I am making for the first time reel seat inserts from Corian. Now I am thinking whats the best "adhesive" to the blank and skeleton.

Me thinks I will use U-40 (or pc series) 2 part paste but looking for anyone who has done this and knows pitfalls to avoid.

How thin can the wall be on the insert?
If I get a 100% fill w/epoxy does it matter?

I turned one so far and it looks great.

Thanks

Chris

Chris - Arthur KAplan who is from up your way did the Demo 2 or 3 years ago in Coneticuit on turning these inserts. I'm sure he has some tips. I may have his contact info, if you need it let me know and I'll go search for it. I'm really bad keeping stuff like this, but I'll at least look.

I'd figure Rod Bind/Kardol/PC would be just fine.

You go ta pic, that stuff is really, really nice and ideal for a SAltwater rod since it doesn't swell/shrink depending on weather.

Thanks Billy. That is the same seminar I bugged you for digipics:D
I remember him giving that demo and in usual fashion I paid half attention thinking "Ill never do that", well here I am.

Ive turned three, I need to modify the mandrel for the lathe and today i'm looking for a bigger drill bit...so it goes

How'd the thread work out?

Thanks

Chris

Heard you may have had something to do with the pics page at .org if so great job!

Chris , you got a picture of what you are talking about?

I'll try to get a pic soon:D

I'm curious where you got the Corian from. Scraps like he did, or did you purchase it? What colors you got?

He turned his insert on a metal lathe, so tehre wasn't much to it. I don't remember teh gluing portion of that Demo, but I'm sure Rod Bond will bond anything.

How thin can the wall be? With that stuff, I'm sure extremely thin. Are you getting a perfect fit on the blank, or are you going to mount it on bushings?

Buff the heck out of it, it should come out looking like glass. If you have any extra inserts you turned which are no good, I'd like to see them to tinker with buffing (I spent about $75 on buffing compounds and 4 different wheels anticipting turning wooden inserts - haven't used them once)

The thread - I did an underwrap with the Cranberry with Dark Blue Inlays, gonna overwrap with Maroon (I think 337) Nylon with no CP. It will look super - but I first have to epoxy the underwrap. I do like it a lot though, very similar to Madeira Metalix.

I agree with the wall thickness, can be thin as long as there is 100% epoxy behind it.

There will be a small space between the insert & blank.

What I have found is drilling the stuff is easy but you need to go up in reel seat size. This is because I am making the skeleton ends fit over the corian this section gets veeeery thin and the need for more precise equipment. Doing that makes the inside diameter smaller. eg; am making a Patriot Allstar 1088 and would normally use a 18 seat now I need a 20. Oh and if you ever do this its cheaper to cut your own skeleton out of the body than buy a premade skeleton.:smash:

Where did I get the Corian from....hmmmm - thanks to my bro.

I did do a little buff test -

* finish sand w240 = lite shine

* finish sand w320 + scratch remover wax stuff (white) = wicked shine like glass

As far as a seat to buff let me get my $h!7 together & ill get a couple to yah. Ive only made 3, they make a huge mess but look great.

This is cool stuff and very interesting :read:

I've got a bunch of DPS's that will be cut. What a Scam that it is more expensive for less. Plus, they don't even offer a Skeleton in size 20 (or they do, and it's only one color?) I made a few Cork inserts, jst one more thing to make a rod take longer to complete. I do love it though. I have some 3/4"x3/4" Wood that was supposed to be used for Pens, I think that will come close for a size 16.

Finish with 320 and it's like glass, I wonder what finishing with 2000 will look like - lol. I'm going to assume you butcher at least one, if not, dont' bother sending it to me.

How are you turning these, by hand, or with a metal lathe = precise?

What colors? I tried snatching some from the Home Depot where they have the samples. Whatever glue they use to get it to stick to the big sample board - I'm sure you could use as well - lol.

ChumB - have you seen Corian on a rod before> It looks sweet. Anything different and unusual looks sweet.

I never saw corian as an insert yet, but I do have a Metalworking lathe (that I also use to turn all my plugs)and plan on trying to make various wood & non-wood inserts. So to make your own skeleton seat you just cut apart a proper sized Fuji or other reel seat(and machine the ends to accept the insert)?

Chum - That metal lathe is THE ticket.

When you look at a DPS seat, the middle section between teh hoods, that is what you cut out. Take a strip of masking tape, wrap it a couple of times around the seat where you want to cut it - this gives you a straight edge to cut along. Cut with a fine tooth saw.

After cutting I take out my 20 grit sanding disk and CAREFULLY square the edges were I made the cuts. USually don't have to do too much, and I'm extremely careful.

When you turn the insert, make the exposed portion the same length as teh center piece you cut out, and make teh OD teh same as the OD of teh fixed hood. Since I do it by hand on a regular lathe, I will leave it a little thicker and do my final sanding with 400-600 grit after it's glued up and on teh rod already (cork)

What Chris is referring to with teh thicknes (and correct me if I'm wrong here) of the insert being too thin - is the portion which will be under the fixed hood and teh threaded portion of the seat. When you buy an insert from Struble or REC, it comes with a turned down section which goes under the ends of teh seat. I think this is so the middle portion of teh seat butts up perfectly with the end of teh seat, but I'm not sure.

These are turned on a wood lathe, took a little figuring how to make it work.

#2 thin wall

#3 Thick wall

YIKES!!! I like!!! Chris, those look really nice. Will be in contact with you about this in the Fall/Winter.

How heavy are those?

Damn, those are sweet.

Nice stuff Chris. Now that i see what you meant , I would rcommend Kardol for the adhesive. There's a way to put the glue down and have it suck in under the insert so you will get a complete fill and thus prevent cracking. Works best with the pasty Kardohl rather than the more liquid rodbond.

Thanks Mike, whats the secret to s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g epoxy into the seat.

Put a masking tape ring around the rod about 1/2 inch in from where the reel seat will end on the tip side after its done. make this masking tape fit perfect (tight) inside the seat id. Push the seat just over the tape. wrap tape around the outside of the seat to mask off the epoxy. Pile epoxy very high around the blank towards the back. I usually pile up about and inch ling. As you slide the seat down , the very tight plug of masking tape insde makes the whole set up like the inside of a syringe. As long as you keep epoxy piles up on the rod and masked off front off seat it will suck in epoxy as you move it back. be sure to keep piling on the epoxy cause if at any place there is a gap , it will suck in air instead. At the end , I like to have the cork shaped to fit right into the end of the seat. This provides the second ring for the seat to sit on , keeping it centered and also acts to ram just a little more epoxy back up the seat.

I don't know if I described it good. If you can't catch my meaning , let me know and we can arrange to get together and I'll show you. I will fill the seat 100% if done right.

Interestingly , I also learned this gluing technique from Art kaplan at the rodbuilding seminar.

Great pics and techniques...I always learn something new when I check in here :kewl:

Thanks Mike

Aaathaaah from Baahstan, he's a hoot.

I have almost always used liquid epoxy with glass dry wall tape which is 100% fill but was thinking of trying something new hence my questions, now on your description I think I got it. Should the masking tape ring be put on the blank in such a manner so as to let it slide?

Thanks

Chris

Hey Chum you like the reel seat insert?

I like your plug!

Guess where this is going:D

Chris

:think:

Wild stuff.:D

Tape shpuld stay put on the blank. It should slide inside the reel seat or insert but very tight. trick is to pile the epoxy on the front so it gets sucked in while pushing the reel seat over the tape bushing.

After mulling you instructions over for a couple days it came to me. Your instruction is fine its just my comprehension is a day late and...

Thanks

Chris