reel seat repair

Question
Have vintage saltwater rod, reel seat is split! Is there a repair kit for rod?
THANKS...........Don

Answer
Hi Don,

The short answer is a definite yes but to truly do your question justice, I wish I knew more about the rod and the seat that it has.

Is the rod vintage enough to be solid Tonkin cane or split cane? Could it be solid fiberglass or tubular fiberglass? Is the rod, with the fore grip, detachable from the seat and butt section by way of a ferrule? Is the seat pot metal, brass, chromed brass or perhaps German silver? All of these might be possibilities. Some folks consider vintage to simply be older, say perhaps 20 years or so, others would consider vintage say pre-1950 or substantially older. So I will try to address all of the above as the techniques are nearly the same for mounting a seat on all of the rod types.

Starting with the older of the possibilities; Tonkin cane or split cane, most of the butt sections were detachable just above the seat itself and have a ferrule on the end of the rod that is inserted into the butt section. IF it is split cane and you wish to preserve the integrity of the cane and perhaps it's value, be very gentle and VERY cautious.It is very likely to be extremely fragile. To find the proper seat I would encourage you to take advantage of a great source for the identical or at least similar seats; find a broken or damaged rod like yours at a flea market, garage sale, thrift store etc. and salvage a seat in good condition. In any case, be certain to at least match the rod diameter for the best fit, obtain a seat with a slightly larger inside diameter than the diameter of the rod butt or the blank at the point you wish to mount the new seat. The i.d. should be approximately 1/8 to 1/4" larger than the outside diameter of the area you wish to mount the seat. At many good full-service tackle shops, especially those that do lots of repairs or have been around for many, many years, you might well find the exact seat in stock or hiding in a dusty corner. Ask the proprietor and if he does not have one, ask where you might find one that is similar.

A modern brand that may still be manufactured that will match many old brass, pot metal and even the beautiful and artfully made German silver seats is from a company called Varmac. They are a chromed brass alloy and were used from the late 50's through the early 80's and I believe were bought out by a company in San Diego known as Squidco (and may still be manufactured). Many tackle shops on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts may still have them in stock. But remember! If the seat and rod are connected by a ferrule, you will have to match the seat and ferrule exactly and perhaps need both items. Other seats you might choose are modern, machined aluminum, injected polymer or graphite composite seats. Any will work if matched to the power and intended purpose of the rod but I hope you will strive to keep the rod as original as possible.

To remove the broken seat from a fiberglass or solid Tonkin cane rod, you should be able to GENTLY heat it with a propane torch on LOW or an alcohol lamp, until the adhesive holding the seat softens and allows it to be gently twisted off with pliers. Work it gently back and forth. Be VARY careful not to twist if it is NOT SOFTENING! You don't want to damage the rod blank, split or solid cane or the wooden grip under it. I have had to spirally cut some old seats off with a hacksaw and pry them off...this is the best way to avoid damaging SPLIT CANE...do this with great caution if you choose this technique...it ain't so easy. Once the old seat is off, you will need to clean up the blank or wooden butt section and keep it as round as possible. Use wet-dry aluminum oxide or silicon carbide sand paper or sanding screen. After you have cleaned her up, it is time to mount the new seat.

There are two primary techniques and to mount the seat and both will accomplish the objective. The easiest and most common is to obtain a roll of regular 1/4" masking tape (not blue or "frog" tape) and either a 2 part epoxy from the hardware store or for a stronger more permanent fix get some epoxy paste known as Marine Tex. This stuff will PERMANENTLY mount your seat and heat will not likely allow you to remove it in the future. Next, slide the seat onto the but section where you want it to remain and mark it on the rod side of the seat. Now remove it. Next, starting about a 1/4" up from where the seat touched the butt section, begin winding the masking tape evenly and as tightly as possible without it breaking, in a perfect stack until you can slide the seat over the tape build up and it fits perfectly. Now go about 1/2" further up the area and wind on another section until you have 3 or 4 evenly spaced sections that the seat will slide perfectly over without any slop. Now, mix your epoxy and apply it very liberally over the area you have now built up with tape, tilt the butt up and slide the seat on working it back and forth to ensure enough epoxy will fill the gaps between the tape. Quickly clean the excess epoxy (by the manufacturer directions) and position the seat exactly as you want it to be once the epoxy sets up (again go by the directions or it may set up before you are done with the project). Now just set it in place with a bit more tape so it does not slide and let it set up for 24 to 48 hours. If you need to put on a ferrule to match, use the same mounting technique on the rod section. (If you don't have a rod that separates ahead of the seat, you have to put the seat on over the tip, which means removing all of the guides and the fore grip, replacing the seat, remounting the fore grip and re-wrapping the guides onto the rod...that's one reason I wish I knew exactly how your rod was built).

The mounting method uses basically the same technique but instead of building up sections of tape, you use arbors that fit the I.D. of the seat and that you fit to the blank by reaming the inside diameter if each until they fit in the similar spots you would have built up with tape.  Again use the epoxy technique we just mentioned and you should be ready to go! One last tip: remember to be certain your reel will fit the seat you buy to make the whole repair worthwhile. I'd hate to see a finished repair that wouldn't fit the reel you intend to use!

So that is one heck of a nut shell! I hope you can follow the directions, if not, just ask away! We'll get you back out there using that old rod!

Have fun!

Thanks for the question...