I'm about to take the plunge and try this out. I've got two questions after reading the article and posts on the forum here.

1) What diameter sleeve carbon/fiberglass sleeve to get? I want to make split grip bass handles. My current cork grips are 1 1/4" tapering down to just under 1". So do I go with a 1.5" diameter sleeve?

2) The article said to ream the foam core to just smaller than the OD of the blank it will sit on. Then you do the sleeve and laminate it. In the process, when you tuck the "rope" ends inside the hole of the foam core, doesn't that make it difficult to impossible to get the grip in place if the hole is already smaller than the blank? Am I reading that correctly? Shouldn't the hole be the same or a little larger than the blank since the grip is going to be rigid as it goes onto the blank?

Thanks guys.

AC
FishinFreaks
Rogers, MN

the 1.5 is fine for the sizes you are going for.... I do the reaming after I have the sleeve on and finished. Its not very hard to ream out the end with the fibers in them. Just dont soak the holes with resin and create a deep clog..