More newbie question time. I have an uplocking rosewood seat. I know that you have to glue it together before putting it on the blank but:
Question 1: do you glue on the end cap before putting on the blank, and how much epoxy do you use. This is kinda vague in al’s tutorial.
Question 2: on the sleeve end that goes into the cork handle. I know you wait until you put on the handle, but do you glue that sleeve to the handle only or both the seat and handle. I’m wondering about excess glue in that gap interfereing with putting a reel on the rod.
Bear, Im far from an expert, but I have built a rod so here goes. Before you glue the grip on the blank, dry fit and mark with a china marker to insure everything fits right. I take it your grip is an inletted, where seat slides into it. I mixed up epoxy used an old craft paint brush to put epoxy on bottom of seat and grip. Slide it in without twisting and if any epoxy wipe up before it sets up. Once thats on you can glue end cap, basically the same way. I worried that there was enogh glue to hold everything together, but Ive fished the heck out of mine and everything is still tight. Just give her at least 24 hours for everything to set up good. GITERDONE!!! and post us some pictures then go get a fish on it. Next refinish a Boo and join the rest of us nuts! :lol:
Question 1: Yes, I’d say you should attach the end cap to the reelseat before gluing it to the blank. The glues today are a lot stronger than you might think, so if you think you’ve used too little, it should still work just fine. In fact, I’d say if you are trying to decide between using more or less glue, use less. If you use more glue than you need, it’s not that big of a deal, just wipe off the excess immediately and you should be fine.
Question 2: I would suggest gluing the sleeve to the rest of the reel seat before assembly, then glue the grip to the sleeve when you go to assemble the rest of the rod (when you glue the reel seat+grip to the blank). That way you can easily fit the grip to the blank (I’m assuming the grip isn’t already reamed out to fit your blanks taper).
Keep some vinegar handy as it works great to remove some of that excess epoxy. You can also knock it off with your fingernail when it’s a little set. Do not let it dry on cork though, you’ll chip the cork trying to knock it off…personal experience.