I'm looking to put a nice Bellinger or REC UL or DL reel seat on a 7' 2/2 4wt Payne 98 bamboo rod. What would balance out the rod better? Do any of you think that the standard seat lenght is too long? About how long should the cork be? Suggestions? Thanks guys!

Mark

on that size rod i use the 660 DL bellinger . i like the cap on the butt end and you do not have to mortise the cork as you do in the UL. also with the DL you can feather the cork to the reelseat for a smooth look and if you want to slide your hand back on the reelseat wile casting it is a smoth transition. but most of the time i us a cap and ring for that size rod. i like my gripes at 5 1/2 to 6 inches. thanks steve

Thanks Steve...yeah I just like the looks of a locking seat rather than a slide band. I've heard of a few people cutting some of the threads off of the hardware to make it shorter...do you think normal length threads is ok for this length of rod? Thanks

yes i think it fine but if you want to shorten the bellingers do it from the wood side.its easyer. for the DL take off from the butt for the UL take off from cork end. thanks steve

Downlocking cap and ring for rods 4wt and under and uplocking threads 5 wt and above. Size the inserts for the size reel that is to be used--don't cut it shorter than the reel foot. Grips should be sized to fit the hand of the user. Some folks like long fat grips and others like skinny short ones, etc--you be the judge of what you like--Larry

Whats the difference in stabilized wood spacers and varnished wood spacers??

Stabilized are impregnated with some type of resin. It can be acrylic, CA, alkyld resins, etc. The general idea is to make it water proof or at least water resistant. Also, some types of wood that are really punky have to be stabilized in order to be turned. Varnished woods are ...varnished--Larry

Hey Mark,
I just had a bit of an issue with this to-nite. My client(friend) picked a nice 660UL Bellinger for his Sage 390-2XP and then just before I headed out the door to Rodbuilding class he decided he wanted to make that same mortised insert into a down-locking seat. I didn't like the idea but agreed it could be done. Down to Fish Tales and my Rodbuilding mentor, and he says no way... the downlocking seat pushes the reel back too far and into the mud if you happen to set it down. Good news to me and makes sense to me also. This is a beauty seat but it is for a friend.......as for me I will not use a sliding band seat(on my own rods), what with all the great looking conventional hardware out there.



The wood is Green-dyed stabilized Maple burl.
Sorry the pic is not that great, I just glued the handle on to-nite and there is a bit of epoxy that has to be cleaned from the rubberized cork.
Hope this helps,
Dick Seymour