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Has anyone else had their reel seats split lengthwise along the mortise after a couple of years?  One of mine did and another rod maker at SRG had one of his split as well.  Both were hairline cracks along the grain.  Mine was snakewood and his was rosewood.  Snakewood is very dense and hard.  Rosewood is moderately hard.  I know all woods expand and contract with humidity.  My wood was from Rockler and was well aged.  I used 30 minute Epoxy and finished with Varmor.

Am I fitting these too tight?   Should I  be using a more flexible glue?  Tips, suggestions?  (Ralph Tuttle)

I've not had that problem but I think that perhaps your fitting the reel seat to tightly to the rod. Next time try a little looser fit and fasten with an expanding glue such as Gorilla glue.

Another thought; I've split a few handles while drilling them. You may be getting hair line splits when you drill the center hole.  (Mark Dyba)

I just started making reel seats and I wondered if there was a standard foot manufactures use. If so, what us it?  (Jim Lowe)

Jim, here you go.  (Christian Meinke)

There is an AFTMA standard for modern reels but the old timers are all over the place.  Those JW Young post war reels had especially cumbersome feet BTW.  (Larry Swearingen)

The Young doesn't fit my latest rod but the seat on that rod was made for a Martin Classic. I don't worry about it much for myself but as I give rods away with my seats on them I want to make sure the reel seats fit OK.  (Jim Lowe)

OK, so I’ve dog eared my copy of Split and Glued and now I have decided that I absolutely need a reel seat with a bank spike in it.

I believe it will make me the coolest kid at the pond.

Anyone on the list know were I could find one of these without killing an old rod?  (Jon Babulic)

Last time I saw one was on the REC web site.  (Hal Manas)

I can't remember where I first heard of a bank spike in connection with fly rods. I searched high and low for information on them. I did find a reel seat with a removable bank spike, but wouldn't ya know I can't find it again. I just spent a half hour on Google looking for info, but can't find a thing.

I think you'd be better off getting a salmon rod reel seat setup that is threaded for a removable fighting but, and make your own bank spike. Not many North American fly fishermen would even know what a bank spike is.

Possibly a maker in the U.K. can help?  (Chuck Pickering)

You may have heard about Vince Marinaro incorporating them into his rods. Bill Harms' new book may shed light on this. Marinaro is the only American maker that I know of that did this. And supposedly a sumac reel seat.  (Jeff Schaeffer)

Hardy used to make these, but no longer. A few years back, I had some sets made up by David LeClair. These work very well, but I no longer have any left. David is an excellent machinist and rodmaker, but because we worked out the design through email conversations, I have no record of the particular specs. You might want to contact him to see if he can help you out.  (Bill Harms)

I wondered if anyone could advise as to soldering brass or Duronze?  Was thinking of soldering butt caps.  Is there any way to color the solder?  (Dave Kemp)

I don't know about coloring the solder but I had some Duronze cap and ring sets made for me out of solid bar stock. Worked fine and looked great. Same with the duronze ferrules, made out of bar stock. Eliminates all need for soldering.  (Will Price)

I've never used it but there is different color solder available. Check this out.

Don't know how or if it is compatible with Duronze.  (Don Schneider)

You can solder brass no problem, but Duronze will not solder(alloy C64200 anyway). You may be able to braze it, but it's only rated as "fair" for that. You would be better off machining it from bar stock.

To solder the brass, just make sure it's really clean and only have flux where you want the solder. It isn't really any different than soldering nickel silver.

As to coloring solder, brass black will darken it somewhat but it will still be a noticeably different color than the brass itself.  (Jason Klett)

I'm restoring an old Leonard Fairy Catskill.  The slide band for the reel seat was missing so I made a new one.  I don't really want to polish up the original butt cap since I plan to leave the original cork looking, well, original.  So I would like to make the new slide band look a little more like the original butt cap.

Might you have suggestions on how to accelerate the pace of aging without resorting to bluing solution or something similar? (Harry Boyd)

It tends to be an all or nothing thing.   Back when I silversmithed for a living I new some smiths that would drag jewelry behind their truck to make it look old.  What I would try is liver of sulfur solution which will turn it black then polish it back to more of a silver tone with some 1000 grit paper and leave it at that.  (Ron Kubica)

Try a light bluing and then polish most of it off.  Leave some blue in the detail grooves. (Larry Swearingen)

Might you have suggestions on how to accelerate the pace of aging without resorting to bluing solution or something similar?

If you really want to do it without chemicals, you might talk to a friend who reloads brass cartridges and have him tumble the ring in one of the coarser medias. Scratch it up a little first. The best job of faux antiquing I have ever seen was on a rifle owned by a civil war buff. It truly looked like it was a well cared for 150-year-old piece, but in fact was a modern reproduction he had sent to a gunsmith who specialized in that sort of thing. If you know any of those guys, they might be able to help. (Tom Smithwick)

I talked to a friend several years ago who is a gunsmith and makes/restores flintlocks, cap and ball, etc. I remember him telling me he uses a mixture of used coffee grounds, white vinegar, and a couple other household chemicals I can't recall to give an aged patina to metal. I'll try to get more info, but there may be some recipes on line that you can search for as a starting point using these ingredients. (Tom Vagell)

Liver of sulfur is a mix of chemicals so it's not exactly what you're asking for but none too nasty that will turn NS bownish to black over time so you can slowly control the results.

