How do you fit inserts for this reel seat? Is there one insert size on the front end and another size on the hood end? Is the rod blank exposed in the center or does the insert go all the way through the seat, it just appears to be sealed in two sections not one . The inser I was provided is not long enough to go all the way through the reel seat . Is there any Alps vender information on this ?

There is only one insert needed for the MVT casting reel seat, Yes, the rod blank is meant to be exposed in the center.

MVT casting reel seats are meant to be ordered based to the OD of the blank, at the position the reel seat is going to placed. There is no insert at the front of the seat. There are 4 ribs inside the front of the seat ( inside the thread barrel ). One at the 12 o'clock position, one at 3, one at 6, and one at 9. The seats are sized, based on the distance between ribs that are opposite of each other. Meaning you order it based on the OD of the blank where the thread barrel will fall. The ID of the insert at the rear of the seat, which is roughly 1 5/8" long, will have a slightly larger ID than the size seat you order.

Using measurements from the 13.5 mm MTV casting seat that I have on hand ..... the distance between two opposite ribs in the thread barrel measures 13.49 mm. The ID at the rear of the seat has an ID of 13.68 mm. One thing you need to make sure of, is that the insert at the rear of the seat, is epoxied into the seat. I have received seats where the insert was already epoxied in, and seats where it wasn't epoxied in. Epoxying them in is a simple process. You just want to make sure you take the shine of the ends of the insert that won't be exposed in the window in the seat, before you epoxy it in. Doing so will ensure a good bond between the insert, and the seat body.

I always order a seat .5mm smaller than I need, so I can ream it to fit, if needed. If you ream the seat, depending on the grit of your reamer, you may find that you need to dress the edges of the blank window, to smooth them out a bit. It's easy enough to do with a piece of 300 grit sandpaper.

The majority of the casting rods I've built, use the MVT reel seat. Very comfortable and very easy to use. And I think it's one of the sharpest looking reel seats on the market.

I hope I've helped, and if you have any more questions, I'll be glad to try and answer them.

Nine right up Dave. Very informative. You got me onto MVT seats and I’m a big fan myself now.

I recently installed one. I found the ID was approximately .5mm off from what they claimed.

I bought a 12.5mm ID seat, it was actually 13mm. I then bought a 12mm seat, it measured12.5mm. I would buy .5mm smaller ID then what you need.

The insert is very small, there is not much surface area for gluing to the reel seat. I think they are glued from the factory but come loose. One of them had what looked like a spot of epoxy about the size of a pencil tip on one edge of the insert. I don’t think it needs to be glued, it’s not going anywhere and glue from mounting to the blank is going to keep it from moving anyway.

David and John , all,
Thanks for your reply. I'm a fly rod builder most of the time, my son is an amateur Bass fisherman for Basspro and got me into building some Bass Casting rods so forgive me , I don't know everything I should know about casting components . I bought the Mvt reel seat because of its style and quality but assumed wrong that it's like fly reel seats that accept inserts the full length of the seat. I turn acrylic for use on my cork handles and also for reel seat inserts. I have a client who really wants the sleek design of the MVT but with a red acrylic that they have chosen as an insert. David your sizing and design description for the MVT was perfect, answered all my questions. I am using one of the hidden hoods but intend to replace the current EVA in this with my red acrylic and also turn a piece of the same acrylic to fit the end insert...have to make sure I get an MVT that does not already have the insert glued.to do this. I have wondered what would happen if I just built an acrylic sleeve over the section that would normally be the exposed rod blank in the MVT ? I would image this would cause a problem because then the MVT would be elevated above the blank at the end of the hood and look wrong ? The acrylic really doesn't add much wt depending on the type you use . I will probably just leave the rod blank exposed as it's intended to be and use my red acrylic inserts on the end and Hood section as stated .

Jeremy .... thanks for the kind words. Much appreciated.

Russ, glad I could help. I personally haven't had the problem of the seats measuring a .5 mm larger than their stated size, that John mentioned. Alps stamps the size of the seat on the inside of the blank exposure window. Every one I've gotten, has matched the size stamped inside the seat.

As far as your needing a seat where the insert isn't already glued in, I will say that the insert has not been glued in, in last 6 seats I have received. They've been slightly snug in the seat, but they do come out. A number of years ago after receiving one of the seats where the insert was loose, I contacted Batson, questioning whether or not the insert was supposed to glued in at the factory. I was told that it was. Ever since then I have been sure to check to make sure they're glued in, and if not, I just glue them in myself.

As John said, the epoxy used to mount the seat to the blank is going to keep the insert in place, but I still glue them in separately. As I said earlier, it's very simple to do, and for me, is a better safe than sorry kind of thing.

