Measurements?

[raiderhunter]

I am planning my first build and I am picking components and have a question...If the rod blank has a butt diameter of .365 then would a struble reel seat with a 3.60 diameter work?

Also does anyone know the butt diameter of a 9foot 4wt. tiger eye?

[JohnScott]

raiderhunter -

Follow the link to Sevier's two piece 9' for 3/4. It shows a .400 butt. If you are looking for a 4/5 or a four piece blank, the butt diameter could be a bit more or less. If you wander around Sevier's site, you should find what you are looking for.

http://store.seviermfg.com/product.php?xProd=15&xSec=16

Also, others are more qualified to answer the other question you posed. But I think you could sand out the .360 reel seat quite easily to go with the .365 blank butt.

John

[kbproctor]

You can sand it out or maybe use a rat tailed file to enlarge it slightly. I just had one seat I had to ream out about .07" and used a drill bit of the appropriate size and ran it through. Take it slow and you can enlarge the bore by a few hundredths without problem.

I like the drill bit as it keeps things fairly concentric.

[mr. blur]

frankly I have to ask how you would expect a .365 blank to accept a .360 bored reelseat?

you can ream the reelseat bore to fit the butt of the blank, similar to what you'd do w/ a preformed grip.

[raiderhunter]

a .460 reel seat would be too big wouldn't it?

[harleybob87]

raiderhunter if you have a reelseat with a inside diameter of 360 going over a 365 blank you can sand the inside out with a rattail file or a reguler cork reamer. I would first slide the seat from the top down over the butt of the blank and see how far it goes on its own. don't push it just slide it till you feel resistance. What you will find is the bottom of the seat needs to be reamed just a tad. Ream it and then slide it again. Continue to do so till you have it on the bottom of the blank.
Again don't force it just let it slide down till it stops on its own. I do believe you will find you don't have to ream it that much if at all. You will also get a great glue bond and that is what is important.
the biggest question that comes to mind is where are you getting this seat and is it wood cork graphite? the reason I ask is I have never had to ream a realseat yet. Most I have to build arbors for.

[kbproctor]

a .460 reel seat would be too big wouldn't it?

No. You can make an excellent arbor by cutting a 1/2" to 1" strip of the yellow mesh drywall tape and winding that on the blank so teh reel seat fits. Saturate the mesh with epoxy and slide the seat on. I like this solution a lot better than the masking tape arbors.

You can also buy graphite arbors but you are only about a tenth of an inch off and reaming an arbor out would take forever. The mesh tape arbor will work just fine for you.

[harleybob87]

also if I may add this: you are building your first rod. I admire you wanting the finest components available but this is your first rod. Keep in mind you will make mistakes. If you do and are not happy with the rod you have just dumped a bunch of money into something when it could have been a little. Although struble seats are excellent may I recommend pac bay for your first rod. The difference in price is enough to get your cork metal winding check and half your guides. Guides are a different story. Good guides means you don't have to grind them down as much and they will wrap easier then cheap ones. Just my two cents here.

[shorthaul]

Personally i would sand the blank in THAT area---my hair on my head measures .0025 so basically you are taking that much off the outside of the blank plus a little clearance for the glue. Fit it up from the bottom so you dont scratch the blank with the fitting process. You will most likely use epoxy for the seat to the blank and the strength of the seat and the epoxy become part of the blank at a place that has very little stress anyway. Most blanks are sanded at the factory and polished for a nicer finish. Be sure to get enough glue in the joint to become part of the structure.

I agree with harleybob and go with inexpensive components and get your skills refined.

There are many opinions on how to build rods---this is how I would build it.

[kbproctor]

I agree. Use the less expensive stuff to begin with. You can build a great rod on a $25 Tiger Eye blank with PacBay hardware.

I also agree with the suggestion of good grade guides. The toughest part of wrapping for me was the transition from the blank to the guide. PacBay guides need very little work and are not too expensive.