About to take my first shot at turning and shaping foam cores for carbon fiber grips. Question is, how far undersize do you turn them to get the finished diameter you want?

Not by much. Figure that the carbon skin plus thin topcoat such as PG are only going to add about 1/16th inch to the overall OD of the core.

Wear safety glasses - the foam turns and cuts very easily and quickly but is somewhat abrasive if you get a particle in your eye.

...........

Thanks Tom. I went 1/32" on the rear grip, which isn't quite so critical as the for-grip.

Sleeve plus epoxy add 1/48" to the overall OD for me (max 1/32").

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Eric
[www.emfishing.fr]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/2018 01:07AM by Eric MONTACLAIR.

It would depend on how you were going to do the lay up. If you're going to top coat the foam core with epoxy prior to doing your wet lay up for the carbon fiber sleeve, then you have to take the thickness of that top coat into consideration.

I've only built one complete grip, but I did a lot of experimenting with procedures just so I would be sure to have it right when I finally did the grip. I found it much easier to get the sleeve tight and to straighten the weave (if need be) on a foam core that had been top coated with a thin coat of epoxy, and then be allowed to dry. I also wet the foam core with epoxy prior to slipping on the sleeve, then wet the sleeve prior to pulling the sleeve tight and clamping it up. I turned the core .050" smaller than what I wanted the finished diameter to be.

Below is a link to the finished result.

[www.rodbuilding.org]