Finishing rings for fishing rods - All you need to know

So, the answer: the WCS!

The right ring for your reel seat

The major difficulty for the beginner, and sometimes even for the experienced rodbuilder, is finding the right ring for his finger, or rather his rod. It's sometimes tricky to find THE ring compatible with THE reel seat and THE blank diameter, add to that measurements in imperial units for some, or brand-specific nomenclature for others, and imagine the difficulty of the problem. FUJI, with its WCS originally designed for its skeleton, solves several parameters of the equation.

First of all, reel seat size: the WCS comes in two sizes, namely size 16 and size 17 for spinning or Casting. It's not much, but it still covers the majority of situations: we don't all have arms of steel and rods of titans to go tame some pissed-off tunas.

The FUJI nomenclature is simple:

• the WCS16 is compatible with size 16 reel carriers
• the WCS17 for those in size 17...

Simplistic, isn't it?

The icing on the cake being that these rings are also compatible with non-brand reel holders! I don't know about you, but I literally fall for the combination of ALPS MVT and WCS16...

With this ring, FUJI has just solved two parameters of our equation in one fell swoop: the reel seat (if it's size 16 or 17 it's compatible) and the associated ring size! A little tip in passing: it may happen that the ring tenon forces a little to fit into the reel seat, a light stroke of sandpaper on the inside of the reel seat will solve the problem.

The right ring for his blank

Let's move on to the ring's inner diameter; here, too, the FUJI nomenclature is very simple. In concrete terms, for a size 16 ring with an inside diameter of 10, the ring reference will be WCS 16-10, for a size 17 with an inside diameter of 12 it will be WCS 17-12, I'll stop there, you get the idea! To estimate the inside diameter of your ring, you'll need to mark the position of your reel seat on the blank at the distance you require. If you already have the blank and reel seat to hand, it's very simple to measure the cross-section of the blank at this point with a caliper; if the blank is in the order to come with the rings, then we'll refer to the blank's product sheet, Rodhouse giving us the blanks' dimensions.

Let's say you want to place your reel seat 30cm from the butt and that the blank is 10.75mm at this point. at this point. Of course, this measurement is not exactly in line with the internal diameters WCS internal diameters, which range from 0.5mm to 0.5mm.

If you're looking for simplicity, with a fit that's not perfect, but will be filled by a small Wrapping, a size 11 will be ideal. If, on the other hand, like me, you're always trying to be as precise as possible, then you'll go for a size 10.5, which will simply be adjusted to the perfect diameter with a simple stroke of the reamer. Try doing the same with an aluminum ring....

Finishments

The aficionados of the search for the smallest superfluous gram will also find here an ally of weight! A WCS size 16-10 weighs just 0.30gr... The funny thing is that normally, the lighter you make a part, the more expensive it is, but the opposite is true: the price of the ring is really derisory compared to the advantages it brings!

The other advantage of this ring is also that it has a tenon which will facilitate its holding and perfect centering in the reel seat thread during gluing. By the way, it is perfectly resistant to the rubbing alcohol used to clean glue residues. The tenon also allows you to use this ring to embellish a reel-holder grip or a butt, the only limit being your imagination.

In terms of color, it comes in a very sober gloss black that blends perfectly with all styles. But those who prefer a more sophisticated finish will be delighted, as it is also available in silver and gold.

In my opinion, it's practically the perfect ring (rhaaa!! If only there were a few more colors...) and I use it a lot, both to close Casting or Spinning reel seat threads, and to embellish/terminate a butt or carbon handle. Give it a try on your next rod, you won't regret it!

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