Hello gents,
its been a little while since ive had time to stop in here no less build a rod. But im making time.
My question is, if I am building a 7' spinning rod is their a standard length for the fore grip, of is it a matter of preferences for the individual?
Thanks in advance.
Keith

Why have a foregrip on a 7 foot rod? Put a ramp from the front of the reel seat to the blank and that's all. Very light, very sensitive. There are many ways to do this, here is mine:

[clients.criticalimpact.com]

Wow, thats awesome, and I think way beyond my skill set. However, that is amazing.

Hello Keith,

I prefer my fore-grips to be on the shorter side, two and a half inches or so.

Michael, very nice work! Where can one find these foam blanks to turn into a ramp? Are they the same as polyurethane foam arbors?

-chad

No need for a fore grip...I put a little extra masking tape that extends beyond the edge of the front of the reel seat.
I trim this flush with a razor blade, then tint the raw edge with a black magic marker.
I then sculpt a ramp with reel seat epoxy to finish the raw edge.
Once you add your trim thread everything blends together.

Hello Keith.

It depends on what you will be using the rod for, Ocean Jigging I like a 12" grip, if I am using it for inshore (Smaller Fish) or bass fishing I use either a short or no fore grip.

Tight Wraps.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

I hate rods with no foregrip, for me it's very uncomfortable having my thumb rest on the blank. I prefer to have a short foregrip contoured to fit my thumb. THis is an old pic, I've refined my handles to have a much shorter NPS seat (I trim both ends), and a less steep foregrip which is a little bit thicker. This is part of the problem when you are starting out, you are going to figure out what YOU like, and make and fish a few rods to determine the best way to build the rod. This might mean no foregrip, it might mean a 6" foregrip - the only right way is the way you like

[www.rodbuilding.org]

A lot of folks just use a cork arbor from the front 1/2 inch of the reel seat. Then, the cork arbor is flush with the front of the reel seat. Put a winding check on the rod next to the cork arbor trimmed flush and finish as usual.
No need for ramps or any thing extra. It works very well, looks nice and is very simple to implement.

Just take a cork ring, use a threaded rod to bolt it to the end of a variable speed drill. Then, when spinning the ring, just bring it against a piece of sand paper to reduce the size to the inside size of the reel seat. When finished, use a reamer to ream out tine inside to fit the blank at that point. Glue in place when gluing up the reel seat.

Be safe

On both spinning and casting rods, I normally use recessed hoods and most of the time prefer cork and on occasion wood. That is some beautiful work though Michael.

In response to the questions about the ramps I use, the link should take you to fairly full instructions on them. You can use either reel seat shims or the foam being sold for carbon fiber rods. One mistake I recently made was to fail to paint the shims before installing on the rod. That makes the painting up against the reel seat VERY challenging. Paint before installing.

If anyone wants some detailed conversation on them, send an email.

Any ramp can be made
A smooth solid material souch as reel seat arbors shapped cleaned Painted Then decorated Then cleared Then reamed to fit the blank

When shaping just make them a little smaller so as when paint- feathers or such then clear are applied they fit well

Bill - willierods.com

Taking a hint from Aaron Marten's MegaBass spinning rods I used the Fuji SK reel seats with EVA fore grips on two Drop Shot and Finesse spin rods. They give me the option of gripping the rod completely in front of the reel foot with little penalty if I grip it between my middle fingers. I like it and will continue to experiment with this style. Most of my spinning rods have been no fore grip up until recently but these may change my opinion!

Sounds like Bill B is doing the same ramps as I am. These ramps are very comfortable and sensitive, and can be very beautiful. I believe the best way to get this comfort is to use the uplock design to put the threads to the rear and make the outer diameter of the front ramp very close to the diameter of the reel seat. I agree with Bill that the best diameter is just smaller than the seat to allow for multiple epoxy coats. But shape to your liking. My son and I prefer conical or cylindrical shapes, have tried others with scallops and tricky shapes, but always go back to simple shapes which are not critical to hand position. I like mine about 1 1/2 inches long; my son prefers to get his hands to the blank as quickly as possible, so his are about as short as I can make the transition from seat to blank. The ramp off the rear of the seat is smaller in diameter, the minor thread diameter. The heel of the hand is sometimes in contact with that.

Wow, thank you all so much for the input. Alot of options other than just foam. In on it,
dont know what im on, but im going to figure that out.

Also take a look at the Aero spinn seat Confortable seat
[www.mudhole.com]

Bill - willierods.com

Bill, I was glad to see someone mention the Aero comfort reel seat, whether you use a fore grip or not. Its a great design. The next one I do I may try a small one or fab a ramp.

Keith,
Here is one way to modify the aero grip with a different reel seat nut. This nut covers the threads, but leaves a nice smooth surface to grasp.
The nut was trimmed to the length of the finished reel seat.

Be safe

Roger,

Did you intend to include a link in your last post?

John,
Sorry, I forgot to click the paste button.

Here it is:

[www.rodbuilding.org]