This will be used for tarpon & snook.

There is enough space where I could reem out and sand down foam arbors but it would be a pain to make them that thin.

Should I use fiberglass tape instead?

If so, any tricks for getting it centered and kept on center when sliding on the seat? Any other tricks that would help?

As always, thank you all for your great help!

Use thread, string or cording, doesn't have to be pretty just space filling.

I used drywall mesh on the 11wt I’m building. A drop of UV glue will hold it in place, until the epoxy takes over. You can also use thread and even cork to take up space. I stopped using the foam arbors because they scratch the blank when checking fit.

George Forster
Fort Collins, CO

I use fiberglass Drywall tape cut to about a quarter inch wide and space 3 of those arbors evenly where the reel seat will be. I also stagger where the tape ends for each piece to help center the seat. These can be just one wrap, because sometimes that is all it takes. I like the idea of using a little UV epoxy to keep them from unraveling. I have been using a very narrow short piece of masking tape to hold them till i get them epoxied on. Make sure to fill the voids in between and on the outer edges of the fiberglass tape arbors with epoxy.

I also use dry wall tape as an arbor for reel seats which are close to fitting the blank, where a few wraps are all that’s needed to give a snug fit. I use a drop of super glue on the leading edge to tack the dry way tape to the blank. This keeps the tape it from walking when you slide on the reel seat after applying the epoxy.
Norm

Thank you all. I went with the fiberglass tape, cut into thinner strips to make arbors, pinned down with crazy glue and made sure to fill the gaps between the arbors. The alignment looks perfect. I appreciate all the help!.

It’s my favorite way to fill small gaps. I usually match the two tape ends to the same place on the blank to assure concentricity. These haven’t failed me on halibut and salmon shark.

OK I'll bite. Why couldn't you use masking tape period. I have built two tarpon rods in my life, both fly rods, 11 and 12 wts. The last one perhaps 25 years ago easy. They both saw a lot of action, and still could today if I got the chance. So why not plain old masking tape?

The idea of fiberglass tape is to get epoxy all through it to the blank. Using strip and epoxy in between you may as well use masking tape

I'll add my 2 cents.
Been using masking tape for over 40 years, I couldn't even begin to count how many rods I've made throughout the years, and not a single reel seat has broke loose, whether it be a Fly rod, an ultra-lit or countless saltwater rods. It Works
I think the key is a good top quality epoxy that is NOT a quick harden like 5 minute epoxy. The faster it hardens the more brittle it is.

Fishing is not a matter of life or death, it's much more important than that



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2023 08:47PM by John Sansevera.

I also use masking tape for thin arbors.
But, I will add one note:
i.e. I use masking tape strips with a narrow band between each of the strips.
This allows epoxy to have a full reach from the inside of the reel seat to the blank itself. Then, this also causes each strip of epoxy to become encapsulated in epoxy and thus impervious to any moisture intrusion that might ever make its way toward the blank and the tape.
I have never had a reel seat failure in all of the years of building.

I tried using the fiberglass tape a couple of times but was never happy with the results.

But, never an issue with masking tape, so have continued to use it for very thin arbors. For an arbor of any significant thickness I will use the foam arbors = also with 100% success.

Best wishes

I have used masking tape and 10 minute Rod Bond on many different rods of different types and never had a failure. I also have found the fiberglasss tape so troublesome to handle I gave it away to another builder. I do it similar to the way Roger does. It is doubtful than any water can get to the area of the tape and since it is totally encapsulated, it wouldn't degrade the tape if it got there.

I'm not sure the comment about the brittle nature of fast curing epoxy is correct if one uses an epoxy designed for rod building. Maybe for some hardware store types, but I expect not for the rod building epoxy.

I always use the surface prep process found in the Library on both the blank and the bore of the seats.

George Forster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I used drywall mesh on the 11wt I’m building. A
> drop of UV glue will hold it in place, until the
> epoxy takes over.

I also use UV glue for this...

I'm just gonna throw this out there....

