Anyone have any "special" techniques for cutting EVA grips??? I haven't had to do it yet and heard that it can be tricky to make the edges smooth and rounded... Andrew Mason

Hi Andrew,
I cut mine with a hack saw. Refine the edges with sand paper
and or a file. No sweat! Foam grips are easy to work with.

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

Andrew,

If you have access to a lathe you can get really good cuts using some size D or E thread. This method was highlighted in a Rodbuilder article some time ago by Tom. I and many others have used this technique and it is easy. Once you get the cuts you want you can either glue different colours together or use different grades of sandpaper to round of the edges. Simple.

Andrew,

not exactly a special technique. The methods mentioned above by the guys all work fine but assuming you may not have access to chops saws, lathes etc and if you simply want a level cut a reasonable stop-gap is to find a short length of pipe or tube with an inside diameter exactly the same as the outside diameter of the grip in question. For a lot of the boat rod grips sink waste pipe is a good fit. Push the grip through the tube to the point you want to cut at and simply use the tube end as a guide and cut with a sharp blade or very fine tooth saw. Obviously make certain that the tube or pipe you are using is square anded to start with. Normally off the shelf they are. When cutting make sure the blade or saw sits dead flat with the tube end at more than just one point, i.e. goes from 3 -9 o`clock or whatever.

Stan

Access to a lathe & you want a straight cut to slice a ring - use D thread, there is NO BETTER tool for this job.
No Acces to a lathe, you could wrap a band of masking tape around the area you want to cut, giving you a straight edge to lin eyour blade up
For 45 degree cuts with a Mitre box - the hacksaw works, but so does any heavily serrated kitchen knife.

All good tips. Just take some 220 sandpaper or 120 drywall sanding screen and round over the edge after you've made the cut. It'll look great.

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

I like using the lathe technique with Spectra.

Great Information! Thanks for everything, guys!... I'll report on how it came out!.....Andrew Mason