Replacing Reel Seat - Spinning

[Bender]

I am going to attempt to change the reel seat on a rod I have because I hate it. 
I've read a little about removing the seat with a Dremmel and will do that. The question I have is what all is needed to install a new seat? Obviously winding checks, cork, epoxy, and the seat. If a seat doesn't state the I.D. do you need arbors?

Also here is the seat I want to cut off on the bottom, it is like a big insulator between your hand and the blank:



And the other split seat is what I would like to get. Does anybody know what type it is? It's on a Cabelas XMLTi rod. Thanks!

[Bender]

About an hour's worth of work later:



No wonder it had no feel to it, there was a bunch of tape and loosely wrapped cardboard paper under the reel seat.

[Cheetam]

Are you going to remove the guides to put the reel seat on?  Or are you going to try and go from the end of the blank up?  I'm no rod builder, but I'm guessing you'd have gaps between the blank and the reel seat if you tried to do it from the bottom.

[Bender]

I just thought of that too. I'm going to try to go from the back, if there is too much of a gap then I'll have to fill it with something. I have to run out and get a battery for my calipers to see how much taper it has.

Edit: Best estimation is about 1.75mm (fat 1/16th") in taper from the butt to where the front of the seat would go. If it's not hard I sure would like to throw some Recoild guides on this rod, but I don't want to get all the stuff to wrap them including a lathe.

[canvsbk]

The tape and cardboard were shims. You need to do the same thing.....

To do this correctly I would strip the blank and start from scratch, but if it's really special to you I'ld pick another for my first attempt.
Rodbuilding.org contains all the information in the universe on rod building. The process can be quite simple if you like or extremely complicated if you choose but know this: it's very addicting. Every rod builder will tell you the same thing, you absolutely cannot buy over the counter what you can build. Not even close.
Good luck 

[thedude]

you can do this without taking off the guides  and here's how:
1. pic a reel seat. You're going to want probably a standard sz 16 or 17. Pick one with a standard I.D. like a fuji DPSM or DNPSM.
2. buy a "graphite reel seat arbor" with a matching O.D. to your reel seat I.D.

You will need a ream. An old blank with sand paper tape wrapped around it works well or you can purchase one for 5-10$ when you buy your reel seat/arbors/grips.  Ream the the arbor so it is just big enough to fit over the butt of the blank. You will have to use 2-3 spots of masking tape to shim the arbor to the blank since the taper is thinner at the seat than the butt. - this is ok - its common practice.

now - for your grip material - Eva foam will work best because it will stretch enough to go over the butt of the blank. If the blank doesn't have too much of a taper, cork can work too - follow the same steps with the grips as you did with the arbor - shimming with masking tape as needed.

Since you are over-boring the whole to accomodate the width of the blank at the but - i would also get a couple vinyl rubber winding checks. These will stretch a fair amount and will hide any gap between the grip and blank.

if you have access to a lathe - making the grips is easy, otherwise - i would just order a kit from mudhole.  You'll want to use "U-40 Rod Bond" to glue all these different pieces to the blank.

have paper towels, toothpick, and rubbing alcohol handy to cleanup any excess rod bond. It will take 24-48hrs to fully cure and has fairly long pot-life.

[thedude]

i wouldn't strip the guides. IMHO its not worth risking damaging the blank. The 2 most common tools to remove guides are a razor blade and a lighter. Too heavy a hand with either and you've got trouble. If you're lucky it will break right there in your hand and not on a fish after you've invested hours of your life into it


the converse to that is - if you do take the guides off that opens up the possibilities to what kind of reel seat you can use. Most split seats are arbored to fit the blank - s you can't put them on from the back.

[Bender]

I think I would start with a cheaper blank if I tried wrapping guides. I'll get a kit, maybe this one:
http://www.mudhole.com/Shop-Our-Catalog/Fuji-Quick-Lock-Handle-Kits/S16HKC-Spinning-Handle-Kit
some glue, and a reamer and have at it.
Cabelas sells handle kits for all of their other XMLTi rods except the one I want. I've never seen one like that before. Oh well, maybe they will go on sale again for 50% off someday. Thanks for your help.

[Bender]

Despite the warning that this is old I'll update it since this is complete. Ken (Lightningboy) helped a ton by choosing a great handle kit and doing all of the work getting everything ready and shortening it all to fit this short rod. He even sent me the right epoxy to use! I got the spacers made and glued it all up yesterday and here it is:









It turned out great in my opinion. If we only had any docks to skip around here...but there are a lot of bushes hanging into the water. Thanks again Ken!

[Crookedneck]

Looks good!  Now try building one from scratch, alot more fun that taking an old one apart!

Mike