Hello, hoping someone can help. I bought an Alps R-CAH LXL2 fly reel seat for my next build. The reel seat has bunch of cutouts to show the insert. They are separate pieces. My question is, how do I glue the reel seat to the insert without a ton of glue showing? There isn't much space on the reel seat that isn't cutout. Anybody used on of these before?

Brian,
That's a very good question
I never used a ported reel seat.
Intuitively - I would shy away from them becaue the epoxy bond has to be less than a non ported seat.
My guess is that you have to "worry" the excess epoxy out of the ports.
BUT!!! If you use a heavy dose of solvent - i.e DNA or Acetone - it will wick under the reel seat producing even less bonding.
I would use a bunch of dry "Q" tips to remove excess epoxy.

Question - does the bushing fit snug?? Or will that also have to be bushed with thread?
That's another issue.
Let us know what happens.

Have you asked ALPS??
Herb



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/17/2022 10:11AM by Herb Ladenheim.

I will assume that the spacer is longer than the ported portion of the seat. If this is so, then you would simple adhere the seat hardware to the portion of the spacer that doesn't show, i.e. the part of the spacer that is covered by the forward hood and rear threaded barrel.

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

That makes me nervous. May become loose after awhile. But i am belts and suspenders.
Herb

I have built numerous fly rods with cut-out style reel seats, and assemble them just as Tom K suggests, never had an issue, even after hard continuous use.

Thanks for the replies. I will reach out to Alps to see what they say. This reel seat has machining so the hood doesn't rotate. As a result there is a slit that goes nearly the entire length of the seat. And the sides have the cutouts. So the only place to glue is really along where the reel foot would be. Here is a link to it:

[getbitoutdoors.com]

Hopefully Alps has some idea.

Before gluing read the article on surface preparation in the library. I've built three rods for family use using that seat with no issues.

With that seat, I put a little glue in the hood end and spread around. Put insert in from opposite end. When insert is most of the way, put glue around the rear of the insert and push it in the rest of the way.

It depends whether this reel seat will be used for show or to fish with. If it's for show it makes little difference if the reel seat comes loose. No harm done, and it can easily be re-glued.

I just took a look at my 8 wt that has that seat and I found it perfectly clean of any epoxy. It has been used for probably about 6 years and feels solid like a rock. I used the process that Tim Scott and I think Tom K described. I also always prep the parts as recommended in the Library article.

My rod is not for show so strength of the bond is important to me. I don't have any rods that are just for show. If I did, they would be vintage, not modern.

Tim and Michael have hit the nail on the head installation wise. If one is really careful and does not twist while inserting, you can also apply a very thin line and layer along the area of the insert that will rest in the non gilled area. This can give you a little more contact surface, but I do not feel it is absolutely necessary

Ron Weber

Really appreciate the info. Just waiting on a NFC blank to be delivered and I will get the seat installed. I'll let you know how it goes!

Brian

Just a reminder, Brian, use the surface prep procedure from the library on both the seat and the blank. Probably not on the insert exc for the area that will be glued.

An easy way to prep the insides of seats is to put a piece of Scotchbrite into the slot of a shotgun cleaning tip on a section of the cleaning rod and drive it with a drill driver.