Glue failed

and the end of my down-locking reel seat is somewhere in the White river. I used Devcon epoxy to assemble the reel seat and put it on the rod several years ago. I already have the reel seat off and will be ordering a replacement but I’m wondering what glue everyone else uses or if anyone knows what I did wrong. There is still a definite glue line on the wood insert.

I would guess an incomplete cure.

Make sure the mixture is 50/50 and mixed very well. Keep a sample of the mix to make sure it cures properly.

I know this from other applications and not making rods yet but the theory should be the same.

Did you use devcon 5min. or the 2ton epoxy? there could have been some oil involved on the original glue set up that didnt make a perfect cure. The 5min. stuff forget it, it should never be used for reel seats.

I always had trouble, when mixing two part epoxies, as far as getting them mixed thoroughly and evenly together. I’d had rod seats come off and even corks come separated on grips, AFTER the rod was completed, which wasn’t much fun to repair!
A buddy told me to “mix your two part epoxies evenly and completely, WITHOUT any air bubbles, either, by putting the two parts in a Zip Lock bag,push out the extra air and then work the two parts together, with your hands, until they’re consistent”.
Works great, no air bubbles from stirring, and the glues are mixed together completely.
When mixed, simply slit the bag, open and you also have a fair sized “pallet” to work off of!

Jim;
Just had the same thing happen to a friend with a down locking reel seat. One thing about down locking seat they will put pressure on the butt cap unlike an up locking.
Upon examination it looked like a lack of coverage on the original build. We used 5 min. epoxy and made sure all contact areas were covered this time. hope it works.

P.S. Warren and I brought in 58 trout Friday on the Elk River!

I’ve never had any problems with Rod Bond. Takes a bit longer to cure (like 24 hours) but once it’s cured, that’s it!

I don’t understand all this problem. I’m not a rod maker but I have put together my share of golf clubs…which rely on epoxy… have not had a problem with the various epoxies…perhaps the stresses are different but I would think the golf clubs really stress the epoxy…

The bond needs to be clean…dry…and as mentioned by Jack make sure of your coverage.

Been there done that!

It was probably my own fault.

Now I clean and rough up the surfaces for better adhersion power.

Like Jack said, lots of pressure on the lock-downs.

Don’t feel bad, it’s a great opertunity to replace it with something really neat now!

Probably was not even your fault; could of been just age, due to hot ,cold, sun exposure, poor glue compound made by the company.

Be happy with your new oppertunity to build!!!

chris

Clean and dry surface is critical for good adhesion, but as Chris said, it could have been something completely out of your control. None of us likes failures, but it’s a fact of life. On the positive side, it was just the cap that was lost and not the reel itself.

Next time you glue anything with epoxy, try wearing powder-free Nitrile gloves and clean the metal parts that will come in contact with the epoxy with 91% Isopropyl alcohol ($1.28 at the local drug store). It will dry quickly and remove any contaminants from the metal like body oil that may be on your hands, and which might cause the epoxy to not adhere completely. I use the gloves just to keep the epoxy from getting on my hands and having to wipe them down with the alcohol, thus drying them out worse than the winter weather does.

Good luck.

Joe

That is a BIG factor, IMO. If you rough up the surface and then clean them off, you’ll find your bonds stay tight. Like Betty, I use Rod Bond mostly, and it works. I’ve never had a failure. But I’ve been lucky so far and have not had a failure with the 2 part epoxy either.

I’ve always used the 2 part slow dry and have never had a reel seat come off. Some rods I’ve owned and used for over 30 years. However I was trained by the best. All the above statements; Clean surfaces, Roughened to assist the adhesion, proper mix, etc. all got drilled into my training early. Absolutely right on target.

That is a great question though. Since I was trained with the slow dry as the slower the drying the better the bond that was the only way to go. The thing is now they publish the bond strength on the glue. The fast dry is more popular so more improvements have been made with the fast drying epoxy. It now has a better bond strength than the slow dry. So I have been using the 5 minute with the strongest bond strength lately. So far it has still served me well.

I use rod bond. helps with instalation and sets up nice. no problems here since I have been using it. Some would recommend others but in my opinion save the trouble heart ache and time and use rod bond.

Don’t feel bad. Without mentioning brands I have had this happen to 4 factory rods!

I still prefer downlocking and now I keep an O ring over the rear reel foot just in case. I’m more worried about dropping a valuable reel on a rock than I am about losing an end cap.

I wish modern reel seat makers would take a cue from the H. L. Leonard Rod company. My old Leonard rods have a PINNED rear cap!