As far as a colored acrylic sleeve in the section where the blank would be exposed .....I just measured the 13.5 mm MVT seat that I have on hand. The ID of the thread barrel, and the OD of the insert are both 15.16 mm. Size 14 and 15 MTV casting seats do not come with an insert, so no need to worry about the insert already being epoxied in.

If you can find an acrylic sleeve with an OD of 15 mm, and an ID large enough to pass your blank through, you could just use an acrylic sleeve that is the entire length of the reel seat. Then all you'd need to do is epoxy the sleeve into the reel seat, and then arbor the blank to fit the ID of the acrylic sleeve.

Just a possibility.

Thanks David . I might just try this . I turn and machine my own acrylic so I can make this happen . My rod blank OD at the exposed blank position is 11 mm and I have the 13.5 MVT , however this results in a acrylic wall thickness of approx. 1.25 mm ...very thin and concerned this will not be durable enough to last actual field use. So I thought about ordering a size 15mm seat and then my acrylic thickness would be approximately 2 mm. That's workable but would this raise my reel seat artificially too high on the blank and not be a good design. I'm leaning towards just sizing a MVT for the rod blank, 11 mm - 0.5 or 10.5 mm and then just be satisfied with acrylic insert on the butt end and one of the sliding hood both totally doable and then the reel seat design is not compromised.

Russ, the thickness of the walls of your insert isn't going to affect the height of the reel seat in relationship to the blank. The center line of the seat, and the OD of the seat is going to remain the same. So no worries there.

As far as the durability of a thinner wall versus a thicker wall ...... were you speaking of an insert that is going to remain hollow, then I'd certainly want a thicker wall for its' added strength. But, the insert is going to be epoxied to the body of the reel seat, which on its' own, will make it very rigid. Once installed in the reel seat, you'll be filling the insert with the rod blank, and arbors ....

Unless your durability concern is with the turning the OD of the acrylic down to fit inside the reel seat, I personally wouldn't have any concerns with a wall thickness of 1.25 mm.

David,

Thank you for your response. I really appreciate it. I'm actually doing two Drift rods with the MVT reel seat , one has a rod blank OD at the center of the seat (exposed blank point) of 11 mm , the other 11.9 mm. The problem with a 1 .25 mm acrylic thickness is turning and redrilling to fit these blanks . I have done this before and had the acrylic wall fail during redrilling. So I tentatively ordered two 15 mm MVT seats to end up with a workable acrylic thickness. If I kept this plan, do you think I could safely reem out the MVT seats to run one piece of acrylic sleeve the full length of the seat? I ask this because the butt end of the seat appears to be a slightly different ID as discussed and has an edge sealing point I expect. Just don't want to destroy this seat just to run the full length acrylic but it sounds like reeming the internal of the seat as discussed is how you fit the reel seat to rod blank anyway.

David,

I decided to go with my original idea to purchase two(2) 15 mm MVT seats and fit an approx. 3" long acrylic sleeve across the internals of the seat. When I look into the seat internals with a flashlight, I can see the exposed window section where you would normally have an exposed blank, my current MVT being 13.5 mm but it's obvious to me that the manufacturer just converts this to a full bore ID of 15 mm for this size of seat , I say full bore because the measured ID of the barrel section is 15 mm and this does not change as the Sliding hood is the same size for all MVT seats.

Much appreciated your help to think through this MVT design and fit issue! Have a good day!

Russ, good deal. Your reasoning concerning a the sizing of the internals of the MVT seats matches mine. I'm sure a 15 mm seat is going to work well for what you're going to do.

I've seen examples of builders using acrylic inserts in various reel seats, and they look awesome !!! Some of the color patterns available in the acrylics are amazing. If I had a lathe, I'd look into giving their use a try, myself. But, I pretty much only build rods for my own personal use, and I already have more rods than I know what to do with, so investing in the equipment to do the kind of things that you're doing, just isn't in the cards for me.

Hopefully you'll post a picture or two when you're done with these MVT modifications, because I would love to see them !!!

[photos.app.goo.gl]

David,

Again Thanks very much for your assistance. Rodbuilder.org is a great resource ! Thanks for your kind comments. I shared a link above for a Bronco Orange Crush rod I just completed. Let me know if the photo doesn't come through...I used to have a website but costs just went out of sight this year. I build rods for local clients. Many times I build rods to trade labor. I built the Orange Crush rod for my chiropractor son who is a rising star on the Bull Riding circuit. He helped me rebuild my backyard gate. Building the two Drift rods for a fantastic roofer who just rebuilt my roof and gutter after an Amazon delivery truck ran into our home(Can you believe it!!).

Tight Lines !

Russ Amato
VisionaryCustomRods!

Russ ..... you do some truly beautiful work. I mean truly beautiful work. I'd imagine that you get a lot, if not all of your work via word of mouth, because rods such as the one pictured, are surely talked about in glowing terms by anyone that sees them.

