I'm sorry! I didn't see the drop down menu on the Mudhole site. I see the razorwands come in fine, medium and coarse grits and different diameters. Do I buy them to match the diameter of the butt end of the rod I'm building?

Nobody ever told me much about reaming the cork. I've been using tape as a shim to fill the gaps between the cork and rod blank.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2005 09:08AM by Bruce A. Tomaselli.

You don't want to try and ream a large hole with a small diameter reamer. You'll never keep it centered that way. You need an assortment of reamers so that as the hole enlarges, you can move up to the next larger size reamer. I'd buy or make many sizes and stay with the coarser grit in all of them.

..........

Thanks, Tom! I was never told anything about reaming a cork handle -- just to ream it. I learned through experience that I can't just use one size reamer. I thought I was just using the file wrong. Wow! That's a big problem solved for me.

If you are willing to make your own, buy the FC abrasive tape, buy a $10 MudHole special cheap-o blank, follow the instructions and you'll have all the reamers you could ever need. Just cut the blank into a few sections. If you have a lathe where you can turn at about 1000RPM, these make the best power reamers for EVA, cork, FC Arbors, I use them to scuff up the inside of reel seats as well. I think Jesse Buky ranted and raved about this product which recieves little "hype" and notice, and it was the end of my reamer concerns..period.

There is nothing that comes close to the reamers you make using the Flex Coat Belt Grit. I have several that I chuck up in my Sears wood lathe on low and next to low speed to ream my encapsulated grips [PCV PIPE}, reel seats, EVA, cork you name it. The loose grit type [Razor Wand} is no good for power reaming as the heat generated makes the grit come off and the grit will be inbeded in the cork grip which will scratch your blank as you slide it on and off while fitting the grip. Take a little time and make yourself a set and your set for years to come. Jesse

As Billy and Jesse suggested, the Flex Coat Abrasive stripping is without a doubt the very best way to go for making reamers. When made, these type reamers last for years. I know for a fact that I have cutomers that have made their own reamers from the material and I believe that some of these fellows are in at least their fourth year of usage and they still are holding up great, from what I have been told. We know offer a kit for making these type reamers. The kit is either offered with a set of three to four e-glass shafts or solid fiberglass shafts for mounting the Flex Coat abrasive stripping. Every rod builder should treat himself to making a set and you will never regret it. You can contact us at 931-684-6164 for ordering the reamer kit sets we now are offering.

Bob McKamey -- Custom Tackle Supply

The Flex Coat strips mentioned above are definitely the way to go for reamers! Make some in various sizes and you'll be very pleased for years.

Stan

Do you have to "level" the area of the reamer that is going to be placed in the chuck to eliminate any wobble or does the material that you're reaming keep the reamer runnning true?

Jeff Hunter

Blanks are about as level as you can get. I do not ream many cork grips, but I do ream a few EVA & Hypalon grips. My power reamer is 4 feet long, and wobbles pretty much sine there is no support until I put the grip on (obviously I start teh chuck with the grip on to prevent getting whipped with a reamer). I havent' noticed any off center reaming even with this wobble - but Foam & cork are 2 entirely different things.

I shouldn't have assumed that everyone would know by level I mean the taper. I haven't seen any blanks that don't have a taper and therefore they can't be level from tip to butt. You can make one side perpendicular to a straight horizontal line but only one side at a time. At any rate, the taper is what I was talking about. I was wondering how it turned with the chuck really only gripping a very small part of the surface and it sounds like with EVA and such it works just fine. Anyone give me info on the same thing with cork?

Thanks,

Jeff Hunter

My bad. The chuck holds just fine. I have 2 reamers, one solid glass, the other has like a 1.25 OD & I have filled with Rod Bond. I REALLY tighten the jaws tight, which probably digs into the blank a bit, and will probably cause the hollow one to break at some point.

I do not think Cork would be a problem, as it is MUCH easier to ream under power than foam grips, probably takes half the time (1 minute instead of 2, including fitting on teh blank)

On the 24" reamer that I use in my wood lathe I have glued a 3" spinning rod EVA Grip on the large end which works great in the 3-jaw chuch. Jesse

Thanks Billy. I hate it when I struggle for so long with a problem and the answer is so simple. I spend more time on some rods reaming the cork than I do wrapping the rod. I've been going to pick up some solid blanks to make reamers out of so I could really tighten the chuck down. Never thought of filling the end of a blank with rodbond.
One more question. Can you ream cork using the wrappers that PacBay and Batson sell? Or will I fry the motor doing that?

Thanks,

Jeff Hunter

I am unfamiliar with the motors on those lathes. I assume they are sewing machine 1/15hp? If so you should be able to ream cork, not EVA or Hypalon - but I do not know since I use a Delta Midi. Cork reams really easily though, so it shouldn't be a problem, again - I do not know.

After reading Jesse's post, I think that's a better alternative than filling with Rod Bond. I'm gonna add a small piece of EVA to the end of my reamers so they chuck can "bite" easier.

PS - I feel more confidant using EVA than filling with Rod Bond, since Jesse builds more rods in a month that I will in 10 years. I'm sure there are others here in teh same boat, but having met Jesse and hearing how many rods he builds, if he says something works, for 1,000's of rods, it will work for my dozen's of rods, lol.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/2005 03:25PM by Billy Vivona.

If the blank isn't solid, I Rod Bond and old drill bit into the end of the blank to chuck it with

Mike

One thing I haven't seen suggested here that I've seen in similar posts is to make sure you leave an empty space 3/4 - 1" long on the tip end of your reamer, so that it follows the predrilled hole concentrically.

Bill in WV

WB - that's because on teh instructions that come with teh abrasive strip, it tells you that.