Hello again thanks to everybody for the great advise. this is truly a great board and the people of it make it so. Im going to turn the cork my self for my next rod are there any basic guid line for doing this. Are is there some standard sizes to go by. also any pointers on doing so would be helpful. Thaks in advance.....

Hi Rob,
This is what " custom rods " are all about. Build the grips to the end user, a standard size ? what is the rod ?
After knowing this we can then design the fore grip and butt grip, lenght & Dia.

Dave von Doehren
PRRODS......If man built it , man can fix it.and if man built it man can break it !

it going to be a 6 ft 6 2 wt to my hand. I could just use a caliper on my older rods i guess to get a basic outline. i dont know if i would even change any thing but I wanted to get some ideas berfor I started. thanks....

Rob there have been a few handles described in Rodmaker with dimensions for the "classic" fit and tapers. Since the rod is for you - as Dave said - make it for YOU and what feels right in your hand. Glue the cork rings on a WAXED mandrel until they're the length that YOU like, then slowly shape them to a form that best fits your hand grip (width, diameter). Go for it! You may design the "Culver Grip" - Someone did the "Wells" grip.

Just sand it down to where it feels good, then pop it off the mandrel and mount it on the rod. Realize that the classic designs are classic for a reason--they work in most circumstances. But, also realize that the outer diameter is something that you can determine only by feel.

I'm particularly fond of the half wells or Fenwick shape, no matter what the size of the rod. The other shape that is pretty generic, but that most people really like is the basic cigar shape.