Howdy all. A friend of mine just gave me a couple of "semi vintage" 5 1/2' Tidewater medium action saltwater rods both with Penn 112H 3/0 Senator reels. Can't beat the price, but both rods have loose reel seats. The metal tube that goes over the blank just spins. Can I just carefully drill a small hole in the seat tube and fill 'er with epoxy? Or is it better to do some sort of disassembly of the butt end of the handle? I'm not too sure how one would go about taking off the lower grip without destroying it. The rods and reels are all in great shape otherwise. I Googled reel seat repair to no avail. Thanks in advance for any help!
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Marty Klein
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What would happen if someone filled a small hole in your seat with epoxy? I also suspect that if someone disassembled your butt end, it would be destroyed. :wacko::wacko:
If you're going to drill a hole in the tube, I recommend using a screw to secure it. I also believe that if you can get Gorilla glue or epoxy in there, you should be fine. Unless you want to rebuild the seat, you're in a nothing ventured. nothing gained situation.
If you're going to drill a hole in the tube, I recommend using a screw to secure it. I also believe that if you can get Gorilla glue or epoxy in there, you should be fine. Unless you want to rebuild the seat, you're in a nothing ventured. nothing gained situation.
TritonGlenn
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Any repair performed to a reel seat that doesn't involve the removal and replacement of the seat is going to be temporary and weak at best. You cannot take off the rear portion of the grip, fix the seat, and replace the rear grip from the back. All components of a rod are slid on from the tip to the butt. In order to epoxy the reel seat in place correctly, you will need to remove the foregrip and reel seat, fix whatever bushings are under the reel seat if damaged, apply new epoxy, and re-seat the reel seat.
The BEST way to do all of this would be to strip the guides and foregrip off the rod, remove the reel seat completely, put new bushings in place (I prefer Fuji graphite bushings over using tape or cork for bushings, replace the reel seat and foregrip, and re-wrap the guides.
It may seem like a lot of work, but you have to think of it this way - you're dealing with saltwater equipment. Any temporary or "quick fix" is asking for a lot of trouble when the first big saltwater fish hits. Do you really want to see those Penn Senators go flying off your rod and stripping the guides off the blank on it's way off the boat? :lol:
All the best,
Glenn
The BEST way to do all of this would be to strip the guides and foregrip off the rod, remove the reel seat completely, put new bushings in place (I prefer Fuji graphite bushings over using tape or cork for bushings, replace the reel seat and foregrip, and re-wrap the guides.
It may seem like a lot of work, but you have to think of it this way - you're dealing with saltwater equipment. Any temporary or "quick fix" is asking for a lot of trouble when the first big saltwater fish hits. Do you really want to see those Penn Senators go flying off your rod and stripping the guides off the blank on it's way off the boat? :lol:
All the best,
Glenn
Marty Klein
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Are you referring to the Shakespeare Tidewater rods? If so, and the rear handle design is similar to current, I suspect the rear handle grip was put on from the back. I think your plan will work; I also believe you could contact Shakepeare and possibly get replacement handle grips if you feel you need to take it off. Unless you fail to set your drag properly your reel won't get pulled off.
TritonGlenn
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Marty,
The rear grip is the first thing that is put on a rod during construction. It is pushed from the tip to the butt of the rod. It cannot be put on from the rear due to the taper of the blank. If you were able to get a rear grip to fit from butt to tip, the forward portion of the grip would be loose, and would never sit properly. I've rebuilt tons of rods, including saltwater rods. None of them have ever had grips that mount from the butt to tip.
Shakespeare does not have replacement grips for rods. It is not cost efficient for them to do so. A good aftermarket place to buy replacements is Mudhole Tackle or Custom Tackle Supply.
I also do not recommend drilling holes, and very much disagree with your idea of using a set screw to secure it in place. Drilling a hole into a graphite, fiberglass or composite blank is a sure fire way to ensure rod failure from that point. You would be creating a weak link in a rod.
Gorilla glue is also not something I would recommend putting a reel seat on with, particularly a salt water rod. There are products designed for the job. Yes - you could probably "get by" with it, but why? Use what was meant to be used for it. I highly recommend using Rod Bond By U-40.
Sorry Marty. I'm not trying to be disrespectful. But as someone who has built rods / repaired rods for a VERY long time, I have seen just about everything you can imagine, including your recommendations for the repair. In the end - they ended up on my workbench for repair. The "drilled and pinned" examples (I've seen two in my time repairing rods) were both splintered from the point of drill / pin, and the rod blank was unsafe to use again. In both cases, I showed it to the owners, and they agreed - throw the blank away because they had ruined it by drilling.