You get it from jewelry suply houses last I knew.  (Tony Young)

Harry you might try this link to Rio Grande Jewelry Supply.  They have a lot of other kinds of patina solutions and you could probably email them with what you are looking to do and get some help.  It is a dangerous web site to look at if you are into tools. (Ron Kubica)

As a boy back in the late 40's, I used to get liver of sulphur from my druggist for 'aging' copper. You might check with yours to see if they can still provide it. It is a rock-hard solid; but dissolves readily in water. (Frank Schlicht)

Piss on it.  No, really, when I was a painter back in the 70s we needed to age some copper for one of the Studebaker Mansions in South Bend Indiana & we soaked it in stale piss.  Gives a nice patina in a few days. (Bret Reiter)

Uhh, thanks. I guess. :) (Harry Boyd)

Bret is absolutely correct.  Being a retired sculpture professor I can attest to its effectiveness. Picasso used to pee on his bronzes in order to create what was a rich green patina.  Any copper based alloy will turn green with successive coatings of urine. My students used to put smaller bronze casting in the urinals and after a day or two of being showered they emerged with a very unique and beautiful patina. Just a bit more technical input. Once you achieve a desired oxidation you thoroughly was with soap and water, let it dry completely then lightly wax it to maintain its color.

I know this sounds a bit freaky but it is tried and true.  (Jim Killy)

I still use liver of sulphur in the darkroom for brown toning silver prints.  I doubt you can get it from your local druggist (if you can I'd like to know about it).  Here are two links, one for the straight stuff and the other for a premixed brown toner concentrate.  Either would work well for aging NS, I would guess.  A bit stinky and slimy but rodmakers like stinky and slimy. Check here and here.  Might check ebay also. (Carey Mitchell)

Another thing I do when someone wants me to make a muzzleloader I am building look old is take ammonia & bring it to a boil & put the parts in this solution.  You have to do this outside & try not to breathe in the fumes.  It takes some close monitoring when you do this.  Spray the areas you do not want aged with lacquer or they will age too.  If you want more detail on both of the methods, I am talking about give me a call. (Bret Reiter)

I'm trying to figure out what's the most commonly used wood insert reel seat used by rodmakers. Any ideas what on what It is or how I'd find out.  I'm looking to make an alternative insert and I'd like to concentrate my efforts on the most used hardware, at least to start with. So I'd like to hear any opinions and suggestions on figuring this out. (Eric Wolfsbane)

I use cork.  (Bill Lamberson)

Well, anything you fancy, really, but it needs to be well seasoned.

When I get a load of hardwood delivered for firewood I always look out any interesting bits, roughly cut out the bits I like and leave them in my infamous piggery for about a year. I have tried to use the microwave to accelerate the process, but it tends to cause splits.

For saltwater rods you can use bits of horn, like elk, but sadly horny beasts in Cornwall UK are mostly human! Before my late mother went off to advise her maker I was charged with the task of forestry reduction on her property. This has left a legacy of lovely pale Holly blanks, some nice restrained cherry and slightly interesting apple.

But I also have some Cornish Elm Burr, which is rather good, but like all Burr is a bit of a pig to turn. If I were any good at wood turning, as most of you are it might be easier, I suppose! I don't like mahogany, in fact I don't much care for it for anything, except conservatorys! Neither do I like obviously tarty bits of grain, like Zebrano, either for spacers or Benz dashboards, but I am not German, of course. Olive is nice, so is Burr Walnut, but hard to obtain.

In the USA you have much more choice, as you do with most things, as I noticed on my recent trip to Cape Cod after the Stripers. (Robin Haywood)

I don't seem to have the trouble you do because I buy what I need.... pre-made, too! No help I know but being of good convict stock (Australian), I enjoyed your wicked sense of humour (note spelling!). Sorry I don't live on Cape Cod as I wouldn't mind chasing some stripers as well. Living in 'America's finest city' (San Diego), I have to chase mine on Lake Skinner, which is at the end of a water aqueduct from up north.  (Tom Lucas)

I use a Garrison-style cap and ring from REC, Bellinger, or Brookside.  All seem to require the same spacer. (Bill Lamberson)

For what little it's worth, before I started turning my own I used mostly REC stuff. CRN Catskill Cap and ring, Garrison style NGMD and NSUS uplock.But the IDs are all different, one size insert won't fit all. (Simon Reilly)

I use hardware from Bellingers, CSE or, occasionally REC.I use all of uplocking and downlocking types, sliding band and screw-locking, depending on the rod and the user's preference. I think my all-time favourite is a downlocking, single sliding band reel seat with a Garrison-style butt cap and a cork insert. This hardware I get from REC.My go-to is Bellingers. I find both the service and the product to be excellent.Same goes for ferrules. (Peter McKean)

I doubt very much there is a standout supplier. I would guess that the biggest suppliers to cane rod makers are as follows (I don't know the order):

• REC
• CSE (at least 3 sizes)
• Bellinger
• Lemke (especially for Alu fitting and glass and graphite rods)
• The guy on eBay (just search for real seat for bamboo fly rod and you will find him)
• I'm sure others are using PacBay or any of the suppliers to MudHole, Cabelas, etc.

You might try as Tony has implied: investigate the specs of the above and see if you can determine some commonality in size, then provide those (0-3wt, 4-6wt, 7-9wt diameters and lengths for example). The diameters he suggested are pretty common. Might leave a little overhang on the shoulders so folks can tune them to some degree. Might provide different lengths for classic reel users.

Hope this helps. (Chris Moore)

A very good supplier I have found is:

Email: info@anglersworkshop.com

Angler’s Workshop Order Line: 877-741-7720 (Mon-Thu: 8am to 5pm CST, Fri: 8am-3pm) (Lew Boyko)

You might want to check with the list's Tony Young. He is quite knowledgeable and will take the time to sare what he kows. Also, he makes great hardware.  (Rich Jezioro)