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I have a 8' 8/9 Steffen that I'm building and have acquired one of Lemke's recessed thread reel seats with the built in fighting butts.
A fellow builder recommended that I saw off a portion of the butt section of the blank so that all of my sections would be the same length. I'm wondering if this is in fact necessary. Have any of you used this reel seat or a similar style? Have you altered the blank length?
Thanks for your help.
I would give you the same advice. You will play h**l finding a tube to fit if you don't.
Cut the butt of the blank length of the fighting butt plus the length of the insert for the fighting butt. You could cut things and extra 1/4" just to give you a bit of room. Dry fit to make sure you have the measurements right before gluing it up.
Tighten the hidden hood all the way down and slide the seat on the blank. Then take a measurement from it and the next section. The difference in the measurement is how much you will want to cut off the blank. Now if your case includes the reel cover, then take your measurement with the reel attached to the seat.
So, my post may have been a bit premature. After testing and fitting all of my sections together, the reel seat has a built in stop. When I tighten or loosen the threaded section/fighting butt, the position of the seat on the blank does not change. When I fully mount the seat, there is about a 1/2 " difference in length between the butt and middle sections.
I'm hesitant to cut my blank, and the difference in length is rather small. Is a hacksaw and a steady hand the best way to cut the blank? Will shortening the blank have any effect on the action?
The choice is yours, of course, but I would cut the extra half inch off. It's just part of paying attention to the details.
My preferred way to cut a blank is with a Dremel tool and one of the little cutoff wheels. Quick and smooth with very little chance to damage the blank. It can also be done with a razor saw (from X-Acto). This has a bit more chance to damage things but works fine if you take it slow and easy. One last way to get the job done is with a triangular file. Use one of the points and file a groove around the blank. Keep filing until you separate the pieces Time consuming but it works.
Before cutting that blank, put some tape around the area that you are going to cut. Draw a line completely around the blank,on the tape, where you want the cut to be. Much like a carpenter. This also cuts down on any fibers that pull away or splinter.
I also use the dremel tool like Kevin says. Makes the easiest and best cut.
Randy