All the best,
Glenn
The rear grip is the first thing that is put on a rod during construction. It is pushed from the tip to the butt of the rod. It cannot be put on from the rear due to the taper of the blank. If you were able to get a rear grip to fit from butt to tip, the forward portion of the grip would be loose, and would never sit properly. I've rebuilt tons of rods, including saltwater rods. None of them have ever had grips that mount from the butt to tip.
Shakespeare does not have replacement grips for rods. It is not cost efficient for them to do so. A good aftermarket place to buy replacements is Mudhole Tackle or Custom Tackle Supply.
I also do not recommend drilling holes, and very much disagree with your idea of using a set screw to secure it in place. Drilling a hole into a graphite, fiberglass or composite blank is a sure fire way to ensure rod failure from that point. You would be creating a weak link in a rod.
Gorilla glue is also not something I would recommend putting a reel seat on with, particularly a salt water rod. There are products designed for the job. Yes - you could probably "get by" with it, but why? Use what was meant to be used for it. I highly recommend using Rod Bond By U-40.
Sorry Marty. I'm not trying to be disrespectful. But as someone who has built rods / repaired rods for a VERY long time, I have seen just about everything you can imagine, including your recommendations for the repair. In the end - they ended up on my workbench for repair. The "drilled and pinned" examples (I've seen two in my time repairing rods) were both splintered from the point of drill / pin, and the rod blank was unsafe to use again. In both cases, I showed it to the owners, and they agreed - throw the blank away because they had ruined it by drilling.
All the best,
Glenn
Glenn has it right. without complete dis-assembly anything is temporary....but temporary can be ok. Try a syringe with super-glue around the edges. Anywhere you can get that needle in, put some glue in there. It wont be permanent, but I would guess you can catch a few fish off of it before you need to completley re-do the rod.
Marty Klein
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Well now, I'm not meaning to be disrespectful back, but if you read my post you will see that I asked him if it was a Shakespeare Tidewater rod. Those have a one-piece rear foam grip, almost like a foot-long butt cap. There is no way you are sliding that on from the tip no matter how many years you have been building rods.
Now, I have only replaced two cork handles in my life, both without disassembling the rod and both under the guidance of a gentleman who had been building fly rods forever. Both handles have been working nicely for 7 years. That length of the blank was not tapered.
Now, I have only replaced two cork handles in my life, both without disassembling the rod and both under the guidance of a gentleman who had been building fly rods forever. Both handles have been working nicely for 7 years. That length of the blank was not tapered.
TritonGlenn
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Marty,
The rear one-piece foam (Hypalon or EVA) is slid on tip to butt. (Shakespeare has an "Ugly Butt" rear grip on their newer offerings.) Always. I use a "bump board" and water for lube to get them from the tip to butt, and they are a pain in the you-know-what to get on sometimes because it's such a tight fit. I have never seen anyone to get a proper fit trying to put them on backwards... and that is IF they can even get the grip to slide on from that direction, which you can't if it is the proper size. I have no idea how many rear grips / reel seats / etc... I have removed and replaced over the years (tons). If there was an easier way to do it, I think I would have found it by now. The ONLY way that I can see anyone getting a grip to mount from the butt to tip direction is if a machine opened the hole up, the rod slid in, and then the machine released the grip onto the rod. However, since none of us have such a machine - tip to butt is the only way to do it properly.
We can argue the point all we want, as we both seem to think we are right. In the end, it's up to vabasgetr to do whatever he wants to do, so I'll stop responding at this point.
If you want to get the last word in, go ahead. I won't respond.
By the way... I think I know what a Shakespeare Tidewater rods looks like. I've seen them a "few" times. :lol::lol::lol:
All the best,
Glenn
The rear one-piece foam (Hypalon or EVA) is slid on tip to butt. (Shakespeare has an "Ugly Butt" rear grip on their newer offerings.) Always. I use a "bump board" and water for lube to get them from the tip to butt, and they are a pain in the you-know-what to get on sometimes because it's such a tight fit. I have never seen anyone to get a proper fit trying to put them on backwards... and that is IF they can even get the grip to slide on from that direction, which you can't if it is the proper size. I have no idea how many rear grips / reel seats / etc... I have removed and replaced over the years (tons). If there was an easier way to do it, I think I would have found it by now. The ONLY way that I can see anyone getting a grip to mount from the butt to tip direction is if a machine opened the hole up, the rod slid in, and then the machine released the grip onto the rod. However, since none of us have such a machine - tip to butt is the only way to do it properly.
We can argue the point all we want, as we both seem to think we are right. In the end, it's up to vabasgetr to do whatever he wants to do, so I'll stop responding at this point.
If you want to get the last word in, go ahead. I won't respond.
By the way... I think I know what a Shakespeare Tidewater rods looks like. I've seen them a "few" times. :lol::lol::lol:
All the best,
Glenn
