Has any one ever tried to put a reel together seat simillar to the one's G Loomis makes in their bronzeback series of rods. It's a skeleton insert with a ruberized cork ring in the middle as the insert and very little cork for a for grip. I'm planning on glueing up a St. Croix and try to mold the handle such as G loomis does. I was just wondering if anyone else had any succes or un-success trying it.

Eric,
Just about everything you need for buiulding one of those in a lighter weight cork insert is at Anglers Workshop. They are a Loomis rod and blank dealer, and about a mile from the Loomis factory. The only thing I can see that you'll have to shape yourself is the foregrip. Rubberized cork is just about the heaviest cork product out there. Angler's have the same insert in regular cork , or they are pretty simple to shape out of a burl or some of Andy Dear's cork if you want something different, both the last suggestions will weigh a little more than regular cork, but I think are nicer looking than rubberized cork.