I make all my own reel seat inserts for my bamboo fly rods. You don’t need an expensive lathe, I just use an old craftsman lathe. But, if you’re going to put a mortise on your reel seat, I’ve found that you need a good router table. The precision of the mortise cut is very important or you’ll ruin the insert. I make my cut on a Rockler Router Table with a convex edging bit, sometimes called a finger nail bit (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=5713). After final sanding, I put two coats of shellac, followed by 8 coats of a high quality tung oil finish, and then a couple of coats of wax. Here a little video of my building process..I hope you enjoy it:
i am haveing a hard time finding the fingernail router bit to do the moretis for the real seat.can you help me please..than you
Robert,
I use a Fingernail bit from Rockler (www.rockler.com) for cutting the mortis’ on my reel seats. You’ll need a 1/2″ router for this bit. Here is the link to this specific bit: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=5713&site=ROCKLER . You need to make your cuts very precisely, and I also purchased a router table from Rockler, along with an Incra Jig (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=11494&site=ROCKLER) to help with the positioning of the cuts. Good Luck!
Hi Dave,
When you did the final drilling out of the insert did you do it on a drill press or did you use the lathe with a drill bit? This is where I have problems because it seems the bit likes to wander.
Hi Peter,
Thanks for the question. Once I’ve cut out the basic 1x1x4 inch blank, I drill out the insert on a drill press. I clamp the blank in two Jorgenson clamps, and then use two small bar clamps to hold the Jorgenson clamps to the drill press table. I think the key to prevent the bit from wandering is to go SLOW when you’re drilling. Especially with some of the hardwoods I use for my inserts, it’s very important that I take my time when I drill.
Hope that helps,
Dave