Marc,

Actually no <> Although Great Suff is similar.

We buy water proof Titebond liquid Polyurethane adhesive by the case for all of our grip assembly bonding here in the shop.

Like all bonding, there is a bit of a learning curve with liquid Polyureathane adhesives ... And procedures need to be followed.

Using this bonding process is different then would be required for epoxy bonding, and my suggestions are based on information that I have gathered from various liquid Polyurethane adhesive Mfgr. Techs over the years for specific applications with their respective products.

We find liquid Polyurethane adhesive grip assembly to be much faster then epoxy, more cost effective, and actually far less messy <> And surely safer for those that have developed health problems as a result of exposure to the components within the make up of epoxies ...

... Like myself.

Please Note: We assemble and mill all of our grip assemblies ring on ring, in place, on the blank.

To begin <> We prepare the surface in areas under cork and reel seats as one would for epoxies for a better bond.

We use Titebond water proof Polyurethane adhesive, and it needs a little mist of water on all surfaces to activate.

We use self adhesive mesh dry wall tape for reel seat filler, acheiving a snug fit of the reel seat on the blank butt section.

We water mist the mesh, then roll the mesh in adhesive under tight hand preassure on a flat surface to assure 100% saturation ... Then slid on the reel seat and locate where necessary in relation to spine.

The liquid Polyurethane will expand beyond the edges of the reel seat in the curing process.

We let the seat cure for 30 minutes or so over a partitioned drying rack.

We then pull the excess semi-cured material away from the edges of the reel seat.

It will pull away very easily in this cure stage.

If any micro bits of cured Polyurethane are left on the reel seat, we saturate directly with a few drops of CA Un-Cure. This will easily disolve the adhesive, and can be brushed away with a tooth brush in a few seconds with no harm to the reel seat.

This leaves everything neat and clean, allowing the seat to cure for another hour or so.

We now mask off the reel seat to avoid adhesive contact in the cork grip assembly process.

We slide all of the grips required pre-sized rings in total down the blank in their correct order....Again slightly misting all the rings in place with water.

Next, we squeeze a small radius of Titebond on each ring individually <> And slide each in place with a 180 twist snug into their final seating, making sure that there is a cork to blank adhesive connection as well as cork to cork surface adhesion

We cramp the grip assemblies in our own shop made quick-clamp assembly tables, under a fair amount of preassure <> In truth just as we would do with epoxy, with no more or less preassure then would be necessary for epoxy bonding.

The hardened Polyurethane foam will expand out beyond all ring joints <> And this is exactly what we want to see.

I keep a can of mineral spirits handy to wipe off any adhesive spillage that my get on the exposed blank section.

If care is taken <> This will not happen ... But if it does, it can be easliy and safely wiped away in it's uncured state without harming the blanks surface.

We let the adhesive cure for two hours or so at normal room temps ... And it's ready to mill.

I do all of the grip milling with a 4 dog chuck on a variable speed lathe (Jet - JML101 extended bed) and two adjustable roller bearning assemblies to steady the butt section.

Our blank sections are 4' max.

We use various grit abrasives to profile ... Starting with 50 grit; I can easlily remove the cured polyureathane foam to a clean cork cylinder, then up to 80 to rough in the actual grip profiles.

Then 120,220,320,500,and 800 to finish the profiles.

I generally set up to do the entire process in one sitting, and can do 10 two handed grip assemblies a day no worries start to finish.

10 rods are about a weeks' worth of work for our shop <> Start-up to delivery.

Our grips always mill out beautifully, and are extremely durable.

Bob Meiser








Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/23/2007 04:08AM by Bob Meiser.

Wow - thank you Bob for the detailed process description.

I am going to print this one out and keep it.

Have a great day,
Marc

Sumo Glue is a real winner for use in constructing rods. I have used it from fly rods to standups and there is absolutely no question about strength issues. Ralph O'Quinn advised that I use this product due to amine skin sensitization. This product is low foaming when compared to most similar types and is quite easy to use. The only place where I have not used the product is as a lubricant and adhesive to slide EVA or Hypalon in place.

[www.sumoglue.com]

By the way Tim - the threadless rod with Swifty is going on three months use - still holding!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/23/2007 09:09AM by Bill Stevens.