U-40 Quik Bond

[lastchance]

OK, thanks, I'm going to try the Rod Bond.
Have you tried the new Quik Bond? Also, will it act as a filler (shim) too, instead of using masking tape?

[Sully]

OK, thanks, I'm going to try the Rod Bond.
Have you tried the new Quik Bond? Also, will it act as a filler (shim) too, instead of using masking tape?

Masking tape is good on a rod worth $29.95! Its a short cut and when you add up shortcuts...you know what you end up with. Me personally...Id never try and sell a rod or purchase a rod I knew had masking tape reelseat shims.

[kbproctor]

I use the graphite spacers available from just about everyone. You have to ream them out like you do for the cork and you need to purchase them to fit the inner bore of the reel seat. With those, you know the seat is centered on the blank.

[Bass_Bug]

Masking tape is good on a rod worth $29.95! Its a short cut and when you add up shortcuts...you know what you end up with. Me personally...Id never try and sell a rod or purchase a rod I knew had masking tape reel seat shims.

The purpose of a shim is just to center the reel seat on the blank. Once the epoxy used to glue on the reel seat sets up, the shims serves no further purpose. Every rod building book I've read suggests masking tape shims over arbors.

What do you feel graphite arbors add to a rod other than a couple bucks to the parts total? Besides, depending on the gap difference between the blank and the seat, arbors are not always an option anyway (a gap less than 2 or 3mm etc.).

[kbproctor]

I'm going to back up a bit from my first post. The arbor will not be anymore centered than tape but would be more centered than trying to use epoxy only to fill things in. I was thinking that the arbor would also add to solidity of the whole thing but that is not necessarily so. A lot depends on how much space there is between the blank and seat.

I, too have seen tape recommended a lot. I have used it on one rod, the bamboo rod was a slip fit, and arbors on two others. The arbors were ordered to fit and only needed a little reaming to fit nicely. The arbors just seemed like a "cleaner" solution to me. That does not necessarily mean they are a better solution, though.

[Sully]

The purpose of a shim is just to center the reel seat on the blank. Once the epoxy used to glue on the reel seat sets up, the shims serves no further purpose. Every rod building book I've read suggests masking tape shims over arbors.

What do you feel graphite arbors add to a rod other than a couple bucks to the parts total? Besides, depending on the gap difference between the blank and the seat, arbors are not always an option anyway (a gap less than 2 or 3mm etc.).

Of course any arbor has that centering task to do..but as I said on SOME reelseats its a giant "gap filler". On some all metal seats the ID of the seat was something like .70 or ?? ( cant remember exactly) and the OD of the rod blanks that I preferred was close to .36. That a lot of tape to wind on a blank. Epoxy doesnt penetrate the masking tape...the glue on the masking tape will eventually dry up..and then you end up with a reel seat that can slide back and forth. Graphite arbors ALSO allow better transmission of ??.."feeling"??...thru the rod. Masking tape has a tendancy to deaden any "vibes" that might come up the line to the rod to your hand....Graphite arbors wont do that nearly as bad. Thats one reason some bass fisherman use all graphite handles on their bass rods...for that sensitivity

Many times I could just ream out the ID of the wooden reelseat to about .375 and use that glued to the blank. And at times I wound course thread on the blank to "fill the gap" that was soaked in epoxy..allowed to dry and then the reelseat glued to the "thread bushings".

One shouldnt build a flyrod that will last HIM the rest of his life...He should attempt to build it to last MANY lifetimes...and to be an object of beauty while its owned and used.

[TampaJim]

At one point, the world was deemed to be flat. Anyone thinking otherwise, was considered a heretic of the church and subject to the most extreme punishments - including death.

This is the case with publications suggesting masking tape arbors ... old thinking. Put a wad of masking tape into a glass of water tonight and tell me how you feel about it tomorrow night. Polyurethane and foam graphite arbors are DEFINITELY far superior and the use of drywall tape and thread are a close second.

As far as the use of Quik Bond ... it has a place on the shelf, but only gets used in 5-10% of the time - traditional Rod Bond is the other 90-95%. I was one of the folks that lobbied Ralph to create it, which he did. However, the cleanup time is MUCH shorter and you have to be EXTREMELY confident of what you are doing. If you are only making one purchase, definitely buy the regular cure product.

Jim -

[Sully]

Long time ago I knew a man named "Jim" that lived in Tampa and built rods. Was a member of the Custom Rod Builders Guild also.........

EDIT: Nope! I went and looked at your profile etc...and your about 25 years younger than this guy would be now. He was / is a great rod maker though.

[lastchance]

First, I should have noted that I'm speaking about building fly rods.

Secondly, how do you fill gaps between the reel seat and the rod blank? There seems there is always a bit of a gap between the two. Should they always be sized close enough so that the rod bond or epoxy will fill a small space between the two?

[Sully]

First, I should have noted that I'm speaking about building fly rods.

Secondly, how do you fill gaps between the reel seat and the rod blank? There seems there is always a bit of a gap between the two. Should they always be sized close enough so that the rod bond or epoxy will fill a small space between the two?

You always want the glue joint as thin as possible so that minimum shear can get at it.

Depending on the actual gap size I used various sizes of THREADS....from narrow / thin to some really fat stuff as large as large "mason's" string. Wrap 2 to 3 areas that end up under the reelseat...SOAK with thin eposy and let it harder....then size my reelseat for a "slip fit".....load it up with U40 Rod Bond and sock it home....making sure the little cut out area for the reel foot...is located properly.

For metal reelseats such as ( I think it was??) PacBay...Id use the graphite arbors such as has been described.....but in may cases such as with Strubles they were .360 I.D. and were just a slip fit naturally with the brands of blanks I preferred.