Question... I’ve been building handles for quite awhile now and need some expert opinions. I love building custom grips but when I comes to the butt I feel there must be some tricks you can pass along to make things easier. I have done it 2 ways, by reaming the grip then applying the solid end cap and then reinstall it on my homemade cork lathe by arboring it and shape the cap down to size or... glue up the whole thing and shape it then hand ream to fit from the rear of the blank. I know there has to be some clever ways you folks have figured out. Please share if you would.

Here is how we do it.

[www.youtube.com]

Flex Coat Company
Professional Rod Building Supplies
www.flexcoat.com

That’s pretty much what I’ve been doing. I just wondered if anyone had any lil tweaks they’ve come up with instead of building a new arbor every time...etc. thanks for following up!!

You don't say what you are using for material. For my butt I like rubberized cork or eva. Either the whole thing or at least the face of it. I would glue up cork rings with a rubberized ring at the rear or all rubberized cork rings. Now for the arbor no need to make something special each time. Just use a section of threaded rod that fits the grip tight. A washer and a nut on each end. Clamp the grip in place. Mount in your lath or a drill will work if the grip is not very long. Shape as desired. Next ream the grip to fit from the front. You will have a through hole in the grip. Fit the grip on the blank so it extends slightly past the end of the blank 1/8 inch or so. You can buy or make a plug to fill the hole in the butt. Epoxy in place cut flush sand smooth on rubberized cork and eva the plug will be nearly invisible.

To assist you with the technique that Michael mentioned, consider the purchase a set of these inexpensive plug cutters:

[www.harborfreight.com]

I use the method that Michael mentions. i.e. when gluing up a grip, I make the butt end of the grip of the material that I want for the butt cap.

Then, as he mentioned, the entire grip is reamed to size, including the butt cap.

Finally using another piece of the same material used for the butt cap, I insert the appropriately sized plug cutter into my drill press and drill out a couple of plugs

Then, I will use a tapered reamer to slightly taper the hole in the end of the butt cap. With the plug a bit larger than the tapered hole I will slightly shape the matching plug to fit the hole in the butt cap. I coat the plug with epoxy and push it in. The taper on the hole will keep the plug form going in too far. The taper will also allow you to have a very very tight fitting plug in the butt capt that will be invisible when sanded flush.

Best wishes.