I have a friend who wants me to rework his Lew's Speed Stick. I have never reworked one of these. My question is how do you put one of these with a pistol grip into the dryer to dry?

In many cases the blank can be removed from the handle. Check to see if there is a collet on the front of the handle. It may also be simple pull-out handle. Many were made this way and kept snug through the use of an o-ring equipped butt ferrule.

Some were glue-in types and can't be removed. You can fashion any number of jigs (RodMaker Magazine has shown how to make several) to fasten to the handle and then come back to a centerline mounting a regular straight dowel. There may be some examples on the photo page here.

............

Worst case, do like we used to do and manually rotate it every 5 minutes or so for the first hour, then every 10 for a while, etc. Many still do that, preferring it to drying motors. If you choose to do that, make your epoxy layer on the thin side and do multiples if necessary.

FWIW....and if it proves to be too much hassle.,,,,don't be afraid to turn by hand. One day I had a few rods to turn out in a hurry. Unusual for me as I generally only build for myself. Put the epoxy on the first rod, set it aside to let the finish sag and rotate by hand the first few times (just how I do it). Then I got started on the next rod. Five minutes later I went to put the first rod in the dryer. Discovered broken motor lead wire and no way to pry the motor case apart and resolder.

OMG, panic time! Epoxy already on two rods that needed to be perfect to deliver next morning. I remembered that Tom said he never used a dryer and did the only thing I could. It really wasn't as much of a big deal as I anticipated. Truth be told I think the finish turned out better than normal.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Chuck,
There is a very simple solution.

A few years ago, I needed to do work on a pistol grip handle.
I just checked my box of stuff, and it turns out - I still have the jig that I made to build this rod with the Pistol grip handle
I took a pice of 2X4 and cut it down to a piece that is about 1 1/2 X 1/12.

I drilled a hole in the center of the piece of wood to fit a bolt that I could use in the chuck of my power wrapper and my lathe.

Then, I laid out the rod on the work bench with the handle in place.

I elevated the rod 1 1/2 inches, so that I could lay the pistol grip on top of the piece of wood.

Then, I took a straight edge and laid it down the center of the blank. I made sure that the straight edge, then laid down on the center of the bolt that I put through the piece of wood. i.e. I wanted the center of the bolt to match the center of the blank, so that there would be no offset or wobble in the rod when turning.

Then, I traced the outline of the pistol grip on the side of the piece of wood.

Finally, I took a drill bit that matched the diameter of the pistol grip handle and drilled a hole at the correct angle through the piece of wood - on the centerline of the wood block.

Then, I slipped the pistol grip handle into the offset angled hole in the wood and used masking take to secure the pistol grip in the piece of wood.

Then, I went ahead and chucked up the bolt to use for power wrapping and chucked up the bolt in the dryer when it came time to dry.

Since the mounting bolt is straight and is exactly on the centerline of the blank, the blank ran true with no wobble. Of course, as the handle was rotating, the end of the grip was going through a large circle, but the blank itself was running true and straight;.

Total cost of the jig was 3 cents for the bolt and washer and nut. The wood was just scrap wood in the scrap box.

If you like, I could take a picture of the jig and post it for you.

But basically all that it is - is a piece of wood with a 3/8th bolt running through the center of the block with an offset angled hole of about 1 inch drilled into the block of wood.

Simple easy, and it works every time.

To picture this - just take your blank with the handle attached and rotate the blank in your wrapper. Make note of the circle that the end of the handle makes, and this is the circle that you need to create with your pistol grip jig.


Be safe

Tape a scrap blank section that will fit your finishing motor chuck to the pistol grip handle. This will work for odd or large shaped handles and even tip sections.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

This might work.
[www.swamplandtackle.com]

www.reservoirdawgscustoms.com

Here's a pic: [www.rodbuilding.org]