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Grips - Reaming

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For those of you who didn't know I'm back in Ireland and working away including on the 'Great Southern Roadtrip/SRG 2004/Michigan Mayhem' rod.  :-)   I was was reaming my grip last night and test fitting in preparation for gluing it on the blank and in test fitting I got it onto the blank and to the right spot, but ... It's on so tight I can't remove it to glue it it place. At either end there's just a hex shaped hole in the grip with no gaps where the blank protrudes.  So really I suppose I'm wondering if glue is even needed? I seem to remember someone mentioning this a while ago.  But I'd feel more comfortable with some 24 hour epoxy under the grip And the only way I can see to get it off is a hole drilled in a piece of wood and push (carefully!) the blank back through  Any guidance/words of wisdom?  Thanks in advance  (Nick Kingston)

Try warming just the cork?

I had one get stuck like that, set it so I could lightly tap the ferrule end of the blank and it eventually came off.  (Pete Van Schaack)

Nick, your way should work.  A butt section would be sturdy enough to apply a fair amount of force.  I doubt you could warm the cork enough to do any good, though you could try it.  Cork is a pretty good insulator.  (Neil Savage)

If it fits that snugly, seems the reel seat on one end and winding check/wraps on the other would keep it from going anywhere and if you did need to replace it (OK, so that rarely happens) you'd be in good shape.   (Henry Mitchell)

I would get it off and glue it. It may work itself loose at an inopportune time. 

Maybe a sort of cork clamp principle in reverse will work: e.g. 2 pieces of wood with center holes just bigger than the blank and 2 opposing holes on either side for threaded rods. These holes far enough apart for rods to clear the grip.

Screw 2 nuts and washers on each threaded rod so that they are a couple of inches down the rod and touching each other. Slide on the pieces of wood, one from each end. Slide the whole lot onto the blank where the reel seat will go. Clamp the last 1/2 inch of the blank in a vice and separate the pieces of wood by separating the nuts. The vice will restrain one piece of wood and the other will push the seat off.

My guess is that you have got it off already anyhow?  (Steve Dugmore)

As I was sitting here reaming out cork rings to glue on a newly completed blank,  I was thinking that I have never seen this posted, so here goes. Go down to your local hardware store and buy a couple of rat tail files (5/16 and 3/8 diameter) when you get home hacksaw off the tail where you would put on a handle and consider these to be dedicated cork reamers. Now you can chuck them up in your cordless drill and use them to enlarge the holes in your cork.

Now here is the trick to this! You need to turn them in the opposite direction, yes counter clockwise. This keeps them from wanting to screw themselves into the cork and you get a nice finish on the holes.

I suppose everyone has been doing this for years and I will make myself out to be a numb-nuts but that has never stopped me before, and if it helps someone all the better :>)  (Joe Arguello)

I hand file my cork with rat tail files as well.  I move the file in and out while rolling the cork back and forth on my work bench.  The trick here is switch the ends of the cork so you ream from both ends.  You need to be careful so you don't over file the very ends and end up with openings that are to large in diameter. If you over file the cork a little extra glue takes up the space and the reel seat or winding check will cover the imperfection nicely.

I wrap the file with masking tape in the area that will be in contact with the ends/openings of the handle so I don't over file.  Occasionally pulling the file out a little more while I am filing allows me to remove just enough cork to get a nice fit while minimizing the risk of over filing.    (David Gerich)

The nice thing about doing this in a drill is that the hole comes out just the size of the file, that is why I have different sizes, and you don't need to do anything but run the file through the cork once in and out, it's fast and it's hard to overdo it.  (Joe Arguello)

Speaking entirely personally I do like a nice finish in the hole. So I'm gonna go out there and screw backwards from now on. If you wouldn't mind just explaining this to my wife I'd be grateful. (Robin Haywood)

I remove the tail-stock assemble off of my lathe to make room and put the file in the chuck. I usually have to reposition it a few times to get most of the wobble out of it. When you get the wobble out of it, tighten the chuck tendon-poppin' tight. Infinite control of the speed. I run it fairly slow, it doesn't take a lot of RPMs to get it done. And yes, run it backwards. You will need to stop every couple of inches and tap or blow the cork dust out of the hole.

