Working my first 2 rods. I have the handles installed on both of them anow working on the reel seats. I was wanting to use the supplies arbors that came with the reel seats but they do not fit snugly. I can flick them with my finger and they will come right out the other end of the reel seat. Do I just make sure to Epoxy good? See if I can find slightly larger arbors, I have measured the ID of reel seats and OD of arbors? Why wouldn't tchhe companies that supply the arbors with the reel seets make an arbor that fits the reel seat snugly.?

Thanks in advance!

If your seat is not snug to the arbors they will likely not be concentric to the blank once installed. The seat should be a snug fit.

I am not familiar with the arbors that you are using but if they have give to them they will expand once placed on the blank. Reading your post I assume you are flicking them through the seat while holding it in your hand. If this is the case then ream the arbors to where they will be slightly expanded by the blank and then see how the seat fit is.

Ideally you want what is known as a "slip fit." This means the arbors fit with no slop, but not so snugly that they are hard to slide the seat over. Most likely if you use a gel-type epoxy you'll find them to be just about right.

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Fore and aft easy movement I am ok with, the paste type epoxy will take care of that. If there is noticeable left to right movement I worry about alignment. If that is the case I make a very thin tape bushing mid reelseat with arbors fore and aft of that. The tape bushing will be snug but not tight. Just tight enough to eliminate any slop and keep the reelseat concentric until the epoxy dries..Need to plan ahead for this as your rear arbor obviously will not be able to slide over the tape bushing. So I drop the rear arbor on build up the tape fit the reel seat fit front arbor then coat everything well with a nice stiff epoxy. Reelseat lines up on the tape bushing once epoxy drys no gap between arbors and reelseat everything is nice and straight and not going anywhere.

I wouldn't use a paste epoxy. Gel, yes, but not paste.

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Tom Kirkman Wrote:
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> I wouldn't use a paste epoxy. Gel, yes, but not
> paste.
>
> .......

I incorrectly use the two terms interchangeably. Sometimes I catch myself sometimes I don't. Yes gel is the way to go. Rod bond is my preference.

Tom put the fit more elegantly. By snug I meant in contact but not tight. Slip fit is a better descriptor.

One thing I always do is to work the insides of the seats with ScotchBrite strip mounted in a shotgun patch tip on a cleaning rod, spin it with a drill driver in the inside of the seat. The goal is to remove any mold release that might compromise the bond. Overkill? Maybe, but only takes a couple minutes.

Michael Sutheimer Wrote:
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> Tom Kirkman Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I wouldn't use a paste epoxy. Gel, yes, but not
> > paste.
> >
> > .......
>
> I incorrectly use the two terms interchangeably.
> Sometimes I catch myself sometimes I don't. Yes
> gel is the way to go. Rod bond is my preference.

There you go. I wasn't sure. Sometimes people use "paste" to refer to the super thick stuff like PC7. That stuff doesn't like close fitting assemblies and is heavy. RodBond or similar is the way to go.

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Randy,
This is not uncommon.
Easy fix:
Spiral wrap a large size guide thread over the arbor - 3/8" between wraps. If needed - wrap both ways on arbor.
If wrapping thread does not do the job - get some fly line backing and do the same.
BTW - I always epoxy on arbor to the blank - let it cure - then install the seat.
Herb
CTS

Thanks again for everybody's input, it is much appreciated!