Ive been trying to get my brother to turn some handles for me for over 6 months.. All of a sudden he spends 300$ on stuff to do it.. Lol

I seem to recall a discussion i had a while back about the possibly of 'hard spots' when dealing with carbon fiber grips.. If memory serves, whlever that was that brought that up talked about applying a foam, or neoprene barrier on wooden handles to reduce the shock while under heavy load.. And if memory serves again, we concluded that this isnt something that has to be done since there wasnt any hard evidence.. But more of a good precaution.. I am i correct?

And what the heck is the best way to reem a taper into wood? Im guessing my trusty rat tail files..

Anthony,
The simple answer about a hole in a wood handle is to use a simple drill and drill a center hole on the wood grip.
Drill the hole to be the same size as the largest part of the grip. Then, build up the rod blank so that there is no taper on the blank and the grip slips on the straight grip.

Easy to do, and it works well. On most blanks, there is not a lot of taper in the blank over the part of the blank where the grip is to be installed. So, it doesn't take much build up on the front part of the grip to make the blank of a uniform size.

Another very simple thing to do, which is done by a lot of folks is to drill a straight hole through the grip that is a convenient size that is near the size of a foam arbor. Then, ream the foam arbor to the size of the rod blank. Glue the foam arbor to the blank or to the inside of the wood grip and then either glue the wood grip to the arbor, or glue the glued up grip with arbor to the blank. Especially if one is using a harder and heavier wood for the grip, the idea of reducing the amount of wood in the grip by boring it out will make the grip lighter.

Good luck

Anthony

A barrier is not necessary, after completion the only barrier is the thin glue line between the components.

To taper the wood grip ID try getting a scrap section of rod blank with the same or close enough taper. Attach a strip of of Emory paper around it to make a tapered file and ream the handle.

Have fun.

John

Copy that.. I tend to over thing things...

To lighten the handle, some will drill the handle to a accept a 20mm polyurethane shim. After gluing the shim in place it can be reamed easily to fit the blank.
Norm

Just be cautious when drilling so as not to make the wall of the wood grip too thin and taking a chance of a crack in the future.

Best wishes,
Ron Schneider
Schneider's Rod Shop
Mountain Home, Arkansas
[www.schneidersrods.com]
mtnron40@yahoo.com
870-424-3381

Ron thats a valid point.. I wonder.. What wall thinkness do you pro's think is acceptable to avoid cracking or full failure for the life of the rod.. Assuming the handle, along with the rod, has been properly taken care, and stored between outings properly?

Also, for you guys who do turn your own wooden handles.. What is an acceptable moisture percentage? When doing custom countertops we used to have all our matrial no more then 12%... For a rod handle im assuming 12 should be good no? My brother picked up rosewood, and 2 others i cant think of at the moment, at 8%

And he needs to really listen to me.. Lol he refuses to drill the wood first and use a mandrel.. I plan to get a midi lathe here before too long, i want to turn my own wokden and resin hybrid grips.. He also refuses to try 2 part resin for turning.. Or any other woodworking project for that matter.. Stubborn.. Just Stubborn...

Anthony,
Here is a picture of my lathe with the setup that I used to center drill the rod grip after it was turned:

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Thats a good idea and nice setup.. My brothers lathe has a mori 2 tailstock.. Its also a 1939 Craftsman "De-lux" comination 10" lathe.. So not nearly as nice and shiny lol..

I will pass that image on to him though.. He did just buy a 3 point steady rest..

As I am usually using more than one wood in grip, I start with my wood cut 1-1/4" square by what ever length I need. These pieces I bore out 20mm to accommodate the 20mm foam core I then epoxy them on. I use a length of all thread with washers and wing nuts to clamp the glued up wood. When cured, I bore the foam out to the mandrel size I will use and the turn the grip on the mandrel.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2019 12:52PM by Phil Erickson.

Thats more what im trying to get him to do.. Hes not bad at turning.. But stubburn in his ways.. Lol what i need to really do is get a lathe, do it.. That way, like always, he will try and one up me lol