October 05, 2017
By Mud Hole Staff
Learn the easiest way to repair a loose reel seat and restore the performance of your favorite fishing rod.
The Rod Building Guide to Repairing Reel Seats Few things are more frustrating than fishing with a loose reel seat. But now with these 4 simple steps, you will solve the riddle of the loose reel seat with a fast and easy fix.
Let's begin with the tools and supplies for the job:
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China Marker
Drill
ProGl¼ Epoxy Glue
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Mixing Cup
Stir Stick
Syringe
Denatured Alcohol
Razor Blade And make sure you don't miss the instructional video at the bottom!
1. Prepare Your Reel Seat With the reel removed, make four equally spaced marks under where the reel foot mounts.
Since these marks indicate where to drill through the reel seat, placing each mark under the reel foot conceals the repair once you're back on the water.
2. Drill Holes Along the Reel Seat Next, carefully hold the reel seat down with your off hand and drill a hole through each mark along the reel seat.
Use a drill bit that's about the same size as the syringe you will use to inject epoxy later on.
To drill through the reel seat but not the rod blank, firmly introduce the drill bit to the reel seat then slowly increase pressure until the drill has passed completely through the reel seat. Stop the drill as soon as the hole is made.
After drilling four holes, use a razor blade to clean up and remove any lingering bits of material around the holes.
Once the holes are clear, wipe the reel seat down with denatured alcohol to give it one last cleaning before moving on to the epoxy.
Note: Use a drill bit that's about the same size as the syringe you will use to inject epoxy later on.
3. Stir and Insert Epoxy Glue For this step, you will mix and then inject the epoxy glue underneath the reel seat.
Rather than using your typical paste epoxy, use the two-part ProGl¼ so that you can draw it out with the syringe and insert the flowing epoxy into the reel seat. The flowing epoxy will better seal off any empty space between the reel seat and rod blank.
To mix the two-part ProGl¼, pour equal amounts into the mixing cup and then use the stir stick to churn and fold the epoxy into itself. This mixing technique will adequately blend the epoxy for the best results.
Next, use the syringe to draw out the epoxy glue and slowly inject each hole along the reel seat.
Insert epoxy in each hole until the area appears full.
4. Spin the Reel Seat 360 Ì' Before Curing With the ProGl¼ injected under the reel seat, rotate the reel seat a full 360 degrees in order to ensure the flowing epoxy reaches every possible open space.
To double check you rotated the reel seat 360 Ì', make sure the reel foot hoods are centered with the rod's guides.
Once the reel seat is in the right position, give it a full day to cure and then your reel seat is ready to go!
Bring on More Fishing!
In rod building and rod repair, there are always many questions. Luckily for each category, there are even more answers.
Rod repair is the best way to get your favorite fishing rods back on the water without sacrificing performance and our blog is an awesome place to find more assistance.
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