There have been a few recent posts concerning grip reaming, cork in particular. I have experienced difficulty ultimately obtaining a PERFECTLY CENTERED HOLE, either from my reaming or even starting with an original bore which was not centered to begin with. Without faulting the tools designed for drilling or reaming grips such as Dream Reamers, piloted spade drills and reverse-cutting spade drills, I needed something more accurate. While precision bores may not always be required when building a grip or handle, I found it to be paramount when fabricating a handle from 124 birch bark rings divided into eight separate sections! All eight sections lined-up perfectly when mounted to the blank which minimized sanding as well as the handle being perfectly concentric to the blank. My method was actually designed over two years ago to support longer cork grips (Tennessee type) while reaming to avoid breaking the grip, but it is applicable to almost any grip drilling or reaming operation, either by hand or power.
If you care to do so, please view the two pictures in the photo section under Equipment and Tools, Mark’s Cork Boring Tool. It is actually quite simple, easy to produce and rather inexpensive as well. However, for a perfectly concentric hole, I use a metal lathe to which many of you may not have access. A metal lathe can do everything a wood lathe or rod lathe can do but the inverse is not the case. Most likely, someone else has done this before but I simply wanted to share with you what has helped me so much.
The pictures should be self-explanatory. Purchase either thin or thick wall aluminum tubing with the proper ID for your application (larger is better than smaller), cut to desired length and slit into three approximately equal width sections lengthwise. Line the inside with adhesive-back .062in medium firm foam rubber. The foam will allow for variances in different ODs in addition to affording a positive grip on the handle with minimal force from the jaws of the chuck. Make certain that while the number of layers of tape securing the aluminum tubing strips to the grip is not important, start and stop the tape at the same point to avoid having an unequal number of layers on the three strips. Line-up the aluminum strips with the jaws of a three jaw chuck with the butt end of the handle outward. This will allow the use of progressively larger drill bits to adjust for the taper of the blank.
Everything, OK not the grips, can be purchased from McMaster-Carr (my candy store).
So there you have it. I hope it is useful to even just one of you. Enjoy.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

Great idea Mark. Simple and effective.
SCOTT

Nice idea. Are the woven fiberglass tube rings on the Tennessee handle used for holding the reel in place? If so, another neat Idea.
Norm

Scott and Norman,
Thank you for your replies.
The tapered (if I remember correctly, 11*) rings on the Tennessee handle are actually laminated CF/Aramid hybrid woven sleeves and, yes, they are for securing the reel in place. You can see the male mold used to produce them on the wrapper in the background of one of the pictures. Due to the taper, the opposite side of the rings from the reel sit flat on the handle = very comfortable in hand, almost as though the handle conforms and flows into the reel feet and stem. More importantly, and again due to the taper of the rings, THEY NEVER LOSSEN THEIR GRIP ON THE REEL!!! Additionally, the two rings weigh less than 2g, and either a spinning of fly reel can be positioned anywhere along the 12in handle. Without the need for a conventional reel seat, a Tennessee handle with my tapered composite rings have got to be just about the lightest handle/seat combo out there. Although very reluctant and apprehensive at first, I have learned to appreciate all the aspects of the Tennessee handle and so have quite a few of my customers. All of my personal trout rods will employ the Tennessee system from now on.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

As a side note; there are those on this site who may consider me to be the Habitual Over-Thinker and I graciously and proudly accept the title. Thank you! I am a self-taught fabricator, starting at the age of 10, of an array of venues, which have both fueled and relied upon my Over-Thinking and vice versa. Fabricating and (over)thinking go hand-in-hand with experimentation and all three are required to advance technology and just plain life in general. I get just about the same enjoyment and satisfaction from thinking, experimenting and fabricating a tool to perform a certain task than actually using the tool to produce the item. While I will certainly not loose any sleep over it, I might just discover how to make a square wheel perform better than a round one. When I encounter a method to assist producing something, I want to share it with all parties concerned. It is called advancement and everyone (well, almost everyone) benefits.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.