I had a foam lined real seat insert fail on a favorite SCV rod build from a few years ago. I chose to remove the seat, rear grip, and butt cap over removing and rewrapping most of the guides. I built a new rear assembly on a 14.5 inch long Matagi carbon tube. This is how many custom rods are originally built in Japan. I used a lighter cap and reel seat to bring the weight gain down to six grams. The dry wall tape shims between the tube and blank would add more weight than the original reamer fitted grip due to the epoxy. Some of that is gained back by less grip material resulting from the 15mm diameter tube. The balance point is very close to the original rod. Has anyone done this procedure? Are there any thoughts on doing this kind of repair over removing the guides?

Thanks,

I have not heard of that specifically, but plenty of folks remove the butt cap and handle, cut off the old reel seat, and then put a new reel seat that’s one or two sizes larger to fit over the butt of the blank, then just build up the arbors and epoxy it on.

I’m curious where your balance point ended up in relation to the reel. Thanks!

Without the reel mounted it moved about a 1/4 inch. The lighter butt cap probably prevented a little more change. With reel on it’s probably negligible. There is more weight rear ward, I don’t know in January how much it will be noticed when fishing.

I can’t imagine it being noticeable in fishing conditions.

When you say a 15 mm diameter CF tube, do you mean ID or OD? If OD that’s a pretty skinny handle. That’s the size of many carbon fiber reel seat inserts for siev16 reel seats. Many handle ODs are about 27 mm (1.063”).
Norm

That’s OD. It fits perfectly inside several reel seats, in this case the SeaGuide Alien CCF. I reamed a CFX casting grip to a straight 15mm bore by putting the taper through both ends and then using a small reamer with hand pressure to take down the middle. The one piece tube is both the seat and the grip insert.

Ok I got it. Sounds interesting. You didn’t mention the part about the rear CFX grip, now I understand. What did you use for the fighting butt/butt cap.
Norm

I use the SeaGuide one as it’s light and the right diameter for the CFX grip. I use VooDoo Dust mixed with rod finish to tint the cap insert. Next, I use a paint pen to write lure weight range, my initials, and the rod action. Then, I cover that with clear rod finish. This prevents needing to put a label on the blank. It adds a custom touch with minimal weight in the best spot for it. The inserts tape easily to a PVC pipe stub to insert into the drying motor. It might be better just to write the blank code for resale purposes, but all someone will need to readily know in the future for fishing is lure weight range and action. Line weight is really personal preference with diameter often being more important than test rating.

I've done 2 like that. No issues whatsoever. On the one I left the casting seat and just built the grips on the tube. DW tape arbors just as ya described. The other was an all new handle/reel seat assembled on the tube. Any added weight is from the reel seat back and if anything just helps with balancing the rod.