I have been commissioned to build a steelhead rod on a 2C106MLMF2 blank. The customer wants a 12"-14" rear grip and an 8" foregrip made from Dymondwood. Add in the reel seat and I'm looking at 24"-26" of very rigid material. Am I going to be creating a shear point at the end of the foregrip using a material this rigid? Should I wait to get the blank (rod) to see how far into the butt section it flexes?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2007 08:32PM by Scott Hovanec.

Scott, use the link below after you have read the rest

[www.rrpwhite.com]

Dymondwood® is made from 1/16 hardwood veneers that are vacuum impregnated with dye and phenolic resin. The veneers are layered and compressed under high pressure and heat to slightly over half the original thickness. The result is a dense, warp-resistant material that will finish to a high polish without stains or finishes. It is hard and somewhat brittle and thus can chip or crack if proper techniques are not followed. It will dull cutting tools faster than most average woods. You can produce excellent results with your Dymondwood blanks by using a few special techniques.

There is more reading about it on the link.

Any other ? email me I have used it, but there are pro's and con's to it.

You can counter bore the grip & install flexcoat arbors in the handle. Just leave about 1/2" un bored at the front of the fore grip for nice finish. This will have the added bonus of really reducing the weight of the grip also.

Regards
Dave

Fishing is Life the rest is just Details




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2007 08:42PM by Dave Orr.

Man on such a short blank, I think 10'6 if im right, its gonna be HEAVY mofo. I agree with Dave, bore it out and add arbors to lighted it up. Id probably try and talk him out if it. Use the wood as accents not the whole thing. But the customer is always right. On the plus side, it will look sweet!

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information,which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance--that principle is contempt prior to investigation."
- Herbert Spencer

Dave's right about the arbors!!!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

I like the Dymondwood. It's a great product but man is it brittle. I have made a couple of pens out of it and they came out great. I don't know how well it will hold up on a rod...especially if you have a hollow spot with no epoxy or rod bond or something to fill the void. If you bore it out and it ends up being too thin and the butt gets struck or it gets some pressure on it in a rod holder, I would think it could give and crack or break out. I personally wouldn't use it unless the customer is ready to deal with the weight.
Just my 2¢.

I gave the arbors a thought myself, however weight didn't seem to be a problem to him. He already has a rod with 12" cocobolo grips. I'm gonna try to talk him in to using blue burl and trimming the ends with the dymondwood. I'm kinda afraid of him smacking it off a rock in freezing temps and shattering it, or having the rod shear at the foregrip cause it's too rigid.

Scott, I personally don't think that you will need to worry about the flexing and a shear point. Most of the flex will be in the upper 3/4 of the rod. Flex coat arbors are very hard and won't relieve enough of the stress to eliminate a shear point. The flex coat arbor is inside a tube of Dymondwood and reinforcing the arbor so it still will not flex or move. If you want it to flex you may want to use a softer compound like rubber, but then you would loose sensitivity. The amount of wood that you will remove will also negate the weight savings vs. the effort involved. The other consideration is it's a 10' rod it may add a little weight by installing a wood grip (as compared to cork), but most people add lead to the very end of a long rod to help it balance (thus adding weight). I have found that building the weight into the grip will help to balance the rod and give it a better handling characteristic. I personally love the look of wood on a custom rod, it helps to define it as a classic.

Thanks for all the replies. I'll post some pics of whatever I end up doing.

Sott