There are three kinds of CF grips that I have seen so far:

1. Tube Type: Open at one or both ends (like the NFC Soft Touch). These are hollow and/or have a foam arbor installed in a part of the tube.
2. Sausage Type: (like some NFC and CFX). These are enclosed, with material folded over both ends.
3. Tenon Type: (like some NFC and CFX). These have a tenon cut into one or both ends to fit a reel seat and/or butt cap.

A couple questions:

In Tom Kirkman's video of applying Permagloss to a CF grip, he sands it first. Did he sand the rough CF cloth itself, or did he apply epoxy and then sand?

Can I cut a tenon into a Sausage Type CF grip without damaging it? And if so, what are your suggestions for making this modification? Edge of a fine file was my first
thought. I have a lathe and mandrels.

Lastly, since the CF is often rough or slightly uneven on the ends where I want to put winding checks (split grip), I was considering using a thread and epoxy mini ramp.
Nothing too involved; make a thread band next to the end face of the grip and let the epoxy flow up onto it. Is there a better way to cap off a rough end?

What do you think?

First of all, never sand the bare carbon fiber! You will fray the fibers. Sanding and trimming should only be done after some type of coating is applied to the bare fibers! Some have used guide wrap epoxy, others different epoxies and many se Perma Gloss.

I trim on a lathe using a Forstner bit for reel seat insets and a very fine Japanese saw for cutting, again, both only after some coating.

Sanding into the carbon fibers isn't an issue. It is with glass which will fray, but not carbon. Obviously you don't want to sand all the way through to the core, but getting into a little bit of the carbon is of no concern. It'll never show once you top coat it.

I wet out my carbon skins with just about any 2-part epoxy. West Systems, System 3 or even wrap finish epoxy. If the exterior of the skin remains a bit "dry" I will apply one application of epoxy to the outside of the grip. From there sand until it is smooth and top coat with PG or similar.

.........

Thank you!



Les

Leslie Cline Wrote:
--
>
> Lastly, since the CF is often rough or slightly
> uneven on the ends where I want to put winding
> checks (split grip), I was considering using a
> thread and epoxy mini ramp.
> Nothing too involved; make a thread band next to
> the end face of the grip and let the epoxy flow up
> onto it. Is there a better way to cap off a rough
> end?
>
> What do you think?

Thats exactly what I just did. Nothing fancy. I did post a poor pic in the photo section.

Leslie,
There is extremely little epoxy on the outside of a CF grip. If you want a shiny surface rather than the original dull / matt finish, it is best to apply a coat of epoxy to the surface, allow it to FULLY cure, sand smooth and then coat with PG or similar. While structural laminating epoxy may be the best, thread epoxy will work although the flex additives may make sanding a tic more difficult. To achieve the best sanding qualities, the epoxy needs to be as hard as possible to avoid “balling-up” on the sandpaper = cured for a bare minimum of 24 hours, 48 is better with the best being a post cure at 150*F for 6 hours after the initial set time. Since this is not a stressed structural member, sanding into the actual fibers of the carbon cloth is not of a major concern but limiting it is advised. Unless you get carried-away with the sanding, the weave will look unaffected after coating with PG. I have found both CF and FG sand quite nicely; it is Aramid (Kevlar) which resists being sanded or even simply attempting to cut it! Trying to sand an Aramid grip would result in an appearance similar to a flocked grip but fluffier and more irregular.
I cannot help you with cutting tenons; I rarely employ them.
As for “considering using a thread and epoxy mini ramp”, I do it all the time although I don’t use the thread to actually build up the ramp. I typically tint the epoxy to match the blank or possibly the grip and apply enough coats to achieve the desired size of the ramp which ends-up being a nice, radiused filet.

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

Thank you, everyone!

My initial concern was fraying of the CF if I sanded one end flush on a Sausage-type grip. Since the CF skin looked 'dry', I wasn't sure how well it was wetted through with epoxy. However, the mid-grip section of the split-grip set had a tenon cut into it. This gave me a clue that the CF could be flush cut (or another tenon added if I wanted).

After reading the replies here, I gained confidence and went ahead and sanded one end flush. The CF skin did NOT fray at all! It made a perfectly flush surface for my purposes.

This worked on the NFC carbon split-grip piece I used. I had read that the NFC grips use a layer of prepreg around the foam core; when baked, the epoxy saturates the CF, just like it does a rod blank. Excellent!

On a side note: I wanted a flush cut so I could use a thin cork ring (approx.1/16th inch cut with a cork jig) to make a smooth transition between the hard edge of the reel seat and hard edge of the CF grip with no voids. My lathe and hand/eye are not perfect, so I wanted a little 'cheater piece' to take up any imperfections.

The 'squishy' cork gets pressed into any little spaces between the grip and reel seat when I get it in my handle vice, making a seamless fit. I then added a couple layers of tape to the reel seat and CF grip on either side of the cork ring; next, sanded the ring down flush to where the first layer of tape gets rough.

This all came out great! You all are the best!