Hey fellas, I have a Sabre that I think I'd like to convert from spinning to conventional but am not going to start to tear it down until I know how to get the reel seat off. I used epoxy, not flex coat to bond it to the blank. I have time and will power so let me know what I am in for. Thanks.

East Tide

With the price of a Batson blank being real reasonable, your probably better off selling the old one and building the new one. If you are able to remove the seat (I've heard can be done but is far from pretty), you'll still need to strip the guides to switch to conventional. Alot of work involved. Or you can keep the old one and just build a new one. Can't have too many rods, can you...

Johns Right it is no easy task
I am assuming that you are going to strip the hole rod.
Remove all guides and grips
to remove a seat it must be cut off.
I use a drumel tool to score the seat till almost through then a hand file to finish cuting through.
When cut is trouugh you should be able to pry the old seat off remove all the old epoxy all the way down to the blank.
The Conventional seat should be on the opposit way the spinning seat was if it was spined the first time.

Here's a second on the dremel tool. The thing is great. Be careful though. The reel seat I had to take off was a Fuji Graphite with metal hoods. Use the slow speeds on the graphite parts and the higher speeds on the metal parts. MikeCC's way is the way to do it. If you go all the way through, you might nick the blank and could possibly weaken it a tad bit.
It will take that reel seat off in a few seconds.

John brings up a very valid point. Since you are going to have to buy everything else, you might as well just save that rod and get a Batson blank. From what I have seen on this site, the prices are VERY reasonable. Instead, you get two rods for a slightly higher price since everything you'll be taking off that one rod will be just about useless anyways.

I think this is the better choice than destroying that one rod. Plus, if you ever decide for some reason that you really don't want to build the Batson, you'll still have the Sabre. On the otherhand, if you strip down the Sabre and you decide you don't want to rebuild... well you can see where I'm going with this.

Best of luck on whatever you decide.

You could just strip the guides and use the reel seat. Some people like conventionals without the trigger. It will be spined 180 degrees off but that won't cause twist. There are people who like to build the rods at 180 degrees from the spine. Suppose to be softer for casting ? Anyway , its an option for an easier salvage. Over all , I'd say that even if you are just going to reverse the guides , its not worth it. Just build a new one and sell your spinner or keep it for another time and place.

I took my first Lami custom I ever built and converted it from a spinning rod to a conventional last winter. I just never liked the way the rod fished and it was due primarily to the way it balanced out with whatever reel I put on it. It's not a fun job, but it can be done and worth the effort if the blank is worth it to begin with. That particular rod I made into a sweet spinnerbait rod and I love the thing. Prior to last year, it sat pretty much idle for 10 years, now it's always on board for my sweetwater excursions.

In addition to taking care removing the old reel seat, you must be very cautious removing the old guides. I say that because the casting guides will be more numerous and might not hit the same locations for spacing. Unless you want to strip the entire blank to refinish it from top to bottom, be careful removing the guides. Nothing looks funkier, than a newly wrapped and finished rod with some old ratty spots between the new guides, where the old spinning guides had been mounted.

[img="http://www.rgsiroisco.com/fisherman.gif"]
Good luck and tight lines.

What blank is it on Dave?

Thanks to all you guys for the advice :)

Got Stripers, thats just the thing for me too. I will never use it because I only use spinning to cast eels and this is a little too stiff, so I rather change it to conventional and have a back-up jigging stick. I like to break stuff :)

Slipknot, it's a sabre 1209 that was cut by my brother on a nice cutting rock on the Canal :( It is now 9'6" long.

I guess I could use another project.

Thanks again guys,

dave