I just got back a 4pc. 5wt Sage I had built a couple years ago. Apparently the owner was fishing and set the rod down to eat lunch not paying much attention to the rod. When he was finished eating he returned to the rod to find some marmot/ gopher or some mountain rodent enjoying a feast on the cork handle of both his and a friends rod. I was skeptical and have never heard of such a thing but sure enough the remains of the handle have teeth marks.

On to the question. I know the only way to repair/replace the handle is to completely strip the handle and epoxy. My fear is damaging the blank while doing this. How much of the old epoxy do I need to remove? Will the old epoxy bond with the new?

I appreciate the help and watch out for those wascally wabbits...

You don't need to completely strip it. You only need sand it down to a small cylinder and then ream/bore the new grip to fit that OD. Stop just shy of getting into the blank itself and bond the new grip to the small amount of what's left of the old one.

I am assuming you have a lathe that make such a task a matter of minute or two at best.

....................................

Tom's suggestion will work great.

To bad it's not that easy with a dozen new arrows! Lost the fletch (feathers) on a new dozen to the little boogers during an elk hunt years back! I believe they will eat most anything.

Regards......Doug@
TCRds