The bottom part of the reel seat fell off my Cabela's 3Forks 480-4. I've heard of other people having this problem, and I know I can just glue it back but I've never been happy with the components, esp. the grip. So I am thinking of replacing it. Sure it's only a $70 rod but I'm really happy with the blank and its action. It's just the components that suck. I looked high and low for this configuration and this one fit the action I wanted without having to get into the $400 range.

I figure I could put another 35 bucks into and spruce up a decent blank a LOT. I've never built a rod but it seems like it should be pretty simple if I can get the lengths right. Am I oversimplifying it?

These are what I'm looking at for replacements. Any advice on the different quality of cork would be appreciated. I don't want to go crazy but don't want to end up with the same low quality I have now. I'd be willing to spend the extra for an upgrade.

http://www.jsflyfishing.com/cgi-bin/item...-Uplocking.html

http://store.hookhack.com/HH-A-Grade-Cork-Grip-_-RHW-Inletted-for-865-Cutout/productinfo/HRHW865/

pearow?

Well I'm no Pearow, but I can try to help.

First thing is to save money on the new components, I would order the new grip and reel seat from the same company. Sometimes their shipping fees can be rather high and if you buy them together, it will help save on some of the cost.

Now the reel seat is actually pretty easy to replace. You can submerge it in boiling water for a few minutes until the epoxy softens and you can pull the seat off. I personally have never done the boiling water trick (heard you can damage the graphite of the rod, not sure if it's really true or not though) so the way I have taken them off is with a dremel tool. Just cut a slit in the reel seat lenghtwise from top to bottom (making sure not to cut into the blank). Do that 2 or 3 cuts and the reel seat should "peel" right off. Then since you are going to replace the grip, use a file or high grit sand paper and get off as much epoxy as you can...again, be sure not to sand into the graphite of the rod.

Now the grip, the easiest way I have done it is similar as above. I take a sharp knife and cut it lengthwise from bottom to top. Do several cuts and you should be able to hold the grip firmly with one hand and spin it with the other. The compromised grip (after you cut the slits) will be weakened and it should crumble to pieces as you spin it. Just repeat until you get most of the grip material off. Then again, give the left over epoxy a careful sanding to remove as much as you can.

Now the tricky part. Most grips are mounted to the blank before the guides are put on. The center hole should follow the taper of the rod. Since you just want to replace the grip, I don�t see the need to strip off all the guides only to reapply them after you mount the new grip. However by avoiding this, you will be dealing with a reverse taper type mount. So the hole for the grip will be much larger than it should be towards the front of the grip to get it over the butt of the rod. You can fix the "slack" that will be between the grip and the rod by using masking tape as a filler to fill in the gap. It will take some time reaming the grip and applying the filler tape to get a snug fit. Once a good fit is achieved, lather the blank where the grip will be with epoxy and apply the grip. Also the gap between the rod and the front of the grip will be much bigger than usual. A good winding check should be able to cover that up.

Then once you get the grip on and mounted, then just use the tape again to get a good snug fit between the reel seat and blank. Once that is achieved, lather the rod where the reel seat will go with more epoxy and apply reel seat (making sure it lines up with the guides!).

Most of this I agree with. I would go ahead & remove the hook keeper. (I went on Cabela's website and looked up the rod you have.) You don't have to use a bunch of masking tape to shim up the cork grip. In fact, over time, the adhesive in the masking tape will soften and your grip will loosen. If you DO shim the grip, use cotton glace string and coat it with epoxy.

It is best to take the hook keeper off and put it back later with black thread. You can coat the thread with the same epoxy and come out with a decent-looking rod. Remove the thread from the grip-end of the hook keeper ONLY. You can wiggle it out from under the other end and epoxy it back when the grip is back on.

Once you get the grip honed out with a rat-tailed file so it fits snugly on your rod, assemble the reel seat DRY! DO NOT epoxy anything until you have assembled everything dry!! You will also want to put the reel on to make sure you have assembled everything properly.

This being your first project, wait until you have completely satisfied every doubt of fit, form, and function. Only THEN should you mix epoxy. DO NOT use 5-minute epoxy for your reel seat and grip!!!

OK, let's assume you've lined everything up properly and are one hundred percent sure it all fits and all the pieces are properly sized... Get a roll of paper towels. Get some stir sticks or popsicle sticks. If everything is properly sized, you'll use about half the amount of epoxy you thought you would need..........

Put the reel seat on FIRST and align it on the rod blank. Put the reel on just to look at it and to make sure all the parts are assembled properly. If everything is good-to-go, stand the blank somewhere (with a paper towel under it) and check it every five minutes until the epoxy is dry.

Once the reel seat is set, dry assemble the grip. You may have to dig out a little bit of the inletted area. A pen knife works OK. Just remember, if the reel seat doesn't slide all the way up into the grip, it won't look good with epoxy oozing out of it later.

A winding check always makes a rod look more professionally finished. If you plan to build a rod in the future, it is good practice now.

It is now your option to put the hook keeper back on or not. There are lots of youtube videos on how to whip guides on a fishing rod. when you get it back on, simply coat the threads with the same epoxy you used to set the reel seat and grip. Sit down and watch an episode of Duck Dynasty while turning the butt section of your fly rod every so often, and you won't have any drips, runs, or sags in the finish.

I'm not Pearow, either... I've built a rod or three in my day, though.

