Heres a grip I just finished up for a rod based on Tom's River Smallmouth rod. It was a 5'6" SJ 1 power blank that was extended to 6'1" using a graphite tube. Rear Grip is a glass skinned foam core with blood red pigment, some silver metallic flakes and EVA butt cap. Matching epoxy ramp and wrap in the front of the seat.
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Same grip but showing the rear handle section w/ Batson weight kit
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20" long seamless section of carbon sleeving over foam core grips and under a minima reel seat. I epoxied the sleeve directly to the blank between the grips and under the seat. It looks like it just flows all together. Im very happy with the way it turned out.
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Handle on a XSB842. Use the grey eva balls from mudhole and a minima seat. The ball shape fits my hand very well behind the seat and is more comfortable then I thought it would be.
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Here's a foam core grip sleeved in glass with charcoal pigment and silver glitter flakes. Its on a RX8 blank. Still needs a final sanding and finish coat.
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Here is a wrap on the Blue Castaway blank. Black with metallic gun metal blue and silver. I think it works very well with the blank.
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This is a 4 color chevron fade. It is my first try at a closed wrap. I still need a lot more practice compared to some of the work I see here
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This is a 4 color chevron fade. I need some more practice compared to all the work i see on here
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View from the back
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View of the reel seat and part of the wrap
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Mudhole Bling on a new MHX blank.
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Thought I'd try something new for a grip on 14' center pin. Woven graphite tubes with a size 20 reel seat. It looks good, but time will tell how it works in the cold winter months.
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Does anyone know what the size of the smallest running guides on a NRX rod are?4/4.5/5??? They are they black pearl guides. I have a couple to replace and want to make sure i order the correct ones. They are too darn expensive to take a chance on getting the wrong size.
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Another one to consider is the MHX HM-DS8515. I use this rod for for that same application and its great!
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The overlay doesnt work, Ive tried it. The hide is too thick, it looks worse then a flush seam does. When you see how hard the scales are on the skin you will see that feathering it out wont work either. The scales will just chip and crack and it will look pretty bad. I played around with different ideas to hide the seem for a long time. The honest answer is that there is not a good solutio
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Billy, Thanks for the compliments. It was easier then I thought to get the grip to match up. Because I knew exactly the thickness of the ray skin i just wraped it around the foam core and kept sanding the core until it matched up. The wrap area is actually a paper called Chiyogami. The best way to describe it is a cross between tracing paper and paper mache sheets. Its a bit of a challenge to
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I did a white rayskin grip for a customer. I ended up using foamcore for the grip and doing the rayskin over it to help keep the weight down. The biggest challenge for me was the seam. The scales on the ray skin were very hard to cut and keep straight without them chipping. i ended up punching holes in the ray skin along the seam and using leather lace to close it up. Doing this helped to hid
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Thanks! Im not too concerned with the weight since these will spend their life in a rod holder, plus the blanks diameter is larger so there wont be a ton of material left after reaming them to fit. Seems that they are ok to turn, so i think im going to give them a try.
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Has anyone ever used either of these to make a complete grip out of? If so, now is the material to turn on a lathe? I want to try to use it for some grips on some walleye trolling rods.
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Thats some good looking stuff! When will new products start to be available?
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Barry, Thanks for the reply. I like the idea of the bulb cap, I not a fan of gimbals. Does the bulb sit flush with the slick grip or does it slide inside? Any chance you have a pic?
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Im thinking about trying the Batson Slim Slick Grip and was wondering what butt caps people have used with these to match up. If you have pictures that would be great too.
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I have a customer who is looking for a set of rods for musky trolling. I have never fished for musky so Im kind of lost as for what to recommend to him. He wants 2 8' rods to use off the side of the boat and 1 propwash rod. Would a Batson RDR86MH with a few inches trimmed off the tip and butt work for the outside rod? I was thinking a solid glass rod like the Batson.546X.188X76 for the
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I have been building walleye trolling blanks on the Batson RDR80M telescopic blank for trolling inline planer boards on the Great Lakes. This blank is perfect for the application! I have a customer who has very bad arthritis in his hands. The RDR80M is just too heavy for him to handle comfortably all day. Im looking for a lighter weight blank that would be close in power and action to to the
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I dont for say need to tip to bend, just be light enough to be able to read the vibrations of a smaller crankbait better the the RDR does. Sometime I do use snap weights to get a bit more depth on the lure so I dont want to give up to much power.
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Ron, Thanks for the reply! So for lack of better terms, does the SPG843 have more "wiggle" in the tip the the RDR. Im just worried that the SPG842 may nor have the power needed. Mitch
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looking for the Batson SPG Blank that most closley matches the RDR70M. I was thinking the SPG842 or SPG843. This will be used for trolling small cranks. Im hoping the SPG being all glass will show vibration in the tip a bit better the the RDR.
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Im looking to see if anyone has the best thread color match for the red and the grey tour star grips. I use ProWrap Color fast NCP. Its just hard to judge colors via online pictures.
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The MHX SJ9000 is one of my personal favorite blanks for smallies. I use it for tubes and drop shots on lake erie.
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Looking to build a slip bobber rod for walleye. I cant decide between the MHX SJ9000 or the MHX CB903. The rod may pull double duty using lindy rigs as well. Im leaning towards the SJ9000, but wanted to get some other opinions.
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