As far as the Bronco Orange Crush theme ........... that brings back some memories ....... The Drive .... The Fumble ....... notice I didn't say they were good memories. I'm a Browns fan. lol

I ended up eating a dog biscuit after the fumble ........... they are NOT as tasty as dogs make them look. lol


Anyhow ....... you're absolutely right ......... Rodbuilding.org is a great resource. I met another member of this site, Joe Vanfossen, on an Ohio fishing website that has a tackle making forum. I was looking to have a couple of rods built, and Joe said that he could help me out. Well ....... one thing led to another, and I ended up going to an Ohio rod builders outing and met Joe in person. Great guy ..... I had already been building my own jigs and spinnerbaits n such, and building my own rods just seemed like the natural next step. Joe is the one that mentioned this site to me. I joined, and have been a member ever since.

The knowledge of the membership of this site is unsurpassed by any other dedicated rod building forum that I have seen on the internet.

I love this place !!!

David,

Thanks for your kind comments. My expertise is in making Cork-Acrylic handles ( fighting butt & grip). I also do thread weaves and Cross wraps. There are so many talented Rod builders , I'm just happy to contribute. I love turning all kinds on acrylic , purchase most stock I turn but also make my own. As far as the Bronco' s , I grew up in Cheyenne, WY and we always followed the Denver Broncos as Denver was a couple hours drive away and we would go see their games. I loved the Broncos the most when Peyton Manning was their quarterback. I have lost track of the NFL these days as several of my friends are X veterans who are disappointed in athletes that can't stand for our national anthem,not all but enough to turn them and myself off. So unfortunately I didn't see that game . I have tried dog biscuits...ha ha. I have three(3) Bull dogs , two are Rescue dogs, one is a one eyed Jack......they keep me busy when Rod building does not .

I have tapped on this forum many times and never once have not been greeted with many experienced builders who provided valued assistance to me

I will send out a photo of the MVT reel seats once complete , just finalized my order yesterday.

Have a good evening!

Hey David,

Need more help understand the fit up of the MVT reel seat to the rod blank. I was able to fit my acrylic insert to the hidden fire grip hood section....quite a redrilling task as I had to turn it on a 1/4" pen mandrel and then open the entry hole to 13/16". This takes special acrylic drill bits with a much higher tip angle to support gradual penetration into the material to avoid cracking. The hidden hood as I'm sure your aware is the same size for the MVT and so I was able to proceed with this fit up while waiting for my new 15 mm seats to arrive. Now my question is what seals off the hidden hood to the rod? On an exposed hood I'm used to butting up a winding check ring to seal it to the rod (you could use thread but I like the aesthetic effect of the ring). With the MVT hidden hood what do you normally do? A photo of one of your completed rod installations focused on this area would help me understand.

David Baylor,

Another follow up to my recent question just to be clear ...looking for the right seal ring to be placed against the MVT barrel to close the gap . Considering two options:
AmTak Long Winding Check for Screw Side of Reel Seat

American Tackle aluminum long sear check ASCHL-15-B

Russ, I have never used a hidden thread hood for an MVT. MVT seats are different than other seats from the likes of Fuji or American tackle in that they use 2 locating nubs in the hood assemblies, and 2 slots in the thread barrels that are located on the sides of the thread barrel, versus either the top, or bottom of the thread barrel like other reel seats.

The hoods for the Alps Tech Touch may be the same as MVT, but I can't be sure. Hopefully you made sure you got a hidden thread hood for an MVT and test fitted it before doing your modifications.

As far as blocking off the front of the reel seat, the thread barrel, the MVT is a size 16 seat, so any winding check designed to seal the end of a 16 seat, will work. As for how I handle it, and the way I handle it would work for a hidden thread assembly as well. I use an EVA nub that I make. I cut them about 3/8" wide, and turn them down so their ID fits the end of the thread barrel. When you back off the hood to install a reel, the nut passes over the EVA. Which is why I say it would work for a hidden thread barrel.

Linked is a picture of one of my rods with an MVT on it so you can see what I'm describing. I'm also linking another picture. It's a picture of the same set up, on an XO skeleton grip. I link it so you can get a better idea of how it looks from a more forward view.

I use the same EVA nub on every rod I build. It doesn't matter what reel seat I'm using. They all get the same thing. Sometimes I'll cap the end of the EVA nub with an aluminum winding check. Sometimes a black rubber winding check. Or sometimes it's just the nub itself.

[www.rodbuilding.org] this is the picture of the MVT seat.

[www.rodbuilding.org] this is the picture of it on the XO skeleton grip.

I should say that the XO skeletons come with a hidden thread hood assembly, but they're considerably heavier than a standard type hood / nut assembly. Plus I like the splash of red the locking ring adds to the reel seat area of the rod. I have a Shimano Vanford on that particular rod, and the red locking ring goes very well with it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2024 06:03PM by David Baylor.