Does anyone turn their own wood reel seats for fly rods?
I am not sure how to get started.
i have pen turning mandrels. Im not sure if these will work. And if so where do i get the bushings?

I normally turn mine first then bore them on the lathe afterwards. As an alternative you can drill the blank out to the ID you want and get some drill rod for a mandrel with the proper OD.

No bushings available for reel seats. If you want some to use as a guide you'll have to make your own. Pen mandrels for the most part are 1/4" diameter. In my opinion too small for a seat insert. You could use it but you have a hard time reaming to fit your blank.

3/8 or larger mandrel would be better to get you closer to the size you need to fit the blank. Even 3/8 is a little small. I drill all of my stock a half inch in diameter and use a half inch mandrel to turn it to fit the hardware. I use calipers and even the hardware as a guide to get the correct size turned.

Thanks Victor
my question is on turning them. how are you getting the blanks turned down to size? Turn on a mandrel?
do you use bushing like they use on pens to get down to the soze you need? or do you manually measure down to the needed size?
Do you chuch the wood and turn to size?

I do not use a mandrel to turn them. I simply find the center on both ends and turn the down in the traditional manner you would turn anything else. After it is turned I put a drill bit in the lathe and bore it out. The only bad side is you have already put the time and effort into turning it so if it blows up for some reason you are back to square one.

So basically I start out turning them on center then switch to a chuck and drill bit to bore.

Honestly, the suggestion from Swampland is probably a better idea. Find a piece of drill rod that is the right OD and drill your blank before you turn it. Then use the drill rod as a mandrel and turn on that.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2015 12:13PM by Victor Heal.

I do the same as Victor, just go slow while boring the hole. I drill the hole so it fits the dia. of the blank where I am going to put the reel seat. If you try to go too fast you run the risk of the wood getting too hot and then splitting.

I turn fly rod reel seat inserts on a mandrel 7/16" dia. I first bore the wood 7/16" on my lathe, then do the turning. If you use reel seat blanks from various sources, you will find that some are not square, so you need to take care in boring to try and center it. If I know the seat is going on blank larger than 7/16" I will bore to 1/2". However very few fly rods are that large, so 7/16" works better then 90% of the time. Conversely, if I know it will be going on a small diameter rod, I will bore it smaller.

As I turn a lot of custom grips and reel seats, I have mandrels of 1/4", 5/16", 3/8", 7/16" & 1/2". I do not chuck the mandrels, instead I use a compression collet set.

Hope this is some help!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2015 06:34PM by Phil Erickson.

I mount my blank in a 4 jawed chuck. bring up the tail stock to the center and start by knocking off the corners and getting it to almost round. then I remover the tail stock and use a drill chuck and center drill to start the center bore. switch over to the proper sized bit for the seat and slowly drill out the bore. i can usually only get about a 1/4" before the wood gets too hot and I have to clean the chips out of the bit. I usually stop about half way thru and take a break and let the wood cool. then finish drilling. when the bore is complete put the tail stock back on and recenter it. then finish turning to your specs. I use calipers and measure off the hardware. The boring takes longer as I've been using impregnated wood and the plastic in there is tough. For turning I like the Easy Wood Tools. If I'm using the stuff like from reelseatblanks. I finish using a Beall buffing system.

Have done a few for customer. Mine are painted after turning. He wanted 1/4" bore and 7" long. Using red cedar cut 2 pieces drilled and glued up.. Like Phil use collet chuck and live Jacobs chuck on tail stock 1/4" stock for mandrel.. Personally I would rather the bore be a little larger and use tape for arbors. Trying to dill after shaping as mentioned can be a waste of time

My 3/4" to 1+" blanks are first bored through with a 3/8" drill bit, on the lathe. Then the wood blank is mounted on a mandrel for turning to hardware specific dimensions.

Jeff

I do exactly the same as Phil does with my standard size being 7/16 for in stock inserts, and I bore ordered ones to be compatable with the customers build. I can bore in excess of the 1/2" on special requests.

Ron Weber

I drill first at 1/2 or even more and install on threaded mandrel. Then shape on my metal lathe as it tends to be much more precise. Then I fill the bore with reel seat shims glued in place. After drying its just a matter of hand reaming and installation. Cuts down on weight and provides a better connection to the blank. 22 and 24 mm inserts fill in the center of almost any handle well. I have had to pour foam for this but like the premade better.

You can use your quarter inch mandrel, if you like. Now, I put my hand-turned reel seats on fly rods most of the time, and usually in the 3 to 5 wt. rod range. What I do is pre-drill the blank. Very often. I'll bore my blank to 3/8". I have pen bushings for large pens that fit well into the 3/8 hole. I'll use the bushings for holding the blank on the mandrel, just as you would with a pen, and use my calipers to get the blank down to the right dimension. Nothin' to it! Especially if you already have a bushing set for the larger pen! If your rod butt is a bit larger than 3/8, carefully ream out the hole to the desired dimension, being careful to keep things concentric.