I was looking at the wood grips at mudhole and am wondering how one goes about mounting them. I assume you use some sort of arbor. Let me know what you guys do.

Thanks,
Peter

I use a caliper to measure the top points on the blank where rear and fore grip will sit, and drill the hole all the way through with a bit that is the next smaller size. Then I use a round file to bore from the bottom to the top to get the handle to slide all the way down. Depending on the taper of the blank, sometimes I'll use two different sized drill bits, one for the top and one for the bottom of the rear grip to get closer to the size of the blank before I start fileing away. I don't like the wood grips too snug, but not too loose either. Although I can't tell from the picture, it doesn't look like they've done their rear grips the same way I do mine, and you may have to slide that handle from the bottom up and shim at the top. If that's the case, you just pick the next sized ID up from the bottom of your blank and tape away. You could end up using a lot of filler.

Jay

The wood butt grips I have [ 10"] are bored about 4" deep, there is no need to for the blank to go all the way thru unless it is a trolling rod grip. Jesse

I turn custom handles and grips from cocobolo for my Calstars.
After turning the outside dimension of your handle, chuck the handle blank in a lathe and drill it out by stepping up drill sizes until you are just under the desired finished dimension
Fit the handle to the blank by wrapping the blank section where the handle goes with quality sandpaper/abrasive cloth.
Chuck the wood handle in a lathe and insert the abrasive wrapped blank and work the handle to the desired fit. A little large is good for a desirable bond.
It takes time and patience.

Curtis

Peter, I build custom wooden handles for spin, cast and fly rods using various woods. I purchased a set of mandrels from Lamar Reel Seats which dictates the size hole I drill in the wood before turning it on the lathe. I use the size that fits the rod blank that is just a little larger. I then us masking tape to shim it to the correct diameter. I check this by sliding the wooden handle and reel seet over it to make sure of a snug fit. Then I ruff up the masking tape shims and epoxy the handle on making sure I get glue distributed thoroughly in between the shims. I then usually rotate the wooden handle so that the best wood grain is on top and pleasing to the eye. Don't foget to line your reel seet up with the spine. Good luck! Lon