I was taking epoxy off of guides and from those pesky decals I am working with and I peeled some epoxy off that had come up against and soaked into the eva handle. Well now I have a couple small chunks missing from the eva. It is the bottom of the grip up against a winding check and the chunks go probably 1/8 inch deep behind the winding check.

It is possible to cut out the damaged portion of the grip and replace it with the same cutting from a fresh piece. A brass tube, in two slightly different sizes, will core out the old and provide core material from the new. Wet contact cement will allow for installation.

The only tricky part is removing the material from the existing grip. Depending on where and how much you need to remove, it can be tough to do.

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I would cut out the portion of eva that is damaged, smooth out the contour, remove traces of eva from the blank in the affected area, cut off the winding check, remove all traces of adhesive down to the blank and then use a small decorative band to cover the area, epoxy it and done.

James,

With respect to fixing your current rod without handle removal. It sounds like the damage has been to the fore grip of the grip only. If that is the case, it might just be simpler to cut a 1/4 inch or so - where the damage has occurred on the front of the grip and just go on from there. Since you are removing the guides, you will have a clean blank down to the for grip. Remove the old winding check - 1/4 inch of the fore grip and clean up the blank. Then, just slide a new winding check down the blank for a nice fit and wrap the rod.
Most rods will not miss 1/4 inch or so off a fore grip.

Roger

If the damage isn't visible from the top of the grip (only seen when looking down the blank at the check). Then you could fill the voids and cover them with a larger check or hosel.

The brass tube thing sounds interesting, do I need a special type of contact cement?

I was thinking could I grind down some of the spare eva into powder and mix it with some type of glue to fill in the gaps that way?

I figure as a last resort I can cut out the damaged part and extend the threads I wrapped on the split grip a little farther up the blank and cut and glue a winding check in place. The only thing about that is cutting the piece off straight without damaging the blank.

Run a piece of 1/4" tap around the eva That will give you a line to follow Cut Shape and then another check
Or no check and just thread

Be careful when coating with clear

Bill - willierods.com