Hi All, I'm a newbie ready to start my first fly rod build and have a few questions. I bought a TL Johnson 7wt 9' 4pc s glass blank (not very expensive) and a ATC-AL8 alum fly seat with the butt adapter plug and butt cap. I read somewhere but can't remember (AGE!!!) that there is a caution when installing the seat tube and adapter plug, and wonder if some of the pro's know about that caution because I want to epoxy the seat ONCE. Thanks for any help, Nick R.

Nicholas,
One thing that I have learned over the years when building rods, and when doing something that I haven't done before is to prefit all of the parts and do a complete trial assembly - using no glue. You want to be sure that everything fits perfectly, and figure out if you are going to need clamps or other fasteners whe you glue things together.

Also, depending on what you are doing - it can sometimes be best if the rod be built in stages. i.e. start from the butt or tip side of the grip and glue pieces in place one at a time. For other jobs, it makes sense to use slow curing glue and assemble multiple parts all in the same batch of glue.


Before actually using adhesive, go through all of the steps that you will do in the final build except without glue.

Good luck

I assume you are talking about the removable fighting butt and adapter plug. If so, do as Roger states above, dry fit all parts and layout the sequence of assembly. One point, is it is helpful strengthwise if the butt plug will fit into the end of the blank, with it being a 7wt, there is the probability it will. I make sure all the interior of the metal parts are cleaned with alcohol to be sure there is no residual oils from the manufacturing process.

WOW!!! both are great answers for a newbie( just learned a good practice). There was something about the base of the blank should be inside the seat tube, but dry fitting all the parts will reveal any problems, Thanks a lot. Nick R.