First I want to thank everyone for all the help recently, hopefully I can help someone in the future!
Do I epoxy the seat to the graphite arbors first then to the blank or do I epoxy the arbor to the blank first, or all at the same time?

Glue the abor in the seat first. Makes it easier to ream to fit blank.
Norm

Jon

When you ream the graphite be ready for a mess to clean up. If possible. chuck up the reamer in a drill and do it outside. Or fire up a shop vac to capture the graphite dust as it is created. The black graphite dust is no fun at all.

Jon,

One other word of caution....If you epoxy the arbors into the reel seat bodies and then ream them out with the reamer installed in a drill motor go slow with the drill motor. The heat generated by the reamer will soften up the epoxy between the arbors and the reel seat bodies. I found this out the hard way, which are the lessons you don't forget!

Don Campbell
don@sensorfishingrods.com

Don't forget to sand/cut off about an 1/8" from an end of each arbor, if you plan on using Fuji's winding checks with the flange. Also be aware that graphite arbor reams out quickly.

Going of what Jason said above, I would also recommend gluing the winding checks in place BEFORE you glue the reel seat onto the blank. They have popped out on me before and once the glue sets, it's nearly impossible to fix them, unless you remove the reel seat and start anew. I've had much better success gluing the winding checks onto the reel seat and then sliding them down the blank.

Carlos Saravia Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Going of what Jason said above, I would also
> recommend gluing the winding checks in place
> BEFORE you glue the reel seat onto the blank. They
> have popped out on me before and once the glue
> sets, it's nearly impossible to fix them, unless
> you remove the reel seat and start anew. I've had
> much better success gluing the winding checks onto
> the reel seat and then sliding them down the
> blank.

I have found what Carlos mentioned to be a better way to install split grips, as least for me. I also mark where the two reel seat bodies are going to be epoxied and then mask off the area and hit it lightly with fine sandpaper to remove any finish on the rod blank and improve the bond. I started doing this after I had a drop shot rod for a client come back two times because the front split grip had come loose. Seems the guy had a nervous habit of continually tighten the reel seat nut while fishing. It is a real pain in the a** to repair. A point to mention is the contact area on the SK2 split grips is not very large and if the reel seat nut is overtightened it will shear the the front reel seat mount loose.

Don Campbell
don@sensorfishingrods.com

Donald R Campbell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Carlos Saravia Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Going of what Jason said above, I would also
> > recommend gluing the winding checks in place
> > BEFORE you glue the reel seat onto the blank.
> They
> > have popped out on me before and once the glue
> > sets, it's nearly impossible to fix them,
> unless
> > you remove the reel seat and start anew. I've
> had
> > much better success gluing the winding checks
> onto
> > the reel seat and then sliding them down the
> > blank.
>
> I have found what Carlos mentioned to be a better
> way to install split grips, as least for me. I
> also mark where the two reel seat bodies are going
> to be epoxied and then mask off the area and hit
> it lightly with fine sandpaper to remove any
> finish on the rod blank and improve the bond. I
> started doing this after I had a drop shot rod for
> a client come back two times because the front
> split grip had come loose. Seems the guy had a
> nervous habit of continually tighten the reel seat
> nut while fishing. It is a real pain in the a**
> to repair. A point to mention is the contact area
> on the SK2 split grips is not very large and if
> the reel seat nut is overtightened it will shear
> the the front reel seat mount loose.

Don , are you still building rods , i can't seem to find your contact info