I've been working on restoring a damaged grip on a vintage fly rod. The wraps and winding check needed to be preserved. So, I removed the reel seat with the plan of sliding the new grip over the butt of the rod. Everything has gone well so far. You can read more about it in this long post: [fiberglassflyrodders.yuku.com]

The grip had to be reamed to fit over the end of the blank. Now, I'm working on wrapping the exposed blank with thread to fit it to the grip. I've got it within .1" of the right diameter. Using more thread would make the diameter too big. My question is, is that close enough to make a good bond with the cork?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2008 12:14PM by Curtis Trompler.

That's just a bit larger than 3/32. Maybe if you were using Rod Bond.

Regards......Doug@
TCRds

It sound like the grips were reamed a bit big. Another approach would be to start over with a grip made of rings, with small center holes that you could ream to fit without the thread buildup.

If not that approach, then Andy Dear's Ultimate Gel (24hr or 15min) would be pretty good for this application. It has the viscosity to fill the gap and still set up throughout the length of the grip. Another trick is to cut three or four grooves in the ID of the grip, about equally spaced around the hole. These wil be your glue "channels" - use whatever applicator you like (such as, a coffee stir-stick) and put glue in the grooves. Then put glue on the thread. No slide and twist the grip onto the rod - the glue in the grooves will mate with the glue on the rod and fill in any voids.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods

The grip had to be reamed big enough to slip over the butt of the rod in this case. That made it a little too loose once it was slid into position.

Curtis,

You are done. Make sure you apply enough glue on both the blank and the internal wall of the cork grip before you install. When you push the grip into position, make sure you have glue seeping out which will indicate that you have enough glue in the channel.

One other thought.
Wrap a narrow band of masking tape on the blank just below where the front end of the cork grip will end to help keep it centered.
Then use a good paste epoxy as suggested above.
Make sure there is enough epoxy to fill any voids.
We run into this often on repairs and that touch of making sure the grip is centered at it's front end works well.

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

Thanks for the advice! I might try using some fine fly tying thread to close up the rest of the gap.

One more thing. The butt of the rod was originally 1.5" short of going to the end of the reel seat. They used masking tape for the arbor and just let it hang off the end of the rod to fill up the gap. The blank goes 2" into the reel seat. It worked well enough to last more than 30 years.

Some people have suggested that I should extend the butt of the rod to support the reel seat better. Is that really necessary? I was thinking of using a foam arbor and leaving the extra space empty to save weight.