Building on my first x-ray blank. Has anyone had comfort issues with the ridged texture when using an exposed reel seat like a Fuji ECSM? I see a lot of premade inserts won't fit the diameter of the blank. Just curious reel seats most folks are using. Thanks!

I've built an SJ736 and an MB736 with the ECS seat and the texture doesn't bother me at all. Then again I probably wouldn't have considered anything else as the ECS is my favorite casting seat and I haven't built with a different seat yet.

The ridges are just the thickness of the cellophane tape applied to the blank while it baked nothing to be concerned with while building the blank.

Should not be a problem at all. However, It you think the ridges would bother you just knock them down with with a wet dry sand paper, 800 to 1000 grit is fine, or steel wool. The ridges are just epoxy resin from the prepeg carbon fiber squeezed out by the cellophane wrap.They sand away quite easily.
Norm

Thanks everyone. Yah I’m bit biased to ecsm seats too. Great I’ll go with that and at least have the option to knock them down if really required!

I’ve built on two of the delta blanks and they also have the un-sanded finish. I sanded them smooth using fine sandpaper and steal wool. The un-sanded blank is being used by many of the large rod manufacturers. I was checking out a Megabass Levante casting rod and it transitions from a glossy painted section at the handle to the unfinished blank a 30:70 split. I has a really cool affect.

The grooves are maybe a sheet or two of notebook paper thick at the most. The ceophane tape used on the blanks isn't very substantial.

I built an MB 703-1 (Delta LMX) which seemed to have more pronounced ridges than my X-Ray NEO. I had an exposed reel seat on it (size 16 Fuji ACS I believe) it and never had any issues with discomfort or the ridges rubbing my fingers raw. I was using it for big squarebills and heavy spinnerbaits so I was casting and winding a lot. No issues, never sanded.