The other day I did repair on an old Fenwick rod build in the 70's.
The reel seat was shimmed with a piece cardboard tubing and epoxy. (not the corrugated)
It was not easy to get off...After some heat the reel seat did release from the epoxy.
The cardboard shim had to be cut off.
I was really impressed with how well this had secured the reel seat and how well it had stood the test of time.
Now...obviously this is something Fenwick had made for their production, but nonetheless I was thinking how cool it would be to have a source for this.

As for what I currently use:
Polyurethane arbors for larger gaps and graphite arbors for smaller gaps.
There are times when I will add a little drywall tape to either one if needed.
The graphite arbors are simply a piece of an old rod. Pick the diameter you need (or close)
You cut it to length and crush it in a vice...the result is always four pieces.
Epoxy these four pieces evenly spaced. I will wrap thread around it to hold it tight and in place until it cures.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/07/2023 11:57AM by Chris Catignani.

Only foam arbor for me.
Herb

I'm in the middle of a project which is relevant to this discussion. I am salvaging an expensive aluminum reel seat from a 9 wt fly rod that failed. The original build was cork grip, fighting butt, using U40 Quik Bond 10 minute epoxy. I tried a heat gun on the fighting butt first and got the end of the reel seat and the cork butt so hot the cork was scorching but the epoxy did not give way at all. The cork finally failed at the cork/blank interface, and the epoxy appeared totally intact.

I then went for the aluminum reel seat and heated it along its length to the point that I was worried about damaging the delrin washers between the locking nuts, so I gave up on that. I went to drills, going progressively larger, and that worked quite well in destroying the blank. Their was no indication that the epoxy was damaged. The masking tape bushings stuck to the drill and came out somewhat intact and looked like new after 6 years of use. It did not appear that any water had gotten to them as they were totally encapsulated in epoxy.

I then went for the aluminum winding check, heating it up very hot, again scorching the adjacent cork. I finally cut away the epoxy, but it was not easy to get it to move. More heat and the epoxy started to cut fairly easily. I had to slice the decal wraps off and in the process the blank surface fibers came with the epoxy. It was not clear whether the blank had been damaged or not.

My conclusions are that for small gaps masking tape works just fine. Quik Bond 10 minute epoxy is very heat resistant, and anyone expecting epoxy to melt is going to be disappointed. It took a lot of heat to deteriorate it, and even then it still retained quite high strength and adhesion. There was no indication that the properties of the epoxy had changed with time. It was not brittle and was adhering to the reel seat very tightly at the interface with the grip where the seat is inserted about half an inch into the grip. It had to be carefully cut away; it would not chip away. It is highly unlikely that one could salvage a cork seat using heat.

1st - Thank you all for the timely and helpful posts.

My take aways:
good results can be had using arbors, fiberglass tape, or masking tape.
epoxy coverage is important.
tacking down fiberglass with a glue makes it more manageable. I hated using fiberglass before, but used this trick this time and it was a breeze.

I also cut my fiberglass into arbor sized strips. This made it more manageable, and, I believe, improved my epoxy coverage.

Thanks again

I'm having a hard time understanding why it would be hard to ream a foam arbor very thin? I haven't built that many rods, but I've used foam arbors for every spinning rod I've built, and a couple of the casting rods I've built where I didn't use an exposed blank reel seat.

Epoxy the arbor into the reel seat, let it dry, and ream it. Super simple. And I am certain that I have reamed them to where they were thinner than what two layers of fiberglass dry wall tape would be.

Also, just a comment on what Chris mentioned about a cardboard tube arbor. I had an old factory Shimano casting rod that I wanted to rebuild, and it had the same thing. Like Chris said, it was not easy to get off. Not easy at all.

I also like to glue foam arbors into the reel seat and then team them to fit. They can be reamed very thin without any danger of them cracking. Reaming the foam arbor alone to fit the blank and then sliding and gluing the reel seat onto the foam can work. However, the problem with this that the arbor can split when testing for fit. This ruins the arbor which wastes money. If the reel seat fit is close a few wraps of dry wall tape saves a lot of money. Less than penny for the dry wall tape versus over a dollar for a foam arbor, and you get the same results.
Norm