Building a couple musky trolling blanks. The OD on the blanks are 1 1/16". They're huge. I'm still undecided on the material. Considering the Nylon Smooth Butt from Am Tackle. But also considering cork. My question is, what tool could a guy use to bore out an I.D. of 1 1/16"? That's crazy big.

Thanks. Wealth of info around here.

Be good out there.

AC
FishinFreaks
Rogers, MN

I think I have some giant sized cork rings which could be bored to 1" and you could hand ream teh rest. The SMooth butt probably as a large ID and you can't ream it anyway. EVA can be purhchased with a 1" ID and it will fit no problem, I have some of that too somewhere

Aaron,
If you want an EVA rear grip in black to fit that blank order a RG14A12B by American Tackle. It has an .750 ID and should slide into place with little or no reaming. Check out this method of gluing EVA grips. A real time saver for this tedious task. [www.bdoutdoors.com]


American Tackle Pro Staff

James Carnes
Osprey Custom Fishing Rods
Charlotte, North Carolina
www.ospreycustomfishingrods.com
704-589-9601

Aaron,
Woops, here is the link to the EVA gluing method I mentioned above. [www.bdoutdoors.com]

James Carnes
Osprey Custom Fishing Rods
Charlotte, North Carolina
www.ospreycustomfishingrods.com
704-589-9601

USing rubber cement is something I'd never trust long term. DO the same thing with epoxy and you'll never have to worry. Cutting that edge is nothing new, people have been doing that for a long time. As I said before, I have 1" ID EVA in stock somewhere, 13" in length, from Amtak.

If you can find cork rings or blocks large enough, you can bore them with a 1 1/16" Forstner bit.

Cork blocks bored to 1 1/6" is SCARY. What mandrel do you put that on t turn it round, and the blocks are only 1 1/2 x 1 1/2", even if you perfectly center bore it it will be so thin I'd be scared it would blow up when I turned it down. If you glue it to the blank and then turn it down, what do you do if it gets messed up.

I'd go the EVA route that Billy suggested. I just bored some 1.5" cork to 7/8" and it was kinda scary. Couldn't imagine boring to 1 1/16".

If one reads the instructions, epoxy is still used to secure the grip.
The rubber cement is only applied from the point where the foam binds on the blank, to the start of the epoxy.
The rubber cement replaces the extra epoxy normally used as lubricant.
I will be trying this method because rubber cement will be much easier to clean up and remove from the blank.

Aaron,
Rather than doing any boring, buy a Batson Slick - 12 grip.

12 inch slick grip.

This has an id of 1.06 inches which is 1 1/16th inches.

It would be the perfect butt for a trolling rod and glue right on your blank with no further work.

[www.batsonenterprises.com]

Also, for trolling, there not a better grip than a slick grip.

Roger

Billy,

Better look over that link again. The rubber cement is a lube, not the adhesive!

If Jim's been using that method his whole career, you can bet it works.

jeremy

I gurss I didn't read the entire thing huh? Do people have that much epoxy to clean up when building a handle, maybe 12" worth on the blank? I always build the entire handle at once - butt/reel seat & foregrip.

I gurss I didn't read the entire thing huh? Do people have that much epoxy to clean up when building a handle, maybe 12" worth on the blank? I always build the entire handle at once - butt/reel seat & foregrip.

Jeremy,
You are correct; the rubber cement only acts as a lubricant, and slick it is! You won't believe how well the grip slides down the rod blank with only minimal effort. Every rod builder has experienced the frustration of cutting off a stuck grip that you couldn't push all the way down a blank at least once in your rod building life. This method makes that a thing of the past. Cutting the chamfer on the bottom of the grip is critical so that the rubber cement and epoxy flows completely under the grip. Make sure you coat the inside of the EVA well, spinning it around the blank before attempting to push it down. Also, the rubber cement has no effect on the curing of the epoxy that you placed in the grip landing area what so ever. Save a little of the rubber cement / epoxy mixture that you clean up from around the reel seat / unibutt ferrule. Set it aside and in about 2 hrs. - Rock hard ! Wait about 5 min. and the cleanup of the rubber cement left on the blank is a synch. Just ball it up with your finger.

James Carnes
Osprey Custom Fishing Rods
Charlotte, North Carolina
www.ospreycustomfishingrods.com
704-589-9601