It takes longer to get the file running semi-true than it does to get the cork out of the hole.  (David Atchison)

I have finished the blanks on two rods I am making as wedding presents. I'll next begin mounting the handle and ferrules. I have a couple of questions on what to do with the handles. Both butts are quite a bit larger in diameter than the hole bored out in the spacer I bought. One especially since I put a swell on it. Do I turn down blank to fit the spacer or enlarge the bore in the spacer or both?  I know the spacer doesn't have enough material to bore it out completely to fit the swelled butt blank. Does turning down the blank effect its action or strength? I bought a rod from a maker a few years ago that snapped off at the handles setting the hook on a bluegill! I also don't know what to do with the grip. One is cork and the other I made from red pine bark. I've turned these down on a mandrel ie off the blank. The problem I've had on past rods is when I ream out the cork to fit the blank, I end up with an opening that tends to be too large for a winding check to cover so I fill with a little glue and cork dust mixture but it looks kind of crummy. Should I be turning down the blank instead of enlarging the hole through the grip? If so, will this also weaken or change the action of the rod? These are the 9th and 10th rods I've made. I'm really pleased with the blanks I've made this time. I've used a lot of the suggestions from this site. This rod making is beginning to be fun and not so scary. I'd like these rods to look nice for my nephew and his bride. How they fish is up to them. (Guy Silva)

Glue a spiral of sandpaper on a dowel that will fit in the existing grip hole. Then by hand or chuck it up in your lathe and enlarge the hole, place the grip onto the dowel reel seat end first that way the hole will not enlarge that much, test fit it on the blank often. Leave the rod end under enlarged and finish it by hand, with practice you can hex the end so it fits tight onto the blank. Well this is how I do it. (Ron Petley)

I turn down the butt of the blank to fit the bore of the reel seat. Some reel seats, especially burl reel seats can crack very easily and over boring them will cause the walls of the seat to be too thin. As for your grips, it sounds like your reamer may be too big. Possibly use a smaller size reamer? (John Smith)

Here is what I do. Keep the dimensions of the butt constant for the last 10" so the grip and reel seat can be slipped on from the rear. I glue up cork grips off the rod so it is usually necessary to ream out the 1/4" hole to 5/16" or 3/8". To do this I use a long, round rat tail file chucked up in a drill, reverse the drill so the file isn't sucked into the grip) and ream to a tight fit. I do the same for the reel seat insert. For wood grips scrape the corners off the last 10" with a razor blade until you get a tight fit. Since cork can be compressed, corner scraping is usually not necessary but it can't hurt. Many turn the corners off the last 10" using a lathe, but I have never mustered up the courage to try that. I just fit a wood grip and reel seat to a butt section last night and the corner scraping took about 10 minutes. Turning down the blank should have no effect on the rod action or strength so long as you don't overdo it. (JW Healy)

I let the real rod makers answer the handle/reel seat dilemma.

But how big is the butt that a reel seat won't fit?

I normally drill a hole somewhere between 0.375 and 0.400 for most of my reel seats and have to make dry wall tape bushing to take up the space.

I also don't know what to do with the grip. One is cork and the other I made from red pine bark. I've turned these down on a mandrel ie off the blank. The problem I've had on past rods is when I ream out the cork to fit the blank,

A couple of easy fixes.   Go to your local thrift store that are easy to find because they are packed full of women looking for new treasures to decorate with. Somewhere in there you should be able to find a barrel or a box full of old fishing rods that are dirt cheap.

Most of these old fiberglass rods make great reamers for handles.   I go to my local HF store and buy 1 x 30 or 1 x 42 sanding belts in 60 or 80 grit for $3 or $4.   here's a good video by flexcoat that will get your mental juices flowing.   Flexcoat Power Reamer

I end up with a opening that tends to be too large for a winding check to cover so I fill with a little glue and cork dust mixture but it looks kind of crummy.

I do a lot of bark grips.  When I have a situation like your often times I will make a 30-minute epoxy and build a ramp from the rod to the top of front of the bark and then after the epoxy has set I will wrap it with thread so it flows from the front of the bark to the blank.   Looks nice and easy to do. (Ron Hossack)

What are you using to bore out the hole in the cork. Graphite building days, I used a scraped blank with sanding grit glued to the exterior. Allowed sanding a tapered thru hole and controlling the top hole size. Got them from Angler's Workshop.  (Rick Kruger)

You can turn down the blank to fit, unless you have a really extreme difference. When you think about it, you will be holding the rod AHEAD of the reel seat, and you will not be taking any load on it.As for the grip, there is no answer other than just to go at the boring out slowly and carefully to fit. (Peter McKean)