Have a odd problem with a forecast carbon fiber foregrip. Reamed the grip as I normally do. Reamer is getting a bit worn. Have a new one in transit. Anyways I reamed the grip to the fit I like. Did not have time to glue up. Sat for about a week.

Now my normal fit technique is slightly sloppy. I want a a drop in place fit. When I go to glue I do a very thin tape wrap just in from each end. I use rod bond as my epoxy. No trouble taking up the gap tape lines everything up. So I do a final fit. Odd the grip stops about 3/4 inch from were it should. Takes very little to slide in into place. Seems like I have a narrow spot in the center of the foregrip. Not only that the grip is noticeably on the blank crooked as it rocks on the tight spot.

Got another grip going to save the trouble of trying to straighten this one out. But I am really scratching my head on this. Only thing that I can think is the reamer did not cut very well. Possible I just compressed the foam as I forced the reamer and it regained memory and unevenly at that? Only a inch and half long grip. Hard to ream off center,and I know it was straight and had total clearance. Going to go back to my woodworking mindset of glue it or fasten things as soon as you got the fit you like.

Any thoughts?

Foam in center was hot from reaming and flowed/expanded/moved into the bore? As I interpret your statement the ends of the foregrip are about the right dimensions that you want but the center is small? If so can you not ream it again to get the center larger, then use your tape as usual to get the fit you want, (which will make the fit-up straight) then glue it?

Once the foam has cured, it should be rigid, quite hard. It's not something that would flex or bend, nor would heat from reaming soften it. Are you certain there is not a high spot along the blank where the grip is going to sit? It wouldn't be unusual that a painted or clear-coated blank might have a high spot from uneven finish, even if only slightly.

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I would wonder if either the blank or grip were affected by a change in temperature? Wood does but wood moves a bit more than I would think either a carbon blank or a hard foam grip would. Just guessing though.

Did you inspect the grip before you started working on it, may be the bore of the grip was off center to start with.


Most of the time I mount the grip on a dowel and twirl it in my fingers for a quick check, if it looks suspicious I mount it on a mandrel and place it in a drill and spin it to see how true it is. This lets me know if I need to make any adjustments.


I don't think core material is hard or dense enough to cause excess heating or distortion from reaming.

I had reamed and fitted last weekend. Fit exactly how I wanted was a drop on straight fit. Went to glue up this weekend and encountered the problems.

Not familiar with those particular grips. Is the foam not extremely hard?

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They seem no different than any other. Maybe a ouch a harder. Core is a very light grey color.

Can you not ream it into a cyclindrical shape then use tape arbors to get the fit you want? Regardless of the cause.

I am going to try and straighten it out.Hard to ream it without wobble. About mid third is tight on the reamer front and back third are sloppy. Then it's an UL so I am worried I might end up with a front gap that's hard to hide with a winding check. Thinking for the 9 bucks the grip cost it's worth the lack of frustration of just starting with a new one.

You're probably right. Get another for this rod and keep the current one on hand to hopefully use it on a future project and a larger diameter blank that requires additional reaming to get it to fit.

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