rod building ? reel seat / cork removal

[skiltonian]

Whats the best way to remove existing reel seats and cork. i have bunch of re-builts i'd like to do. Also plan to search rod building forum, as i'm sure it's been covered there, but wanted to get your expereinces, do's / don't dos, etc.

 

[tomgamber]

I have heard heat gun, boiling and some methods I wouldn't try on a any good blank. But it is work either way. Google it...I am sure you'll find one that you think is best for you to try. If you do anything where you are trying to get heat to the epoxy at the butt, cut as much of the old cork off as possible first..

 

[abbrod]

Boil the seat. It takes a good while to get the epoxy to soften up. 20 minutes maybe more. Grap it with some vise grips and pull it off. Don't use plyers where the harder you squeeze the tighter the clamp down. The insert can crack and you could crush the blank. Cut the cork off with a razor blade. Work slowly using caution not to damage the blank. Chuck the rod in your lathe and sand it all smooth without getting into the fibers of the blank. It is a lot of work. good luck!
Just so you know, the pictures of the Z-axis I posted in reponse to your earlier post about a 9' 3wt show the result of doing just that. I have done this 3 or 4 times now and so far I haven't had a problem. I would be curious if anyone else out there has come across a better method.

 

[MKern]

Aggree with abbrod.

And add I once drilled out the reel seat, but I wanted the seat not the blank.

 

[CPR]

sometimes you can boil it for 20 plus minutes and then shove it into a cooler of freezing ice water. You'll actually hear the epoxy crack. Sometimes nothing will work. I've gotten that it's not really worth the time so I just cut the seat off and then splice a new section of blank into the butt to replace the 4-5 inches lost with the seat.

 

[bikerfish]

I've always had good luck with boiling the seat, most pull right off. also, if it's one of the old anodized aluminum reel seats and in good shape, don't throw it away! people will pay money for these, they don't make them anymore!!
as for the cork, usually have to cut it off. if you don't have a lathe, use a wood rasp to get the bigger chunks off, then sandpaper. just be sure not to nick the blank with the rasp.

 

[Sam50]

I use a heat gun on both the seat and grip. Make sure You have heavy leather gloves. If Your grip was built onto the blank with individual cork rings, You'll have to cut it off.