How’s everybody doing?

I posted a photo the other week asking opinions on if you guys thought my handle section on this nfc blank I’m building on was too long. After giving it some thought and testing, I determined it was indeed too long. I built the handle originally to rest into the thickest point of my forearm to aid in leveraging a fish but didn’t consider any other factor (fishing techniques, size of fish being fought, where I’m fishing, etc.) I didn’t want to continue the build with the thought in the back of my mind always being: “this handle is too long for the application and I could have done better.”

Tonight, I stripped the whole rod minus the fighting butt which I was satisfied with. It was painful as this was my first KR concept built rod and I meticulously wrapped the guides with my best thread work to date. The rod test casted beautifully in the yard. It felt like I could send a 1/5 oz jig a mile away.

I had to strip the rod down to redo the handle section and I just wanted to post this for anyone such as myself who may be newer to this (I’ve built roughly 10 rods) and has made a mistake on their build. I used foam arbors on my reel seat (a Fuji standard spinning seat) and was able to get the blank stripped with no issues by doing the following: used a dremel cut off CAREFULLY on the seat, then I severely dulled an old knife, took a heat gun with QUICK burst of high heat to the foam arbor and scraped with the dull blade. It wasn’t necessary but just for good measure, I sanded the reel seat section with high grit finishing sandpapers and here we are. Back to a blank slate.

Although it’s disappointing to have waisted the time. It’s relieving to know that you can correct your mistakes in this hobby and have another try! I’d also like to note that I have stripped down two or three completely rods to bare blank so I have had a little bit of practice. I’d recommend anyone new to this craft to practice on a junk rod before trying to strip a high dollar rod/blank for their first time.

Your method works for me.
Good choice, if you have the need to make the change.

Take care.

The main thing I have come to do about handle length, is to have a precise measuring point from the finished butt of the rod to a point on the reel seat that I will always use to measure this distance. In my case it is the rear foot anchor point of the reel seat. You can make it anything you want, but be consistent and always use that point. That will give you a better understanding of the length you actually want and can repeat. It @#$%& that you had to deconstruct the whole handle and seat assembly. You are much more anal than me, and I thought I was pretty bad. I would of just cut off an inch or two of the butt and then put a new butt piece on it and sanded everything flush. If I am not sure on length, I will tape on a reel seat and grips to where I think it will work, put the reel on, and just handle it, making play cast to get a sense of the balance I am looking for. You will do good with your rods, you have the right attitude.

Lance Schreckenbach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The main thing I have come to do about handle
> length, is to have a precise measuring point from
> the finished butt of the rod to a point on the
> reel seat that I will always use to measure this
> distance. In my case it is the rear foot anchor
> point of the reel seat. You can make it anything
> you want, but be consistent and always use that
> point. That will give you a better understanding
> of the length you actually want and can repeat. It
> @#$%& that you had to deconstruct the whole handle
> and seat assembly. You are much more anal than me,
> and I thought I was pretty bad. I would of just
> cut off an inch or two of the butt and then put a
> new butt piece on it and sanded everything flush.
> If I am not sure on length, I will tape on a reel
> seat and grips to where I think it will work, put
> the reel on, and just handle it, making play cast
> to get a sense of the balance I am looking for.
> You will do good with your rods, you have the
> right attitude.

I have learned a lot of tough lessons so far doing this craft. Thanks for the tips and compliments though! I’m laughing at you saying I’m anal. My wife would agree with you. It @#$%& being this way but I know I won’t enjoy the rod to it’s fullest with the thought in the back of my head that I could have done better.

I'm curious about the best way to remove a cork grip from the blank with the intent to keep it and the blank intact. Will epoxy soften with heat and if so, how best to apply the heat?

I'm currently building a fly rod, my first in almost 40 years and my first time making my own custom cork grip. I bought some burnt, striped and regular corks but not certain if I'll be happy with it but really want/need to get this rod out for trials before too long as I live in northern Alberta and our fishing season is not all that long. I should have bought a bunch more corks to expand my options but now have them all glued up ready for shaping so maybe next time. During our long winter I will have plenty of time to strip and rebuild the butt end to replace the grip if I decide to. Being retired helps with the time aspect. I tried to find a cork cutting jig and saw but they seem in short supply.

Nice rod @Al Purvis ! I don't see any way to put pics in my postings but I bet if I look around there are instructions somewhere. :)

Bruce, heat worked well for me in taking off a standard composite reel seat. The grip material was EVA, thus the reason I was removing it.

Nice job Al. I agree with Lance. [www.rodbuilding.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2023 09:39PM by Lynn Behler.

Nice job on the handle removal. I have a rod or two I’d like to strip down just haven’t found the time yet. I may have to use those techniques myself. I have a rod with the same situation (too long of a handle) I just don’t use it any more because it feels weird and I have better built rods to use.

I like to do my math trick (multiply the rod length by 6) to determine handle length for my freshwater bass rods. By this I mean, If the rod is 84” multiply that by 6, you get 14”. The entire handle assembly (butt cap, rear grip, reel seat,fore grip, and winding check) should not exceed 14” from the butt. Doesn’t have to be 14” I just try not to exceed 14”. If I divide by 8, I get the general location of where I hold the reel when casting wether it’s a casting or spinning rod. But of coarse when I get these numbers I’ll mock everything up and test cast before final assembly.

Try it out.

I hate stripping down a rod to make corrections or fix errors. But sometimes you just have to. Reel seats and grips types and size are very much a personal preference thing. I make fly rods, but when I go to fly fishing shows or a shop or even Cabela's, I take time to look at, feel and size up the different components OEMs use in their various models. That helps me get my component decisions right. As to grip or handle, if you don't like the fit, you are reminded all day long by the nagging misfit, just like in golf if your grips are too fat or thin.

Fortunately I've never had to replace a fly rod handle, but over the years I've read about various techniques for removing glued-on handles (heating seems to be the choice for two-part epoxy). I've always wondered about the mechanics of sliding a cork (or other) replacement handle back on to the rod. When I build rods, and I assume this is essentially what everyone does, I core out the cork handle (I use a tapered "extreme reamer" from Mud Hole) which gives me the perfect taper matching the handle to the rod when I slide it on... but of course the taper ONLY matches the rod if it is slid on from the "tip" end down toward the "butt" end. After I'm finished building, I almost always have something (hook holder, stripping guide, etc.) located between the handle and the tip of the handle section, so the replacement handle won't slide down in the normal direction. Doing the opposite... sliding a replacement handle UP from the butt end toward the tip end... would result in a tight fit for the butt end of the handle, but the tip end would be very sloppy. I hope I never have to do it, but just in case... how do you compensate for that lack of fit? Or are you only able to replace handles which can be reapplied in the "correct" direction (ie. before you add the hook guide and/or stripping guide)?

To install one from the butt I suggest using a series of tightly wrapped masking tape bushings to provide essentially a cylindrical (no taper) shape onto which the similarly prepared cork (no taper) can be slid from the rear. Make sure plenty of epoxy is used, totally encapsulate the bushings with epoxy.

I recently had to take apart a fly rod which had tape bushings under the reel seat. The rod had been submerged in salt water many times after landing fish, was about 5 years old, and the masking tape bushings were like new, no deterioration.