i have a cork pistol grip with a hole in the forward end and no hole in the back.How am i going to get the blank into the handle when the end of the rod is bigger than the hole.

You'll need to dril it out, ream and fit from the tip like a normal grip. Leave a recess in the back, and glue in a cork plug. Sand smooth and unless you look closely, you won't be able to tell the difference.

I suggest you ream out the grip to fit from the back end up, after it is sized, wrap some heavy thread to make up the difference where the front of the grip comes to rest on the blank.
A heavy dose of epoxy should also help fill any voids.
Hope this helps,


Best wishes,
Ron Schneider
Schneider's Rod Shop
Mountain Home, Arkansas
[www.schneidersrods.com]
mtnron40@yahoo.com
870-424-3381

Like Ron says. Don't drill a hole completely though the handle. It goes on from the butt. Just make it fit from the butt. The right size drill bit should work.

Also do all the work on the rod and put it on last. I do this so I can put a piece of blank into the butt for the dryer.

I've just glued a pin into the proper sized wooden dowel to find the center of the hole in the butt of the grip. I push the dowel into the hole and push the pin out through the cork.

After finding the center of the hole in this manner, I cut carefully with an Exacto knife at an angle from a larger diameter of the butt of the blank it's to be used on, down into or at least towards the hole. I usually don't completely reach the hole with these cuts, but just complete this by inserting the other end of the dowel to push the cut piece out of the hole.

Then, I ream the handle to fit the blank and glue the piece back in when gluing the handle on. I mix some cork dust in the glue and force it into the outer edges of the cut as I'm doing this. I clamp it carefully to keep this plug tightly in place and then sand it smooth afterwards. It's always turned out really nice for me doing this.

I try to avoid cutting through any spots that look like they've been filled already with glue and cork dust; these spots don't like to cut and usually break out in a chunk on me. Cut around them, leaving them in the plug or on the handle.

Putter
Williston, ND

I was lazy and did not want to fill any hole LOL

Or get really into it like this one [www.rodbuilding.org]