My first time on this forum! I just started building rods a couple of months ago. Built the first one for myself. Now building two more for Christmas presents. Word has been getting around locally that I have been doing a fair job of it. Consequently I am being asked to repair rods for friends etc. as no one else does it here where I live.

Now a friend has brought me an old Fenwick HMXF Cross Scrim Graphite rod that he wants me to rebuild. The rod blank is in good condition but it needs a new reel seat. In order to replace this, it looks like I will have to replace the handle too.

I have all winter to do the job, but I need some insight on how to go about removing the old seat and handle without damaging the blank. The guides are no problem I tested out the removal and they come off quite easily.

Is there any way to remove these other than cutting them off a bit at a time? Will heating slowly with a torch loosen the glue under the old reel seat allowing removal?

Any instruction on the subject would be greatly appreciated. jo1ho2@shaw.ca

Howard

If you have a rod lathe, you can put the rod into it and simply turn down the old grip. Failing that, use a pocketknife to "whittle" off the grips in pieces. When you get close, sand down smooth - you don't need to go all the way down to the surface of the blank. A new grip can be sized to fit over what remains.

Heat can damage your blank. Use a fine toothed saw or a dremel tool to cut a slot along the length of the seat. Insert a screw driver and twist. That should pop it loose.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/2005 10:50PM by Tom Kirkman.

I removed a reel seat by putting it in boiling water. and dragged it off after a few minuttes.

Thanks a lot Tom.
Since I do not have a rod lathe, what you say is pretty much what I figured I would have to do. However, I had not thought of splitting the reel seat and using a screw driver to pry it apart, this sounds easier than I thought. We will see........ The epoxy on this old rod has split in places. I cut off one of the guides with an exacto knife held level to the rod so as not to damage it. Once I had cut through the winding I could peel of the remainder. They must have used color preserver first as the epoxy had not adhered to the rod. This made it easy to remove.

Again thanks for your help, I probably won't get to it until after Christmas, as I am still building rods for presents for my grand-son and son-in-law. also one for my son.

Howard

Thanks Terje:

I will keep your comment in mind. I will try cutting it off first, if that dosn't work I will try your hot water treatment. I hadn't thought of that before. My thought was more torch oriented.

Howard

Thanks to all: I had a few minutes tonight while I waited for the color preserver to dry. So I decided to try and remove the grip and handle I had previously sked for ideas on.

I am happy to report that I was able to remove them just as Tom Kirkman described. Only took me about one half hour to complete the job. Thanks to all who came to my rescue.