I'm sure this has been discussed many time over but I hoped someone could shed some light on sorting this out

Say I wanted to go with an Aluminum Spinning reel seat in 17mm (bigger hands) and wanted to match say a Winn Split grip or Carbon Fibre, theres some grips that are flush on the ends while others have a reduction shoulder, pretty confusing to say the least, and component retailers don't offer much info on what matches what, or how their put together which leaves the potential greenhorn buyers like me to head off into googleland to research so here I am..

Any even making matters worse, trying to pre plan component/s options to build a complete rod without having the blank in hand to measure from, trying to figure out what cool windings checks would work, and please correct me if I'm wrong here, but all but Impossible..

I've looked everywhere and cant find any info on how to match/incorporate winding checks into the grip and reel seat selection, but I'm confident you fine folks will shed some much needed light on my dismay..

How does a person if they wanted to say go with a 20 reel seat, as im guessing here it might make for more comfort in some cases compared to what I assume the 16's are standard, match a bigger seat to grips with no listed OD's

Sorry to maybe ask such dumb questions but man its beyond frustrating and confusing for me, out here in the dark, but very thankful for a bunch of knowledgeable and friendly builders/members on this site..

Thank very much for your patience and help... HELP :-)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2019 06:44PM by Ernie Roberts.

You're really putting the cart way before the horse , components are chosen after the blank has been decided on , you match the components to the blank not the other way around . Buy the blank and after you get that you proceed with your preferred reel seat size and then after that you can decide on winding checks etc...


The blank you choose determines how small a reel seat you can go with , you can always use arbors to go with a larger reel seat but not the other way around . First decide what blank , grips and all that come afterward.

Forgot to add, i agree completely with you about a lack of info and especially helpful descriptions on websites regarding certain components , you need to have the blank in hand and measure thats really the only way . I can't tell you all the times i bought components that ended up not fitting correctly , if one website isn't providing enough info check others .

Once you have the blank and reel seat in hand everything comes much easier so your comment about it being nearly impossible to figure all this out WITHOUT having the rod blank is pretty accurate .

The reel seat should be sized to best fit your hand, not the rod blank. Based on true ergonomics research, 99% of rod builders use seats that are too small for the average human hand - at least if you want to experience the least fatigue and have the best control.

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

For a carbon fiber grip get the ones that don’t have a tenon for both a fear and fore grip. With the Winn Grips just cut the tenon off so the reel sits fits flush. No problem doing this. Reel seat size is a personal choice. Some like small some like large. A size 17 reel seat is just fine for most fishing situations and are a good match with both the CFX carbon fiber fore and rear grips, and the straight taper Winn grips. Both of these grips have an OD at the fat end of 27mm. A size 17 Fuji reel seat at the fixed hood end has an OD of 24 mm and a barrel OD of about 20 mm. So a size 17 reel seat will fit just fine.
Both types of grips will need to be reamed to fit the blank, so if you don’t have a reamer set buy one or make one. The reel seat will need to be shimed. For this I like to use the size 17 polyurethane foam arbors, cut one in half and epixy one piece in each end. After the epoxy has set, the reel seat can be easily reamed to fit the blank.
For winding checks you do need to know the OD of the blanks where they will be placed. I like to use the rubber /vinyl winding because it you are close they will stretch to give a good fit. Metal winding checks are a pain in the butt, because if not measured precisely they need to be enlarged, which is not a lot of fun plus they can scratch the blank if you are not careful. For metal winding checks better to get them a little larger than smaller. You can ask the place where you are buying them to fit them to the blank for you. Hope this helps.
Norm



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2019 07:51PM by Norman Miller.

Interesting Tom , i keep forgetting my experiences is with mostly surf rod reel seat sizes and some of those required a 22 mm seat which i find a bit large for comfort . When i think of light freshwater or saltwater i could see many going really small since the blank allows it , the blanks i typically deal with do not .

herb canter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Forgot to add, i agree completely with you about
> a lack of info and especially helpful descriptions
> on websites regarding certain components , you
> need to have the blank in hand and measure thats
> really the only way . I can't tell you all the
> times i bought components that ended up not
> fitting correctly , if one website isn't providing
> enough info check others .
>
> Once you have the blank and reel seat in hand
> everything comes much easier so your comment about
> it being nearly impossible to figure all this out
> WITHOUT having the rod blank is pretty accurate .

Thanks Herb, makes perfect sense what you’re saying and yes I understand a person needs the blank in hand to them take measurements and go from there. About the only site I did see specific blank measurements every 2” is Rodgeeks and being I’m new to this and what to go with a split grip setup I’m not sure of the spacing and most importantly I think, reel seat placement...

For example the 6’-7’ M/F spinning rods I have in mind using for my style of fishing I see average around .500” butt, and I’m sure I read that 16 are maybe industry standard for an average off the rack factory built rod... what if I wanted to have something larger in diameter for possible hand comfort, instead of buying a solid insert/arbour does building the blank up with say 2 or 3 masking tape at intervals under the seat then sock maybe an epoxy gel underneath it, is that a viable alternative?? And is it as solid with epoxy as an arbour would be ?

Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars...

Tom Kirkman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The reel seat should be sized to best fit your
> hand, not the rod blank. Based on true ergonomics
> research, 99% of rod builders use seats that are
> too small for the average human hand - at least if
> you want to experience the least fatigue and have
> the best control.
>
> ..................

Makes perfect sense Tom and my exact thought in that I’d prefer a larger OD reel seat than what I’m use to having with factory rods. Man that would be a whopping breath of O2...

Am I correct in thinking the larger the seat OD, ID will be also and therefore the blank needs to be built up more??

Without ordering one of every size seat to find what’s comfortable, is their a method used to know what might fit the individual person grip ??

This just keeps getting better;-)

Thanks very much

Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars...

Norman Miller Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For a carbon fiber grip get the ones that don’t
> have a tenon for both a fear and fore grip. With
> the Winn Grips just cut the tenon off so the reel
> sits fits flush. No problem doing this. Reel seat
> size is a personal choice. Some like small some
> like large. A size 17 reel seat is just fine for
> most fishing situations and are a good match with
> both the CFX carbon fiber fore and rear grips, and
> the straight taper Winn grips. Both of these grips
> have an OD at the fat end of 27mm. A size 17 Fuji
> reel seat at the fixed hood end has an OD of 24 mm
> and a barrel OD of about 20 mm. So a size 17 reel
> seat will fit just fine.
> Both types of grips will need to be reamed to fit
> the blank, so if you don’t have a reamer set buy
> one or make one. The reel seat will need to be
> shimed. For this I like to use the size 17
> polyurethane foam arbors, cut one in half and
> epixy one piece in each end. After the epoxy has
> set, the reel seat can be easily reamed to fit the
> blank.
> For winding checks you do need to know the OD of
> the blanks where they will be placed. I like to
> use the rubber /vinyl winding because it you are
> close they will stretch to give a good fit. Metal
> winding checks are a pain in the butt, because if
> not measured precisely they need to be enlarged,
> which is not a lot of fun plus they can scratch
> the blank if you are not careful. For metal
> winding checks better to get them a little larger
> than smaller. You can ask the place where you are
> buying them to fit them to the blank for you. Hope
> this helps.
> Norm

Great info Norm, Thank you..

The size 17 reel seats are what I’ve been looking at primarily because most every grip/handle is either offered in 16 or max 17. I’m after a 1.5” max long foregrip and 3”-3.5” rear. Although I’ll build one with cork and the Fuji VSS system because it’s simple, light and clean looking, I was looking hard tonight at both the split CFX Carbon fibre and Winns. They show you then either standing up or side view, nothing on bore small or already reamed for like the Fuji KSKSS hidden front hood adapter.. CFX did though. No descriptions of OD or ID haha.

I’m guessing here when you mention the “fixed hood” is maybe the rear/butt end of the seat, and if there 3 difference between reel seat and grip this is where I wondered if there was a spacer/transitional adapter and even without one you’d have a square shoulder all the way around between seat and grips of what 1.5mm and sure not much but be nice not to have that hump there and maybe something offered to smooth that shoulder off. Is this the purpose of a winding check ??

I’m definitely going to order the foam you mentioned, good idea.

Regarding a reamer for hogging out the insides, and again no idea what the interior material is on the carbon fibre handles or Winn. Will good ol rattail wood rasp with coarse teeth work?? I almost bought a reamer from Getbit along with the rest of order but I can always get one down the road.

Makes good sense about vinyl vs metal/aluminum winding checks...

Is there a way to post a photo on this site because Mudhole shows their winding checks installed on a rod and the combination of components they used it really looks sharp and something I’d enjoy having the same thing. Photo can be seen under this “Fuji PF Trim Rings“

Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars...

herb canter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Interesting Tom , i keep forgetting my
> experiences is with mostly surf rod reel seat
> sizes and some of those required a 22 mm seat
> which i find a bit large for comfort . When i
> think of light freshwater or saltwater i could
> see many going really small since the blank allows
> it , the blanks i typically deal with do not .

I can only imagine how much bigger everything on those saltwater rods can be, easily lead into a Texas joke Herb

Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars...

Ernie,
If you use tape arbors make sure you get epoxy around the ends on each side of the tape, so water is sealed off from it. In fact you should do it with foam arbors also. When I first started I used round files to ream out the cork, grips etc. but now I use the Batson dream reamers. I use the smallest one and the next size up most of the time mounted on a drill. It sounds like you are using a light or medium light blank and that is what works best for me. It will save you a lot of time reaming, just be careful not to over ream, ream a little a check it often till you get the exact right bore. Now is the time to quit if you haven't ordered anything yet, this is very addicting but there are worse things out there. Good luck.