OK so I have built two 1.5 inch long arbors from drywall tape and will mount a Fuji 22 seat on them. The arbors are pretty thick because the blank dia. is pretty small. After making the arbors they seem very spongy and I can twist them around a bit with my fingers. So my question is will the epoxy penetrate the open pores of the tape enough to firm it all up? Or am I looking at a disaster from arbors that are soft and will allow the seat to move or turn even a little? Any advice from anyone that has used this tape for larger arbors is appreciated.

Randy
I have used the yellow drywall mesh tape to make a couple of home brew arbors on 2 or 3 rods a while back. I apply paste adhesive (smear it all over the mesh ) as I wrap the mesh tape onto the blank, kind of packing / filling the voids as I go. I haven't had any seat movement or failures yet. I would let the adhesive cure for a few days - none of that "building a rod tonight to fish it tomorrow" stuff! The build-up for my rods wasn't very thick - 4 or 5 revolutions max.
Rog

My tape build-up is probably fifteen winds around.

I have done seat repairs on fly rods from a well known high end rod company. Only to be surprised that they used the same mesh tape and what had happened is the epoxy had worked its way down through the mesh when the seat was installed. Did it hold yea, but not for long after much use. So my advice don't use it go with a graphite arbor or make your own with a non porous material.

Dave
East Bay Custom Fly Rods

To shim that large a gap, it is better to use the foam arbors available. That many layers of mesh or tape is asking for trouble.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2015 09:37PM by Phil Erickson.

I find the drywall mesh tape a pain in the you know what, regardless of its performance. I agree with above comments that foam reel seat shims are the way to go for the application you mention. Pay Bays are the best in my opinion, a little more structural, feel a little harder than others. The dark color makes a mess, though. Riley foam works well , too.

i've used those light color hard foam arbors (?) when there was a wide gap between the reel seat and blank. i use the mesh for smaller gaps.

i think if you were intent on using the mesh, i would apply paste like adhesive (i use rod bond) after a couple of turns of the mesh, building it up as i completed the wrap.

i'm just not sure how it would turn out in the long run with mesh in your case. better be safe than sorry and try using the more solid arbors made for wider gaps.

eric
fresno, ca.

Along with several others I think the tape is longer to apply and the arbors are a heck of a lot easier and use less glue so less weight Easy to shape a large one to fit a small seat Glue into the seat then easer to ream and fit the blank

Bill - willierods.com

When using drywall mesh tape, I like to cut into 1/2" strip and leave a gap between. I will pack the mesh with epoxy and the ends to fully encapsulate. Paste epoxy works well for this.

I personally do not like the approach, it makes for an unnecessarily heavy glue up.

Like others have mentioned above, I'd also go with a lightweight arbor. I happen to use the FlexCoat reel seat arbors.

Link to arbors:
[www.flexcoat.com]
Video of handle buildup showing use of arbors:
[www.flexcoat.com]

I have also used the Pacific Bay and Fuji arbors and like them also.

For Pacific Bay see page 66 of their catalog here:
[www.fishpacbay.com]
For Fuji look near the bottom of the page (they don't list a size 22 however):
[anglersresource.net]

In my mind, any of these choices (or even masking tape) would be preferable.

I do as Bob Jumper does. I cut my mesh tape in half length-wise. less weight.

and thanks to John E. Powell's links, i can identify the arbors i have used as the Flex-Coat arbors. Very easy to ream out.

eric
fresno, ca.

I use mesh tape on all builds, from UL to surf rods. The trick is to measure the ID of the reel seat, then start the mesh wind up on the blank until you reach the same diameter as your ID measurement without any rod bond( I only use Rod Bond) .Then unroll the mesh and apply a glob of Rod Bond at the base of mesh on the blank and reroll the mesh allowing the Rod Bond to bleed thru the mesh as you roll, Have a thread handy to tie off the roll to keep it from unravaling as you slide the reelseat over the mesh arbor. Normally two wide arbors are requied to fit a reelseat. Be prepared to have some DNA and a cloth to clean up whatever Rod Bond presses out between the reelseat and the arbor, Also, use a small sliver of banding tape to adheare the mesh to the blank before you start the rollup. I just dont trust those foam arbors. There are only two points of adheaseve,at the blank and at the wall of the reelseat. Between that is a foam core. With the mesh, you have a solid mass of Rod Bond with no chance of breaking that bond. I've been doing it that way for a long time and never had a failure yet.

Dennis J. Danku
(Sayreville,NJ)

I have been building rods for over 30 years and have installed many, many grips during that time.

The purpose of the arbor is to keep the grip properly centered on the blank while the adhesive, i use Rod Bond, sets up. It is the adhesive that provides the strength and stability to the grip, not the arbors.

I use masking tape for my arbors and keep them small (3/4 inch wide). On grips of 8 inches or less I use 2 arbors and on longer grips i use 3. Keep the arbors at each end at least 1 inch back from the end to provide space for the adhesive at the ends. Be sure to fill the voids between the arbors completely even to the point of overfilling so that when you slide the grip on all voids will be completely filled. Allow the adhesive to cure properly before doing any further work on the grip.

As I said, I have used this method in my professional builds for over 30 years and have never had a "grip failure" from it.

Just remember that spacers serve a specific and limited purpose and add little or no stability to the process.

John A.

Randy,
No matter what anyone else says, I will not, and do not use drywall tape.

I just find no real advantage with the tape and find it to be a big pain to use.

Rather, I use either masking tape or a foam arbor. Of the two, the foam arbor is the best.

But, if using masking tape, I use either 1/2 inch wide, or 1/4 inch wide masking tape - depending on the length needed.

I always leave a bit of space between each row of tape. This lets the epoxy run from the rod grip to the blank, and the masking tape is really only there to keep the reel seat centered on the blank.

Tape works particularly well, if the arbor is paper thin. Tough to ream the foam arbors when only a fine uniform spacing is required all the way round the blank.

Good luck

Like a good auto mechnic, it's the guys who have to repair them that discover thier faults and after awhile things change. If you retired after 40 years of working on an assembly line, thats all you know how to do. But, if you had to repair 40 years worth that assembly line work, things would change.
Please believe me , I'm not poking anyone about how they build thier rods, no matter how long you or I have been building, we all have more to learn or adapt to.
With every reelseat repair I get, its always tape bushings that fail or an arbor that has deteriated(boy I wish I could spell) thats the reason for my reply.

Dennis J. Danku
(Sayreville,NJ)

I have never seen an arbor Deteriorate tape yes Only because they were not done Correctly

You got some pictures of them Deteriorating ????

Bill - willierods.com

Bill, I never had a reason to take pictures of them but I can tell you that whatever was used to mount those arbors had caused them to turn to ashes. I have seen all kinds of things used as arbors, from wood dowels with mason cord wrapped around them to bingo chips.Believe it or not ,the ones with the bingo chips were the toughest.No way were you gonna save that reelseat without reboring it. They would break loose from the blank and spin free.

Dennis J. Danku
(Sayreville,NJ)