There I was, giddy at the prospect of reaming a custom made cork grip with my new pre-made (from Mudhole, if it matters) reamer/razorwands, to which I had just attached beefy pieces of cork so they had nice, comfy handles. As I moved up in reamer size and things were getting tight, I began to notice that the abrasive was being stripped off the reamer. To make matters worse, some of the grit had apparently lodged in the cork, so that as I slid it down the blank, I put a few scratches in the blank (that possibility was mentioned in another thread just the other day, and I smirked, thinking that wouldn't happen to me).

1) Has this happened to others? The grip has about an inch of rubberized cork at the bottom, so I suspect that stuff is tougher on reamers than standard cork.(?)

2) SInce a recent discussion on reamers had mixed reviews on the ones made with sandpaper strips, I'd like to recoat the reamer with grit. At the hardware store today, I explained my mission to some kindly "hardware professionals", who recommended their silica sand as an appropriate abrasive. They told me that was the same stuff hotels put in their huge ashcans, and in fact, when I was at a hotel recently, I asked the custodians what that material was, and they said it was just "black sand" (they didn't offer me a free sample, not taking the hint). Is silica sand the right material for the job?

3) If I need to get rid of those scratches, do I need to refinish the blank, or can I buff 'em out with a little 0000 steel wool or scotchbrite equivalent?

4) If you've read this far....thanks.

I'm fairly new also, and I had this same grit loss problem, with the exact same reamers. Didn't have the blank scratching problem yet, though. I make sure I blow the grip out every time I try it for size.
I just bought some extra grit from one of the suppliers on the left (Jann's, I think). It was really cheap, and I redid the reamers using 30 minute epoxy. I think the problem was that I was trying to do too much at one time, really trying to force it into the cork.
Now I am starting the process with a round file, with the tang cut off, chucked into a drill and run backwards. Then, when I finish with my biggest one, which is 3/8", I go to the reamer. Don't really push it in the grip real hard, though. I just rotate it clockwise, and it pulls itself in. After it is in just a little, I pull it straight out, then do it over again.
It sounds complicated, but actually is easy and quick. I have made a bunch of rods since redoing the reamers, and they are still fine.
Steve Broadwell

I take it these are the ones made with the " grit ". This will happen. You are better off making your own but use sanding strip roll. They have it. Glue it onto a scrap blanks of different sizes with a slight gap in between . It does not come off and lasts a long time. Will ware fast on wood.

Clean the inside of those before you slid them onto the blank, so you don't scratch the blank.

We use silica sand mixed with white portland cement to plaster interior of pools. From my experiance i have never seen it sold in a grit large enough to be useful as a reaming tool. If you could find a large enough grit it is by nature angular, as oppossed to sand you would find at the beach that is round. Point being if you could find it in a large enough grit it would work, but i believe you will have the same problem of it coming off inside the handle. I myself also use strips from a belt sander, a 40 or 60 grit will make short work of the cork.

Sandblasting grit is avail in various grades. Spiral masking tape around a piece of blank, apply epoxy, immediately remove tape so it leaves a spiral of epoxy on blank, then sprinkle grit of choice on uncured wet epoxy. Let cure and it ready for use.

I used kardol past epoxy to make the last batch of reamers some FIVE years ago, and they're still holding up well - hardly any of the grit has fallen off.

Lou

The outer most layer of grit usually comes loose rapidly from the razor wands but the remainder of the grit is more secure and should last a while. If you are reaming wood or firmer composite cork I would assemble your reamer out of sand paper strips as Bill suggests. Always blow out or clean out your grips well after reaming before applying them to a blank.

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

I have been using sand paper strip reamers for years, and have never experienced the problem you encountered. I did experience it on grit type reamers.

Discovering the strip power reamers has turned a chore of rodbuilding into an easy step. I ordered the Fles Coat grit strips from Custom Tackle. Why shop around and waste time when this item is already develped and readily available?

I simply followed the instructions in the strips supplied by Flex Coat.

Double a blank section--epoxy a mating section into another section.

Coat both the blank section and the strip with solvent based contact cement.

Spiral the strip down the doubled blank section with about 1/2" space between the strips. Wear gloves when you do this and spiral it down so it "tightens" when you rotate it in a drill.

Epoxy a piece of 1/4" rod into the large end of the blank section.

Chuck it up in your dril and ream to the right size.

You will need several of these in different sizes and tapers to match various blanks you are building on.

Be careful and do not over-ream the grip.

It will only take you less than a minute to ream a fly rod sized grip. It will be perfectly concentric and tapered.

I have been using the first reamers I ever made for at least five years.

This is the best time and chore saving idea I have ever found in rod building. It really saves time on burl and exotic cork grips. I don't understand why anyone uses a grit, hand type reamer when this option is available.

David Edens

What makes the Flex Coat abrasive stay together is the fact that it's a "coated" abrasive. There's a coating OVER the grit as well as under it, much like a good quality sanding belt (which I've cut into 1/2" strips in a pinch). Even used under power the grit stays put.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/2006 02:19AM by Mark Griffin.

I have used reamers I made from blank sections with grit epoxyed on. Some of the grit will come off. To get the loose grit out of the inside of the cork grips use a small diameter bottle brush, or better yet tubing brushes (sold at commercial kitchen suppliers - made to clean food processing equipment and beer taps etc.) Slip the twisted metal brush handles through the grip and pull it through. You will not be able reverse the brush direction once it is inside the grip. These little brushes clean out all of the loose grit quite well.

Rog

I always wondered why nobody here uses a drill to ream cork. I have build 3 rods using this method and it's much faster than reaming by hand and much cheaper that your standard reamer.

What I did was to cut a broken old blank (choose a rod blank that is small enough that when wrapped with the sandpaper will fit into the hole of the cork handle) into size and made sure that the big end would fit into the 3/8-inch chuck in my hand drill. Then cut a strip of coarse sand paper about ¾” to 1" wide and tape it along the small end of the scrap rod with packaging tape leaving about 3" of it bare to fit into the chuck. Then wrap the sand paper around the scrap rod. You now have an electric reamer. As the drill turns, the sandpaper inside the cork handle will tighten up against the scrap rod blank and you can work it with an in and out motion turning the cork handle slowly to get all sides evenly reamed. The sand in the sandpaper will not stick to the cork because it rubs at very high speed so it just falls off when it's worn.

You can call me lazy but I always look for easier ways in doing things. My apologies to the sponsors if I took some business away from them.

Alright, I'm convinced I have to give these sandpaper strip reamers a go. I was hoping to salvage what I had already spent money on, but it seems I'll be much better off in the long run making new ones. BUT, does anyone sell the "sandpaper strip" type? Seems to me if I am going to have a nice, gradual taper on my reamers, I'll need to buy a blank at least as long and heavy as the heaviest rod I intend to build (8 1/2 foot steelhead/light salmon spinning...although I focus on building more lightweight fly rods than I need).

Patrick,

We've got 'em! Ours are made from the Flex Coat "bonded abrasive" strips mentioned above. They DON'T lose grit! We have five sizes from .310" up to .860" I don't have them up on our site yet, but if you drop me a note at the address below and I'll send you spec's & prices.

Mark Griffin
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C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California