Reel Seat Woes

[nelz]

I recently put an Accuframe on my 505HS only to realize that using it on my favorite matching rod would scratch and mangle up the aluminum foot on that frame. The rod has the old school bare steel reel seat for when reels only had steel feet.

Is there a way to soften the grip without changing out the entire reel seat? Tried wrapping tape around the foot, tape rips.

[thorhammer]

Teflon sheet shim?

[nelz]

Teflon sheet shim?

That might do it, but where to find that?

[thorhammer]

I'd check McMaster- hey, didn't you just ask a question about Tib frame feet being aluminum or steel? If you go that route, I have some extra Tib feet (they screw into a slot unlike machined accurate feet) and am happy to send you one N/C so you can fish one and have a pretty one in back-up. I must give props to Ted, who sent me some color matched ones, so I have stock ones as surplus


John

[RowdyW]

John, I don't think that a Tib foot will fit on an Accuframe. Unless he is talking about two different reels.    Rudy

[The Fishing Hobby]

I have a couple of ideas that may help.
The Teflon sheet was a good idea, but High Density Polyethylene has similar characteristics and is easy to find for free. Plastic milk jugs are HDPE and pretty thin too so you may be able to cut some pieces off of that. My second suggestion is to coat your reel foot with a thin layer of clear gorilla glue. It is kind of rubbery and can be painted on thin with a brush. It will dry clear and is pretty tough, somewhat similar to epoxy. Unlike epoxy, it is fairly easy to remove when you need to or if you want to reapply at some point. You can get if off with your fingernails and a little elbow grease. The clear gorilla glue is not a Polyurethane/foaming glue. The confusing thing is that gorilla glue does sell a Polyurethane glue that looks clear in the bottle but it is actually called "White Gorilla Glue". You don't want that one, you want the "Clear Gorilla Glue". It is a different type of glue all together.
That would give you a removable layer of protection on the reel foot that would stay in place untill you want to remove it.
Just some ideas to kick around, good luck with it!

Here is a video I did about the clear gorilla glue used to protect guide wraps in place of epoxy so you can get an idea of what it looks like and its characteristics:

[The Fishing Hobby]

If you do decide to try the glue, I'd do a test run on something else so you can see how to work with it, how tough it is and how to get it back off and decide if it would suit your needs.

[thorhammer]

John, I don't think that a Tib foot will fit on an Accuframe. Unless he is talking about two different reels.    Rudy

It wont fit- he may have been asking for a different reel or perhaps getting another frame, not sure.

[jurelometer]

I wouldn't glue plastic onto the foot.  It is a corrosion trap.  And glue will not hold polyethylene for long.   But the suggestion of some scrap polyethylene is a good one.  How thick depends on the size of the gap and the shape of the foot.  You can look at the recycling symbol to determine if the material is polyethylene.  There is probably some sitting in your recycle bin.  Lots of color choices if you look around.   

I would go on the thick side for the plastic,  and use some heat on the realseat hood if it is all metal,  maybe a bit on the reel foot   as well.   Polyethylene can be thermoformed and will get squishy at relatively low temperatures.   You want the plastic to be slightly softened, not all melty. You can just heat the plastic if you work fast.   While the plastic is soft, lock the reel into the seat, and the plastic will conform to the shape of the foot and hood.   Too much heat, and it will melt into all the crevices and be hard to remove.  If you get it just right, you will have a removable insert with a custom fit to your reel foot and hood.

ABS can be used, but when heated releases toxic fumes.  Nylon melts at too high a heat.  Teflon(PTFE) is is expensive, slippery, and is not suitable for thermoforming.  Polypropylene will work, similarly to polyethylene.  Delrin/acetal sheet would work nicely, but might be a bit overkill for this project unless the plastic has to be very thin, and you won't find any in your recycle bin.  Acrylic and polycarbonate are not elastic enough.

