Who out there has given these a try and your thoughts? If so, what is the best way to install and hide the seem.

Found this post on Google
[rodbuilding.org]

Bill - willierods.com

I did a white rayskin grip for a customer. I ended up using foamcore for the grip and doing the rayskin over it to help keep the weight down. The biggest challenge for me was the seam. The scales on the ray skin were very hard to cut and keep straight without them chipping. i ended up punching holes in the ray skin along the seam and using leather lace to close it up. Doing this helped to hide the seam. I positioned the lace on the bottom of the grip because it did leave bumps and we felt it was the most comfortable spot for them. Here is a link that my customer posted that has a few pics. hope its ok to post the link since i cant find my pics. [www.ohiogamefishing.com]

Mitch, VERY nice job on that rod. THe OD of the back grip was a perfect match to the reel seat. That is difficult to do since you had to get everything perfect - EXCELLENT!! WHatever is in the DEc WRap area is pretty cool, I assume decals. ROd looks good, nice job

I think the lacing looks really good and adds a nice extra touch to the rod. Probably not for my current application but a good solution. I feared the seam would be alot more visible then the virtually seemless chatter I've heard of but never seen. The pic is usually of the top of the grip and not the seam. All I could conjure up was some type of pipe clamp type application to pull the seam together. I sure do like the look of the stingray grips until that pesky seam. Rod does look really cool by the way, I like the flower power.

Billy, Thanks for the compliments. It was easier then I thought to get the grip to match up. Because I knew exactly the thickness of the ray skin i just wraped it around the foam core and kept sanding the core until it matched up. The wrap area is actually a paper called Chiyogami. The best way to describe it is a cross between tracing paper and paper mache sheets. Its a bit of a challenge to work with because of the texture and it being almost translucent on lighter colors. It comes in many patterns and Ive used it on a few different rods for the same customer. Ive also played around using some print paper from the craft stores to get similar results.