I was told that I could boil EVA Grips to make them more stretchy before intallling them with epoxy on the rod blank. Wouldn't the water cause problems with the epoxy or the adhesion?

Also, how much does EVA actually stretch once boiled as compared to unboiled EVA?

Thanks all, in anticipation.

There is absolutely no need to boil the grips. It is not required if you put your adhesive in the correct place. Do this -

1. Drop your grip over the rod tip and let it come to rest. Mark the spot where it stops.

2. Remove the grip and apply your epoxy mostly ABOVE this point. Trail a bit down the blank to the intended resting place, but again, most of the epoxy should be above the point where the grip stopped.

3. Bring the grip down over the blank and epoxy and twist and turn it so that the inside is fully coated. Now grasp the top edge of the grip with your thumb and forefinger and squeeze it as if to create a seal around the blank with the top edge of the grip. Now slide it into place, holding that seal the whole time.

4. As you approach the final resting place (within maybe an inch or two) switch your grip to the bottom edge of the grip in order to "pull" the grip into place and restore it to its original length. Pushing the grip on tends to compress it and shorten its length, this motion will restore the original length.

5. Clean up the blank with denature solvent alcohol.

That's about it. You can usually get a grip to stretch its inside diameter about twice the original size in the smaller ID's and about 1.2 to 1.5 times on the larger ones. Always opt for a grip with an ID just smaller than the OD of the blank where it will reside, if possible.

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The tech. that Tom is talking about works great and no mess. I frist head about this tech at a RodCrafter semenar about 5 years ago.I have never had any trouble putting on a EVA handle useing this method. I totally agree with Tom and Dick

Ed, try it, you'll like it! It is the only way to go.

This may be wrong and I don't want to ruffle any feathers but it has worked for me very well and no grips have come loose yet. Knock on wood.

Do everything they say above but also spray a little bit of formula 409 or fantastic household cleaner into the grip. It will slide like crazy.

If there is some technical reason this should not be done I am ready to be instructed. But for now it makes my grips slide on easier and I have not had any come loose.

There is the chance that the 409 or whatever else you squirt in there will never evaporate and at some point the grip might come loose. I'd just use the epoxy. If you put it in the right place the grip will slide easily.

I have been using contact cement on EVA and Hypalon . I coat the area where I want the grip to be, and let it dry for 15-30 minutes. Then I slide the grip onto the blank until it stops. I fill the inside of the grip with laquer thinner, and a little acetone, and wet the rest of the blank, including the cemented area with thinner/acetone. I then squeeze the top of the grip and slide it into position. It rides down on the film of thinner. The thinner also re-activates the cement. I haven't experienced any problem with damaging rod finishes, or affecting the grip material.

Pay attention to the inside diameter of the grip, and it slides on pretty easily. No cleanup, except any extra contact cement that might ooze out. I've been building jig sticks and catfish rods this way for several years, and haven't had any problem with them. Best contact cement is STA BOND, but I have used other brands.