Ever see those exposed double reel seats with this blank exposed so you can wrap your fingers around the blank. To make one of these yourself with a standard triger seat ior exposed one just take your real seat and cut through it as close to the triger as you can. Next do the same thing at the front of the hood just leave about 1/4 of it in front of the hood so that reel foot of you reel can rest on it and there you go.

Glenn McMurrian

Glenn, not to go off topic, but how's that telescopic flippin' stick coming along?

Have not got to it yet because my brother used the one and only Rod tubing that I had to extend his own Rod the little sh_t but all I need to do is find a new extension that will fit over the end on the flipping stick or maybe I fill just cut down a old blank but as of today it is on hold for a bit.

Will post on YouTube and right here when done.

Glenn McMurrian



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2016 01:53AM by Glenn McMurrian.

Glenn, I understand the benefit of doing that kind of modification to a non blank exposed reel seat, after all, it would allow a person to locate an exposed blank reel seat anywhere on the blank without worrying if it was going to fit, or not,

With that said, since some sort of arbor (foam. masking tap, or otherwise) is needed to fit a non exposed blank reel seat to the blank, the type of modification you outlined is going to result in a gap between the reel seat, and the blank.

Depending on the reel seat and blank being used, the gap could be pretty substantial as far as gaps go. Wouldn't just ordering a slightly smaller exposed blank reel seat and reaming it to fit if needed, be much less worrisome? While not as custom, it would probably be a much cleaner look.

Just my 2 cents



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2016 11:02PM by David Baylor.

David, I've seen people leave a hill of epoxy going to the reel seat and then just wrapping on top of it with a black thread so it's hard to see if you need to wrap on top of a couple threads in an odd way. Then applying thread finish on top of that like normal. This will leave no gap, but It is a lot easier just buying an exposed reel seat, I normally don't ream out the exposed real seat, instead I predetermine where I would want it (comparing to older rods I built) and tell the manufactor I'm buying it from to double check if it fits and if it doesn't to replace it with one that does.

Michael, are you talking about people actually making the arbor needed out of thread and then sliding the seat over it?

If so, that's something I hadn't thought about doing, and could lend itself to a rather custom look that you couldn't get otherwise. I just had visions of a big open gap that would have to be filled with epoxy.

Interesting idea to be sure. And as you said, it would make any gap non existent.

I have a couple of reel seats lying around....... I may just give it a try.

When making split grip seats, I'll start with an exposed seat that has the same continuous diameter running all the way through. As close to the blank's diameter as possible (the type of seat that does not require an arbor at all)

Ream it to fit, then split the seat to remove excess material between barrel threads and trigger
End up with a tight fit, no gaps, no excess thread or epoxy, clean edges



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2016 10:33AM by Steve Gardner.

David, I think I might've came off wrong, you would epoxy the reel seat with whatever arbor you want (foam, polyurethane, masking tape, etc...) and then shape the epoxy on the side of the blank as a hill and wait for it to cure. After it cures with the reel seat on you can wrap on top of it with black thread, so there wouldn't be a gap. I've done it once before, I'll upload a picture on the picture part of this forum.

David, I think I might've came off wrong, you would epoxy the reel seat with whatever arbor you want (foam, polyurethane, masking tape, etc...) and then shape the epoxy on the side of the blank as a hill and wait for it to cure. After it cures with the reel seat on you can wrap on top of it with black thread, so there wouldn't be a gap. I've done it once before, I'll upload a picture on the picture part of this forum.

Check these out. [www.rodbuilding.org] [www.rodbuilding.org] [www.rodbuilding.org]
Sorry for the bad quality, had to take the pictures with my phone

There were articles in Rod Maker about making that type seat and a more exposed blank seat like the Castaway seat from a standard exposed blank, or non exposed blank reel seat. The articles were written by Richard Forhan.

All I ever do David is fill in the front of the tube with Rod Bond and clean any rod bond on the blank with DA and use a winding check in front of the reel seat to cover any openings just like a fore grip on a Rod.

Glenn McMurrian

My apologies to everyone. I clearly didn't read the original post correctly.

When I read the thread title, I immediately thought of an reel seat like a Fuji ECSM. One with a window in the reel seat where the blank is exposed, and not a two piece split reel seat such as that pictured in the photos Michael linked.

Now that I've had my eyes opened, the original post and process makes sense.

Sorry about that guys.

David, It's alright, but now that I see how you were thinking that would be a pretty cool idea with the thread as the bushings on an exposed reel seat, I may try it on a dowel first and if I like it I might use it like that. It's weird how a misconception might add to a really cool idea.

Michael ..... a thread arbor certainly can't be any less sturdy than the cardboard tube arbors I've uncovered tearing apart old rods to use as reamers. And it would definitely be a lot more pleasing to the eye if you decided to have it exposed via a window in the reel seat. lol