Who here is expierienced with the mud hole rear split grip cork( you know, the one with the tenon that is designed to fit Fuji casting seats and such..), combined with a Fuji ACS seat? I found that the ridge behind the trigger protrudes above the diameter of the cork, just on the bottom though. I remedied this on my first build with aid of a dremel, and an hour or so of sanding the actual seat, leaving it with a less black, more grey/mottled appearance, looks okay for this rod but I wouldn't want it on all my builds. Just wondering if there was a better way, or maybe just a grip from another vendor to try, I would love to turn my own cork, but that will be further down the road. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a ton, - J

Glue about three cork rings onto the end of the cork grip and then turn it down to the same diameter as the fuji reel seat. That is what I do.

Dan grulke

The Batson split grip kits are undersized for the ACS seats too. I did just as Dan....I cut the tenon off, glued 2 rings and turned them to get the proper transition.

Do you gentlemen affix the grip to a mandrel/lathe first or just put it right on the blank and turn it? Is there an inexpensive way to do this?
I've got one more to do, then its on to spinning for a few builds so I don't want to buy an expensive lathe for one build, let's just say that is not in the budget right now. At that point I would also consider just using a different reel seat that fit the cork better, sounds backwards to me though. I might just be turning my own cork sooner than later.
Which reminds me, I don't want to be too off topic, but has anyone any expierience with the pre formed cork for the VSS spinning seat. I was planning on using those but I will consider other options if the fit is sloppy.

I put them on a mandrel and turn on my lathe. Since you don't have that many to do, I'd suggest gluing up on threaded rod and try shaping on a power drill. I wouldn't think it would be too hard to rig something up to get you through the task. Check the tools section on the photo page. There's probably some pics of other's set-ups using drills.

I started turning on a drill press with a lathe conversion kit from PSI. If you're interested in that, I'd send it to you for the cost of shipping.

I have a drill press, just not a very big one, so I'm not sure if the kit you speak of would fit it or not. If so, that would be great. Thank you for the offer regardless. I will have to take some measurements tomorrow when I can get to it.

An electric drill 3/8 - 1/2" chuck A piece of scrap blank as the arbor
Glue up the rings on a threaded rod Ream when dry to fit the scrap blank
Insert into the drill chuck Support the other end

You have a lath

Bill - willierods.com

The pré formed Cork (short version) for the VSS reel seat fit beautifully (i build a lot with the the VSS16 and short Cork grip.
Just Glue the Cork to the VSS (with the arbor glued in) let it dry and them ream the wholee to fit the blank.
Then glue to the blank.
Perfect fit.

Bill, thanks for the suggestions. I was wondering about the method of gluing the rings to the threaded rod that Scott mentioned as well, should I just be careful when gluing them together as to not stick them to the threaded rod, or what's the plan, how should I affix the cork to the scrap blank for turning, or would I be able to just turn it on the threaded rod and ream to fit my build after it is turned? Sorry for all of the questions, I'm just a little unsure of the process and I don't wanna screw up, I may have to resort to this method if the drill press kit doesn't pan out for me.
Eric, you just answered my question. Thanks a lot, now I don't gotta look for more seat/cork options for my spin rods, I love the way those vss seats feel. You would think the casting seats with a flat back would be easier to get right than the strange cut out of the vss but go figure.
Thanks again guys.

Jeremy, shoot me an email with your mailing address and I'll send it out. It will fit, regardless of the drill press size. You will just have to get a shorter mandrel if your press isn't very tall.

When using rod bond I put 2 - 3 dabs of it on a ring then lay another and turn it several times

You don't need much and if it sticks you can loosen one nut and tighten the other it will push the handle off the threaded rod

Bill - willierods.com

I use threaded rod to glue up rings a fair bit. Just like a mandrel, you need to wax it up to prevent sticking. I rub a candle over it till the threads fill up, and spin in against the candle to wax the thread crests. As mentioned, if it does stick, loosening one nut and tihtening the other wing nut will pop the cork free. You can also just unscrew the cork off.

Thanks for all of the insight gentlemen, I think I have a good enough grasp on the methods now, and I'm ready to get to turning my own cork grips and get a little hands on expierience. That should help make me feel like a real custom rod builder.