Reel seat?

[Saltheart]

Originally Posted by zimmy

When I originally learned to build, I was taught "screw down and you'll never screw up." Sounds good, don't think it matters. For me, I don't want the threads under my palm.

The trouble comes in if there is a big difference between the ID of the Reel seat and the OD of the blank where you mount it. Is it a show stopper..no. I can fix that issue in about 20 minutes but for a beginner it forces you to get involved in things you should probably avoid until you have more experience. First off there will be a huge amount of epoxy fill. The busshings will be very big in diameter above the blank height. You'll need to use maybe 2 layers of cork tape to fill the space or you will have a big edge where the handle material meets the overly large reel seat and that edge can (often does) dig into your hand or finger while you hold the rod. You also need to ultimately seal that space betwewen the reel seat and blank so you have to play around pushing epoxy in and trying to form a filet at both ends of the seat. You then have to also form a radius with the thread finish to get the best finished look but suppose you used shrink wrap and opt against having thread wraps above and below the seat? You can also help remedy this problem by using winding checks but again you run the risk of having an unconfortable edge to deal. That high edge is really uncomfortable on a conventional and will certainly bother you. On a spinner ist maybe , maybe not an issue.

Anyway , as I said , you can overcome the large gap but its not something a beginner will want to deal with.


For Zimmy's comment about screw down and you won't screw up , this is true IMO. I think downlocking for all is no problem and perhaps better but most people will think you F'ed up if you hand them a spinner with a downlocking reel seat.

[Springer]

Originally Posted by Saltheart

The trouble comes in if there is a big difference between the ID of the Reel seat and the OD of the blank where you mount it. Is it a show stopper..no. I can fix that issue in about 20 minutes but for a beginner it forces you to get involved in things you should probably avoid until you have more experience. First off there will be a huge amount of epoxy fill. The busshings will be very big in diameter above the blank height. You'll need to use maybe 2 layers of cork tape to fill the space or you will have a big edge where the handle material meets the overly large reel seat and that edge can (often does) dig into your hand or finger while you hold the rod. You also need to ultimately seal that space betwewen the reel seat and blank so you have to play around pushing epoxy in and trying to form a filet at both ends of the seat. You then have to also form a radius with the thread finish to get the best finished look but suppose you used shrink wrap and opt against having thread wraps above and below the seat? You can also help remedy this problem by using winding checks but again you run the risk of having an unconfortable edge to deal. That high edge is really uncomfortable on a conventional and will certainly bother you. On a spinner ist maybe , maybe not an issue.

Anyway , as I said , you can overcome the large gap but its not something a beginner will want to deal with.

Thanks for your explanation. I was mostly worried there was some sort of failure potential but it seems most issues arise from technical/cosmetic hurdles. I have been playing around a bit with epoxy ramps to overcome some of the problems with transitions from the two different diameters and that hard edge of the reel seat. I guess until I have a problem I will keep doing it the way I have because a cosmetic hurdle is much better to deal with than wrist pain.