued arbor, or the glued arbor and reel seat onto the blank. Your choice.

By having the single glue setup, I find that I can get everything perfectly adjusted without having to worry about having something that is already glued in place and possibly out of alignment by a previous glue up.

Good luck

When I mix up some paste epoxy for attaching handles, there's always some extra unused or you get the excess that squeezes off. I use this to attach arbors inside the seats ahead of time. I usually keep a half dozen or more of each of my commonly used sizes on hand and they all are pre-arbored except one or two in each size just in case I get a blank that almost perfectly matches the seat id; on those I'll just use bands of tape.

In this way, I don't have to wait for glue to dry, I just grab a seat, bore the foam arbor just undersize then ream to fit the blank and it's ready to glue.

John,
Good idea

Thanks alot guys!

Seems I'm in the minority. I glue arbor to blank first. Figure if I mess up I can always correct easier....than if I glued arbor to reel seat and managed to ream off center. In cases where I need to be extra precise; I'll use a masking tape arbor at butt end, then foam arbor, then another masking tape arbor near foregrip. Impossible to do all that if I glue arbor to reel seat first.

I do better with short sections of foam arbor as I can ream them to match blank taper better. I glue everything, grips, arbors, reel seats, gimbal, etc., at same time. Keep in mind I'm often taking an arbor I.D. to 5/8", 3/4", or more. Love the flex coat pilot bits:)

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Russ

if it works for you No big deal Go for it What ever floats your boat and catches fish

Bill - willierods.com