JR

Preast; you can get a good grip and a fine reelseat at www.utmostenterprises.com
look at their closeouts; they also have reverse half wells grips for $4; nice reelseats for $5 to $14 bucks that would really spruce up the cabela's rod; won't cost you near that.
I would do it just like urban fisher, recognizing that JR knows as much about the process as anybody
(the stuff from utmost ain't high quality; just pacbay closeouts)-p-

I'm no pearow either but folks compare me to him because I'm frugal!!!

yes you are Master Jigfly; yes you are-p-

Thanks guys. Great info. Getting the seat off was easy using the boiling trick. Only took about 3 min. Got some sanding to do now. I'm leaning towards leaving the hook keeper because the existing rubber winding check is pristine. And at that spot in the blank, it's 1/4" but only 1/16" larger at the butt end. So not a lot of difference in diameter (or is it?)

Questions:
-what about something like Gorilla glue that fills gaps?
-is the coating on the threads the same kind of epoxy used for general stuff? I always thought it was something else since epoxy seems to turn yellow after a couple years.
-should I treat the cork?

pearow, how do those 4 dollar grips compare to say, a TFO Pro series?

My answers, FWIW... Gorilla Glue is good stuff. I have always used epoxy, because I've always used epoxy. It works!

I suggested using epoxy to coat the threads because you said you wanted to save money. What is normally used is a water-based product that dries clear & stays clear. I have seen older rods where the varnish has yellowed. Epoxy will stay clear a long time.

I can also give you my opinion on those cork grips... Don't buy a cheap, cheap grip. There are many grades of cork. The cheaper ones have lots of filler in them, and you'll be right back where you are now!

Treating cork with lots of filler is not a good idea. In my opinion, FWIW, buy a decent grip and let it patina. It looks better in those photos where you have a big trout in your hands and the rod grip between your teeth.... YUK!!!

Seriously, you can buy rubberized cork grips nowadays, and they look & work pretty well. AAAA+ cork grips are expensive.

JR

the grips are fine with me; but I drive a dodge truck, not a Mercedes; the grips will last a lifetime. I treat all my grips by putting on a coat of miniwax golden pecan stain, then sanding it dry with fine grit220, then 400, then 600. I let that dry then I put a coat of tru-oil on it by rubbing it in by hand and really stretching the oil. Like JR says good cork is very hard to find and very expensive; the rest of the cork is about the same. The big boys of rod building get all the good cork; we're left with what's left.
I have used gorilla glue for the grip, making sure there's a lot of moisture so the glue will fill the voids, but its a hassle; much easier and cleaner with epoxy.
My opinion about rod building is generally speaking pretty blah; I think rods are tools, not pieces of art; its about catching a fish so I tend to use good stuff, but cheap as possible-p-

JR can correct me if I get this wrong, but I think the logic behind removing the hook keeper is that it allows you to slide the grip up near the first stripper guide and out of the way while you glue the reel seat in place first. Then you can slide the grip down and glue it next to the reel seat.

It seems like it would be easier to get the spacing and alignment right using this method than gluing the grip first and then adding the reel seat. But I suspect either method would work.


Concerning the rubberized cork style grips, TFO uses them on the Bug Launcher rods. The first time I fished a rod with these grips, I fell in love with them. They are very functional grips that work very well in the field and have a better gripping surface than natural cork when wet. But I do think straight cork is "prettier".

I would suggest NOT using masking tape as a filler material under the cork as it degrades. You'll regret the slip slide wobbly feeling years from now.

Use synthetic thread / cord to build up the rod diameter, and epoxy this down tight.

But, especially cause your a newbie, do use masking take to cover all the expose cork before you attempt the gluing, sometimes things go wrong...

I dont know how well gorilla works as a filler over time. Epoxy is recommended as a filler, but some epoxy gets brittle over time.

Anyone have advise for keeping epoxy pliable. ?

I built all of my fly rods before TFO came along with high quality, affordable fly rods.
Strictly for striped and largemouth bass - 8-9-10&12wts for fresh and salty water.
All built on Sage RPLX blanks with the very best components available, including cork.
Never replaced a grip or reel seat from the rear as discussed but see no problem, same as others.
No problem ever with narrow masking tape with gaps filled with epoxy - never a slipped reel seat or grip.

I agree with others on poor quality cork on todays fly rods and like "synthetic" cork very much TFO is using on Bug Launcher and NXT rods.
George

Again, appreciate the help. Not sure rubberized is for me. I think I'll go with something like this in AAA inletted at .865" to fit the A5 seat.

http://www.jsflyfishing.com/cgi-bin/item...Half-Wells.html

Seems like solid middle of the road stuff. Thanks for the advice. I'll post back the results.

I looked at the rod in several places on the web, and if all representations were correct, this is a four-piece rod, and there is no stripping guide on the butt section of this rod.

I suggested removing the hook keeper because that would allow Preast to set the butt cap of the reel seat directly against the butt end of the blank and build forward from there with little to no gaps between the rod blank and the new cork grip.

I seriously doubt that the new reel seat and the new grip are exactly the same length as the one that has been removed. I realize it is a great big SO WHAT? to many people... In the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter.

If the new grip is shorter than the one removed, he slides the grip up to the winding check, glue it in place, install the reel seat, and cut off any excess rod blank hanging out of the reel seat spacer to install the butt cap.

If the new assembly is longer than the original, there is nothing more to do than add a little epoxy into the end of the spacer and install the butt cap.

Where Pearow said he is more utilitarian in his view of a fly rod, I suppose that I am a little more artsy-fartsy! I like everything to fit perfectly and look good. After all, catching fish IS all about looking good... RIGHT?

JR