Trying to build my son a new muskie rod. Having trouble with the grip. The rod is 9' single piece 7/8" at the butt. Should I bore out the cork rings and stack them on the rod to glue? Not sure that trying to spin a 9' rod to shape the grip is a smart idea?
What should I do? I could stack them up on a mandrel for turning. I'm worried that boring a 17" handle from 1/4" to 7/8" will make the center offset. Plus make the taper wrong. Any help would be appreciated.

Eric, you might give Ron Schneider a call he'd be able to suggest something. I'm not the craftsman some here are, but 17" sounds like too many rings with a.250" hole for me! (Schneiders Rod Shop on sponsor list)

I would recommend turning them on a mandrel and then relocating them to the rod after the grip is shaped. I'd also recommend that you bore the rings out to a size close to that of the rod blank where they're going to reside and use an appropriate mandrel for that diameter. This will not only allow you to turn on a stiffer mandrel that is less likely to flex in the lathe, but leave you with only minor reaming to do in order to fit the grip to the rod.

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build it in sections I would do it in 3 starting with the butt open the id up to about 3/8 stack them glue them approximately 11 rings = 5.5 inches, again open these up to about 3/8 stack the next 11 =5.5 inches then the last 12 at 1/4 id rings = 6 inches turn this section to where you want it then ream it out to where it will reside on the blank then do the middle section to fit the blank and last do the butt section PUT a MATCH MARK where each section joins and you have 17 over all after reaming all sections line up the match marks apply a bit of epoxy put them in your gluing clamp snug it up and let it cure . then butter up the blank with epoxy about 3 inches above where the butt grip will be slid it down the blank and let it cure add your butt cap and that part should look perfect add the seat and for grip wrap it finish it and fish the heck out of it.

look at this process like prefabbing a rod handle so of like buying a handle kit but you making it your self

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/31/2017 08:43PM by Matthew Paul.

I have done both ways on a long grip.
i.e.
1. First bore out all of the rings so that the hole is just a touch smaller than the smallest section of blank. I expect that this would likely be about a 1/2 inch hole. Then, use a 1/2 inch mandrel to chuck into the lathe and turn the grip. The 1/2 inch mandrel will provide a great deal more stiffness than a smaller mandrel.

2. The 2nd way to it would be to do it in two sections. You could do it in 3 sections, but I suspect that if you did it in 2 8 1/2 inch sections, the sections would be stiff enough to do a nice job. Again, bore out the centers of the rings to a size that would be just a touch smaller than the smallest section of blank and then turn the grip to size. But, at the location, where you are going to join the two sections leave the joining end of each section a touch larger for a 1/2 inch or so on each section. Then, go ahead and glue the two sections together and do a final turning, as a one piece grip.. In this case, you only have to worry about the final shaping and cleanup of the center 1 inch section of grip.

Finally, if you have a 10 foot long rod lathe, you could do a glue up of the grip rings, and the reel seat and the fore grip all at one time. Then, with suitable supports you could turn the entire rear grip and fore grip all at the same time spinning the entire 10 foot blank - if you have the necessary 5 or 6 ball bearing rod supports to properly support the blank and prevent any rod oscillation.

If you happened to live in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis, you could certainly stop over and borrow the use of my full length rod lathe if you wished to go that way.

Good luck

Eric,

You could also do a split grip, and leave it as two smaller sections of cork using less rings overall.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Take care,

Chris

or even a double-split grip, 3 smaller sections of cork or 2 cork with colored eva in between(color code each rod)..just thoughts..Happy new year!

Do like Tom suggests.

One advantage of that strategy is that if you screw it up or change your mind while forming it, it will be easier to fix if it is not being shaped on the rod.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I'll let you know how it goes.

Eric