I have a newly built rod that the grip is too thick in diameter for me and I'm wondering if there is a way to reduce it without having to
redo the entire grip, seat, butt section . Keep in mind I dont have a lathe and I have never turned a grip before . I dont have a power wrapper and my dryer motors are only 9 and 18 rpm . Any ideas are appreciated . As always , TIA .

I assume it is a cork grip, if so, turning is the preferred method, however as you do not have a way of doing it, you can hand sand it using a heavy grit to start, then going to finer grits to finish.

It would be helpful to know the type of rod and grip and number of rod sections. Nonetheless, one way to think about doing it is to clamp the rod securely to a table or bench (or have someone hold it securely on the table or bench) and use strips of sand paper and "shoe shine" the grip two or three swipes then rotate the rod 1/8th turn and repeat. The idea is to slowly remove material while not creating flat spots and while keeping the grip concentric with the blank and reel seat. Protect the reel seat and blank with masking tape. Work slowly - it might take some time.

Hand sanding will work just fine, you’ll be surprised how easy it is and the results you get. When I first started building rods I hand sanded all the cork handles I made on my rods. Take your time. Mask off the reel seat, and any thing else you don’t want scratched. Use a quartered piece of sand paper folded over to fit your hand, and wrap the paper around the handle. Start with coarse and move to finer grits as you progress. Stroke the sand paper up and down while turning the rod with your other hand. This will keep the handle concentric. If you can get the butt cap off easily, another way to sand the handle is to insert a short piece of broken blank shimmed to fit snugly into the butt. Then chuck this extension into a cordless drill to turn the rod rod while sanding with the pad of sand paper in your hand. May want to support the tip end of the rod, so it does not whip around while turning. You can have someone else to support the rod or use a cardboard box with a V cut into it for support, or a rod wrapping V stand. With the drill it goes a little faster but the results will be the same. If you have an old broken rod laying around with a cork grip you can practice on it to give you a feel on how to do it. It’s not that difficult to do.
Norm



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/2019 02:19PM by Norman Miller.

Thanks guys , it's a flyrod . I think I'll take your advice Norman and pull the cap off . If I bugger it I dont mind putting another reel seat too much but the grip is really nice burled and I'd like to keep it if possible . This rod was built for me before I started building my own and I have never fished it and cant seem to sell it so time to do something . Thanks again .

Make sure you actually try it before altering it. I like a little bigger fly grip than the standard.

If you still want to alter it, it can be done reasonably well with the sandpaper methods suggested above. I've done it on a casting grip and it came out well, didn't take all that long.

Copy the comment by Michael.

Please don't do anything to the rod, until you have used the rod and fished with it for a few days.

I realize that - from your statement - the rod has a grip that is different from rods that you currently use. However, if you use it, you may find that it actually works as good as or perhaps even better than what you are currently using.

It would be a shame to change it, if it actually works better for you than what you currently use for a grip diameter.

Take care

Thanks guys it's in the history books . Done did as they say in some parts of some southern states , like NY ! lol

Michael , Roger , I have it's twin . I had this guy build me a rod for a fishing trip and I didnt think it was going to get done in time so I built this exact rod , blank , color wraps , guides but a different grip . I like the rod I built and not the one he built so I made the grip the same shape . Now it fits !

Thanks for the help guys this thread is done .

WHAT????
So the grip is now a perfect fit???
Herb

Herb Ladenheim Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WHAT????
> So the grip is now a perfect fit???
> Herb

Herb , I've never done anything perfect in my life but I have done some pretty darn goods and this one is pretty darn good ! lol

I forgot to tell how I did it . As per Normans idea I heated the end cap with a hair dryer and pulled it off . I then mounted a drill in my vise in the garage and took a small rat tail file and inserted it up the rod blank and had the end of the rod wrapped with masking tape laying in my CBR rod wrapper . Locked the variable speed drill in the on position and took various grits of sand paper and let the drill do the work . Easy peasy , I'm now a cork worker ! lol

Happy to hear it worked out well for you! Many people don’t realize how easy it is to sand a cork grip by hand. You don’t need a lot of fancy equipment to do a very good job.
Norm

Ron ,
You made the equivalent of the "flex coat - grip shaper" . Over the years, I have done the same thing and it works very well.

Some years ago, I made this power source for shaping grips when using my power wrapper.

It started out as a $2 24 volt rechargeable surplus drill. I stripped out the motor and gear case and mounted it in a simple wood base. I had a variable speed 24 volt power supply that I use for my wrapper and it handles the drill motor just fine.

I simply bolt the power head stock to my wrapper bed and then, if I have an open ended rod butt, I will use a piece of tapered solid stock to use to drive the rod. If, the butt cap is still on the rod, I will use a "shank" with a taig chuck screwed to the "shank" to then hold the butt of the rod in the chuck.



Flex coat grip shaping lathe with a drill motor:

[www.youtube.com]

Roger , that was a cool video and you're right I used a little different approach but same results . I subbed to Flex Coat and I think I'll build something like that and start doing my own grips . Looks like fun . Even though I didn't have everything I needed today it was a good learning experience and turned out well . Maybe one of these days my rods will actually be worth what I have in them ! lol