Two quick questions. Is red wood an acceptable handle material? And if not why not? Sorry, I mean 3 questions. Where would a person begin to look for aluminum tubing to do an over sleeve.
Thank you,
Ken Blevins

Red woods are considered a soft wood..
Which could create a few draw backs to using it.

1. Would dent easily , which would allow for the reel to actually push into the wood when you tighten it down. Preventing it from really being held firm.

2. It used in hot tub’s and sauna’s for the simple reason the it is a porous wood. That swells up when it is exposed to moisture. Creating water tight joints, but shrinks back to size again. This causes a lot of movement in the wood . Which is not good on a rod. Any finish you put on it as soon as it got a dingle or any were else that water could penetrate would almost immediately create problems. The wood swelling, would further crack the finish, allowing more swelling and so on.

3. Being a soft wood, it has a low frequency which would take away from some of the feel of your rod.

I would suggest if you want that type of look that you go with epée (not sure about the spelling).
It is a very hard dense wood from South America with similar color. Extremely stable in wet weather.
It can be a little tough to work with, but worth the rewards. Because it is so hard it is tough on tools.
Its’ 3600 PSI rating is roughly 15-20 times harder then red wood which is about 108-240 PSI.

You should be able to find it at a good lumber yard. (Not home depot or Lowe’s)

i found some aluminum tubing for an oversleave at HOBBY PEOPLE. i used it to make an extesion handle for a two handed rod.

I've not used Redwood as a handle material, but lots of folks use redwood burl as an insert material. I know that it's a soft wood, but if you give it 7-10 coats of tru-oil, that should firm it up enough for what you're wanting to do.

I agree Redwood is a soft wood, but the reason it's used for decks and spas is not because it's porous but rather it doesn't rot when subjected to moisture. Adding coats of tru-oil would just create a "skin" over the wood that would still be susceptible to being crushed. That would leave a permanent mark - IMO.

I've seen red cedar and Tennesse cedar used in handles of rods that have survived the test of time. I've even seen cedar rod blanks so I imagine that redwood would work just fine. Put on 4 - 5 of coats of finish and it would be beautiful.

I haven't used Redwood (yet!) But I have used Rocky Mountain Juniper, which appears to be very much like it, and many use Cedar with no problems. I have even seen where someone here has posted pix of nice looking seats made out of pine. A few coats of Tru Ol (or finish of your choice) will provide adequate protection.

Cork, EVA, Hypalon are also soft and they work, so why not soft woods`? Obviously, you have to be careful and treat your equipment right, but that should be a given!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

All grip materials I am aware of will degrade somewhat with normal usage. Redwood and some other soft woods are relatively light compared to many hardwoods. This can be a plus when using them as grips. I have found that Rocky Mtn. Juniper is very similar in weight to the popular burl cork grips when compared. In some cases the juniper is actually lighter. If I were interested in making a grip out of redwood I would by all means try it and enjoy having made something unique and acceptable.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"

bellinger offers a gorgeous redwood burl insert for their reel seats and i have seen them offered by jim bureau (jimbureau.com) plus i have one from damon rods. maybe contact them to see how they have fared over the years or tricks to treating the wood. personally, i love the look and idea of redwood burl.

eric
fresno, ca.

I have used redwood in handles and found it to be excellent: it is light in weight (probably lighter than the composite or so called "burl" cork that is so popular today), it has beautiful figure (especially the burl), and being soft is very easy to turn.
It can easily be waterproofed by treating with tung oil sealer (the sealer penetrates deeply into the wood) and then finishing with a few coats of tung oil. The tung oil finish toughens up the wood somewhat and it is not easy to dent.
A picture of a red wood burl handle can be seen here:
[www.rodbuilding.org]
Eden