On all of the rods that I have built, I have turned the grips on the blank. I would like to try turning some grips on mandrels, but I have some concerns.
-How do you keep the grip from becoming glued to the mandrel?
-Once the grip is turned, what are some ways to ream out the grip to fit it to the blank?
The second question is directed towards longer rear grips >10in.

Thanks,
A. Eaton

Rub the mandrel with paraffin wax before mounting the rings. The grip will stick well enough for turning. After turning, lock one end of the mandrel in a vise and with a quick twist "pop" the grip off the mandrel.

You will need to keep several different sized mandrels on hand and pre-bore the rings to fit whatever size mandrel is just undersized of the blank area where the grip will reside. Thus, you need only do slight reaming to achieve the final fit. This is much easier than trying to do all your fitting by hand reaming from say, 1/4 inch bore to something like a 3/8th or 1/2 inch bore.

If you must do your fitting totally by reaming, keep moving up to larger reamers as the bore enlarges and use a twisting motion rather than push/pull to keep the bore centered.

This information was fully covered in my book - Rod Building Guide.

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do a search on the sticking to the mandral i belive some folks wax or coat there mandrals as far as im concerned stick with the turning on the blank for your longer rear grips ... i have not had good luck reaming it later on heck for what you buy rings for
you can get preformed cheaper and saves some time ....hope it helps ...John T Burford aka Tightline Rod's

I usually turn my grips on the blank like you do. I have used some preformed grips and even turned a few on a mandrel as described. I only have on size mandrel which fits the 1/4" holes. Here's a good way to get a preformed handle bored without using different tapered reamers. I chuck a 3/8 inch round file into my lathe. Turing in the right direction it works like a fine drill. Keep low pressure and let the file work. Once through the grip rotate the grip with pressure on the file keeping it centered. Test for fit often. Works like a charm and as a byproduct you get some very fine cork dust for filling pits. Good luck.