A few eva grips (6-8) that I have have been "dented" from the pressure of other items resting against the material for a prolonged period of time. One, for example, had a edge of a lid to a cardboard box pressed aginst it and now has a diagonal narrow crease or furrow indenting the grip. The grips are not installed and are loose.

I have already tried soaking them in water for a few minutes then nuking them in the microwave oven, and soaking them in hot water and trying to stretch the dent out. Some of the dent still remains.

Any ideas on how to get the eva to assume their original shape? I am probably just going to throw them away if I cannot get them back into shape....

Lou

Lou, A heat gun will take the dents out, maybe a hairdryer, don't know for sure. If you don't have one I have one here in the shop you are welcome to use. Jesse

Hi Jesse. Thanks for the idea. I never though about uisng a heat gun. I have one and I'll try it on the grips.

Lou

Lou, I've always had good luck with wrapping them in a wet washcloth and nuking them into the stone age.

Hi, Lou - Keep the EVA wet while you boil / nuke it. I don't think dry heat is gonna get it.

Maybe roll the EVA in 2 inches deep of boiled water on the stove. Then wrap the EVA in the wet washcloth, like McComesky said, right after you have re-soaked them in the boiled water. Don't let them cool down too much. Then "NUKE 'EM into the stone age."

In fact, ADD a couple of drops of CLEAR dishwashing detergent into the boiled water when you first start out. If the detergent makes too much bubbling over, change the water and try adding a few ounces of 70% IsoPropyl Alcohol to a half-pot of boiled fresh water without the soap. Either the detergent or the alcohol will help the water penetrate into the foam better. (Don't use the soap and the alcohol together in the same pot of water, because the alcohol will lessen the surfactant action of the detergent).

Getting some water deep enough into the foam to nuke it out will help the foam cells blow out the dent as much if not more than anything else. (Otherwise, that's as good as it's gonna get.) USE TONGS and GLOVES, pal !!!

So, I'm suggesting boiling the EVA in detergent or alcoholic water for 2-5 minutes. Then wrap in a dripping washcloth dipped into the same pot of treated water. Then NUKE ON HIGH for 60 seconds. And see if that does the trick.

The worse that can happen is that they remain as useless to you as you think they are now. Try one grip first (the most expendable one) to make sure that the nuking after the soap or alcohol treament doesn't cause a weird swelling. That EVA foam once cured is dang near indestructible and inert, chemically speaking, so it should be okay.

If that don't work, just put the crease on the underside of a guest rod, or trade them with some CheckerBoard EVA fellow in your area for something else you may need, like line guides or tip-tops. Good luck, -Cliff Hall+++



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2005 07:22AM by Cliff Hall.

If you can not get the dents out cut them out and use the remender as sections for some shorter or custom handles.

I tried the dry heat that Jesse suggested and it did remove much of the dent in a couple of grips, very light creasing left. This morning I got a couple more grips and soaked them in water with a bit of soap as suggested. Left wrapped in a wet cloth I nuked them hard. Most of the creases came out too. In both cases a very light and shallow depression was all that left where the crease was. Not perfect, but usuable. I think I'll be able to use some of the grips with this light indentation, just "hide" it at the 180.

Thanks for the suggestions...

Lou

Put them on a lath and reshape them. maybe you can shape the dents completely out??

Lou - Thanks for relaying the good news.
Dry heat, or wet nuking after soaking in boiled soapy water.
Good deal. Happy wrapping, ... -Cliff Hall+++

OK don't reshape them.

Soooo how do you take out a dent AFTER the grips are installed?

Lou - lightly sand the area where teh dent is. I'm talking 220 or 320 grit. The remaining dent is preobably not very deep at al, and the small amount of sanding MIGHT almost make them disappear - by removing the foam around it.

I've "fixed" grips on my own rods in teh past like this, although I wouldn't consider this an ideal remed, as too much sanding will obviously make the grip uneven/too skinnny,

I just finished one for a friend who's dog got hold of the grip. I put the rod in my lathe and reshaped it as best I could trying to remove as many tooth marks as possible. There were still several tooth mark dents in the grip. I sealed the reshaped grip with CP and flocked it. Filled the holes with adhesive. The flock material filled the few remaining holes and you would never know his dog had hold of it. I too was pleasantly surprised at the results. It makes a badly damage grip look like new.

Don't let Bill Stevens know this or he will start trying to flock dogs teeth purple and gold. I would hate to see Bill get dog bit.

Ed

The shaping and sanding suggested will remove any shallow dents left. I do plan of doing a little sanding on them after the grips are installed. The ones that were too deeply I'll probly cut up for use as mini grips.

Thanks for the tips and suggestions!

Lou

The dry heat works with the grips installed. Jesse

If you install them sand them and then don't like them, then what ?
Maybe sand off the rod just in case ?