Hi everyone my names Mike & this will be my first rod.It is a cascade SU 1502 for thowing heavy baits .I'm wrapping the handle with cork tape & I'm using the EVA surf grips 2.5 " long for each side of the reel seat do I put these on when I put the reel seat on & wind the cork tape up to the EVA or what I would rather have the edge of the tape under the eva but like I said I'm new to this not sure how it should be I see form my book "Rod building guide by Tom Kirkman " that you use epoxy to lubricate the blank in order to slide the EVA down into position So I'm pretty sure can't do this over the cork tape.Sorry to be so logwinded with such a simple question ( one of many).I'd also like to thank you guys for all the things I've learned off this board already .Thanks Mike

I suppose you could do it several ways, but I'd be inclined to install the EVA and reel seat and then come back and install the cork tape in-between everything else. At least that way you could replace the tape without disturbing anything else if you ever needed to do so.

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Mike,
One thing you can do is to epoxy the grips in place, wrap the cork tape and put trim bands of thread on the ends and finish the trim bands with FlexCoat or a similar product. This step would help hide any imperfections that might exist due to trimming the cork tape. Doc Ski uses shrink tape on the ends of the cork tape. One good source to view is his Advanced Rod Building video where he shows how to put on the tape and a way to decorate the handle with different colors of cord in between the cork tape wraps. In his video, Doc uses a contact cement to glue his grips which I find hard to work with so I will stick with epoxy. Nevertheless, his video is a very good reference.and should help you build a better rod.
Cheers, Ellis

if you place epoxy where you need it you can place shaving gel in the eva and on the blank. this help slide the grip in place. the epoxy will set up fine..I suggest you place the grips on then wrap thje tape and trim.
C.P.

Carmen brings up a good point that I had forgotten to add. The shaving gel works great and a lot easier to clean than a lot of epoxy. And like he says, it doen't interfere with the epoxy setting up. Good point, Carmen.