I am somewhat a newbie but have made just a few rods from kits. This month I made my first split grip for which I turned my own wood grips. It looks decent and appears to be OK but I drilled the grips so they were slightly oversized and used masking tape as arbors. Is this proper or should have I drilled undersize and reamed the wood like I would a cork grip? Ready to try another and just wanted some thoughts before I did it again.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2012 03:27PM by Duane Rozendaal.

It is better to bore slightly undersize and ream to get the correct taper.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/17/2012 12:03AM by Phil Erickson.

yes BUT be careful to not make it too snug. When a rod flexs it gets out of round by creating a "pinch" point with either a too tight winding check or over tight wood grip you can create your own point of falure. I would rather have it be a hair bit bigger and have to make a thread wrap or whatever to make it fit than have it too tight.

Duane,
Nothing wrong at all in what you did.
When I use masking tape for an arbor- I use thinner width masking tape and leave about 1/16th of an inch between the rows of tape. This space allows glue to go all of the way to the blank for excellent grip adhesion. The masking tape keeps the grip centered on the blank.

As others posted. better a touch loose than a touch tight.

By the way - for the wood grips that I completed recently for a bunch of rods, I used two coats of thread finish - for finish on the grips. Apply a nice uniform even coat that covers the grip. Put the grip in the dryer.

I used a tapered stick to poke into the grip to hold the grip and then put the other end of the stick into the dryer. This kept the grip turning as the finish dried.

As is always the case with wood, the first coat of finish tends to raise the grain. So, I put the grip back on the lathe and used 320 and 400 grit paper to give a velvet smooth finish to the grip.

Then, a 2nd coat for the final look. Again, a 24 hour dry in the dryer to insure a nice smooth non sag finish on the grip.

Good luck
Roger

Eric about that pinch point from a to tight winding check, I hope I am reading right, Duane is making split grips, I am wondering what type of rod he is planning to use that split grip, but what I am wondering is if a rod gets flexed down to the winding check that is on the grip, how many times does that happened or if at all, maybe I am wrong to to think that it hardly happens, but then again I have seen some pics where a fly rod is bent pretty far down by the handle, I just wanted to put this in here since I am pretty new at rod building, I still got lots to go. Have a good one, everyone.

Thanks to all that made comments. I learned something from all of them. Your info and help is appreciated.

Hmmm ...

I really need to think about what you all have written here about "too tight winding checks or over tight wood grips" if this were the case wouldn't every metal ferruled rod blank have broken? How about trolling rods with aluminum butts? If you are leaving a larger center hole and then filing it with epoxy (or a mixture of tape and epoxy or thread and epoxy) - haven't you just made the "too tight" fit?

I build only fly rods, however many with exotic wood grips. I dry fit them with a snug taper, then when epoxy is applied they slide right down to the reel seat area. I have yet to have one fail at the grip!

[rodbuilding.org]

"Pinch points" have been discussed many times here. I have had this problem once before. I am just trying to have somebody else learn from one of my mistakes. Take it leave it whatever. I have learned my lesson and have corrected things and never look back. 90% of my grips are wood so it is something I do a lot. DO what you want I am just trying to help.

And yes by creating a larger hole and filling it you do make it smaller but epoxy will flex or fail well before wood or a metal check.

Hello All.

I'm with Eric on this one, one of my first rods had a metal winding check that fit snugly, and one day out fishing I hooked into a dalphin (only about 5 lbs) and when he went scooting by the back of the boat I did not loosen my drag as usual and the rod broke right at the check.(still got the fish)

Like Eric said "DO what you want I am just trying to help".

Good Day and Tight Lines.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

I agree that the hole should be larger. Use masking tape for arbors and epoxy. I think that if you use rubber or vinyl winding checks that might help the pinch point.

Again thanks for the comments. One of the reasons I drilled oversized holes is because at the time I did not have a drill chuck for my lathe. I turned the handlles or grips on my pen mandrel thus I had to use a size that matched bushings that I had.The 10mm best fit my needs for the rod I was making. I have now purchased a drill chuck and have different options to turn my grips. I did use rubber winding checks and on my next one I will be using them again, so pinch point or no pinch point I should be OK there. My past experience working with wood tells me it can expand and contract so based on that and all the information you all provided I may just slightly oversize and use small tape arbors with plenty of epoxy for a good bond. This rod is for myself so I too will learn from my mistakes. The information and comments have helped educate me so hopefully the next rod will be better than the one before it. I guess that is what counts.

I always over size my winding checks I get several sizes and put a layer of thread under just so it fits snug but not tight figure in the clear over the thread

Bill - willierods.com