What I am going to do is start with a square blank. The one I used was 3 1/2" long by 3/4" square. This is a minimum size of a blank you want to use but I really wanted to show that you don't need much material to get a reel seat out of.
First thing are the tools, the first tool is a spot weld cutter/hole saw used as a spur, and if you look at the center tool it is a hand ground HSS lathe bit, the round cutting surface allows you to cut in both directions, toward the chuck and toward the live center also. The second pic simply shows the releif of the grind on that tool. The last two tools are the fingernail bit and a simple radius bit used to mortise the blanks, We will use these at a later date:
Spot weld cutter is a Blair autobody tool, you can buy it off most tool trucks (Snap-On or Mac, etc.) or you can order it here:
http://www.etooldirect.co...cutter-assembly-2109.html
This view shows the releif of the cutter:
And finally the last of the tools:
First thing to do is mark the center of the end of the blank simply draw a line from corner to corner:
Now you need to drill two pilot holes, one on each end, the first one is 1/16" the next one is a center drill, you really can do this by hand as shown but
a drill press with a vise is better:
Center drill:
Next use the small pilot hole to hold the spotweld cutter centered to the blank and put the live center in the ceter hole push the blank into the teeth of the
spotweld cutter and lock in place, here is the first cut, don't get to agressive!
Here the blank is starting to get round:
Now you need to measure the diameter, .685 is a good diameter to shoot for:
Once you have the blank turned to where you want it you need to bore it, On this small lathe the hole thorugh the chuck isn't big enough for the reel seat
to fit into, so I just held it with the jaws, you already have the holes started with the 1/16 and the center drill. Start slowly and once you get started the
bit will center itself. I drilled the reel seat out with a 5 1/6" bit first the followed up with a 3/8". Go in 1 3/4" then turn it around and
do the same from the other side.
Once this is done all you need to do is apply finish if you are going to use a hooded butt cap and sliding band, otherwise you need to mortise the blank. I
will update this tutorial to show how I do that at a later date.
Here is the finished reel seat:
One more thing I want to say is that when turning burl wood, you sometimes get a knot that tears out, now you have a big hole in your otherwse nice reel seat!
You can simply fill this hole with 5 minute epoxy (no sawdust) and sand it down to the blank, then apply the finish of your choice this one is done with Tru
Oil, you would be supprised how well this works, if you look closely at the finished reel seat that is exactly what that dark spot in the middle of that reel
seat is!
Stay tuned !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Joe E. Arguello