If the fit is too tight for an insert, or if you don't want to hassle with thermoforming,  a bunch of wraps of teflon plumber's tape is worth a try.   Get rid of the tape when you take the reel off, so that it does not trap salt.

Haven't done this myself,  but these are the options that I would try.  Actually, I don't give my reels that much love, and would just let them get scratched up

-J

[nelz]

Some great ideas here guys, thanks a bunch! I'm thinking Polyethylene might do the trick.

Also, to clarify, yes I did post to trade my Accuframe for a Tiburon, thinking the Tiburon used a steel foot. But after looking at some photos, it also looks aluminum, so I deleted the post. Correct me if I'm wrong, if the Tiburon is indeed steel I would certainly trade.

[RowdyW]

As I said before the Tib foot is aluminum. I never saw any made of steel. Accurate is aluminum. Newell is aluminum. Even when Tom (Cortez Conversions) builds a frame they are aluminum. They are built that way as a weight savings.

[The Fishing Hobby]

I wouldn't glue plastic onto the foot.  It is a corrosion trap.  And glue will not hold polyethylene for long.   But the suggestion of some scrap polyethylene is a good one. 

Just to clarify, I was suggesting he use polyethylene or the glue I mentioned, not to try and glue the polyethylene...not much out there that sticks to that stuff. The glue I was talking about would provide some protection for the reel foot and could be removed if it ever needed to be.

[thorhammer]

the milk jug works- I had forgotten that, and have use it on my big game rods between reel clamp and seat with a coat of grease on both sides to prevent salt trap and corrosion.


John

[nelz]

the milk jug works- I had forgotten that, and have use it on my big game rods between reel clamp and seat with a coat of grease on both sides to prevent salt trap and corrosion.

Do you just fold a piece around the reel foot?  I was thinking of melting some and dipping the foot.

Btw, I found 1 gal water jugs that are PE also.

[jurelometer]

Melting and dipping probably won't work.   The PE will be pretty gooey when melted.  It will scorch if you heat it to the point of being liquified.  Heat and drip might work, but be careful about  burning your skin.  If you know a skier,  this person  might have  one of those PE heat and drip sticks used to repair gouges in the base of skis.

If you are going to dip, I would recommend something like the tool handle dip (plastic-dip).   And there are two part urethanes that are elastic,but reasonably hard  (like a skateboard wheel) that would be be better, but  the smallest amount  you could purchase would be about USD $40 before shipping.  But I personally would not do amy dipping or coating.

You basically have two choices - coating or removable tape/insert.   With coatings, you have to be certain that saltwater will not work underneath- this would lead to bad corrosion.   So any coating  that will stick well enough to prevent leakage will not be easily removable with out damaging  the foot. And coatings may hide corrosion while it is occurring.

For tape or inserts, many plastics will deform under load over time (creep).   LDPE (like milk jugs) is pretty susceptible to creep.  This means that the reel seat will loosen under load.   I would suggest   to  cover only the top of the foot to  help minimize problems from creep if using a slice of PE. Preheating the PE a bit, and then clamping down the reel seat will spread the load over the surface area,  minimizing any "break-in" creep.

Thorhammer's recommendation of a bit of grease in addition to a plastic shim is a good idea.

I wouldn't glue plastic onto the foot.  It is a corrosion trap.  And glue will not hold polyethylene for long.   But the suggestion of some scrap polyethylene is a good one.

Just to clarify, I was suggesting he use polyethylene or the glue I mentioned, not to try and glue the polyethylene...not much out there that sticks to that stuff. The glue I was talking about would provide some protection for the reel foot and could be removed if it ever needed to be.

Oops.  My apologies.    Looks like I  am "that guy" who doesn't double check what he read before responding 

Clear GG is supposed to bond to metal. If it does, it is not coming off easily.  If it doesn't,  then corrosion is going to be a risk. Or some combination of be two. My basic argument against coating.

I still like the PE idea.

-J