Seeking Reel Seat Education

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Messages
1,166
Location
Pomona, California, USA.
Recently at a Street Fair, I was approached by a gentleman who builds custom rods, who was interested in possibly having me produce reel seats for him. We talked for a while, and it became apparent--at least to me!--that I don't know the first thing about reel seats. I know there are a few folks here who make them, so are you willing to try to teach an old dog new tricks? I'd sure welcome any help. The gentleman is interested primarily in acrylic seats. He said they require "around" a 7mm hole, but he doesn't want the brass tube in them, for weight considerations......too easy, huh? So please let me know how YOU do them, I'm all eyes and ears. Thank you.
 
Reel seats for fly rods were the second thing I made, after cork grips when I got my lathe, in fact that was why I bought it in the first place. What kind of reel seats does he want? Some are very straight-forward straight cuts with a smaller short tenon on them and some are more complicated requiring special router bits. I really question the 7mm hole. Even the lightest fly rod I made required a much larger hole than that. The biggest problem with doing acrylic reel seats is finding material large enough. I did one on a bait casting rod last year and used a 3/4" blank and it was just barely big enough. If he is seriously interested in reducing weight, the acrylic should be bored out so the wall is only about 1/8" thick and he can use graphite bushings inside it. He should know what I mean and if he doesn't you may want to think twice about the whole deal.

Hopefully LanceD will also reply since he makes a lot more rods than I do.
 
I have a supplier for acrylic rod that is about 1 1/2 if not bigger. Let me know if you want some. Colors are the spectrum of the rainbow.
 
I make and sell custom reel seats as an exclusive item to Mudhole Tackle, an internet rodbuilding component co. I use the same acrylics that you can purchase from Craft Supplies, Berea and Woodpenpro. I make size 17 spinning reel seats only and drill the hole with a 1/2" bit. There are 2 small shoulder cuts on each end for the seat hoods to fit. A 7mm hole in my opinion would be too small for all but maybe the ultra lightest rod out there. Usually you have to ream out the seat to fit the rod blank but with my way of drilling them you are removing a good bit of material which makes for the lightest reel seat possible. There are foam bushings available to glue in place under the reel seat to take up the extra space to make for a tighter fit. If you know the diameter of the rod where the seat would be placed you could drill out the hole for a better fit with the correct bit and eliminate the need for the bushings but then your seat would be heavier.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom