I was trying to come up with a better way ream cork grips to get the best fit possible. Has anyone ever tried cutting the grip into two peices and reaming each half? Would this way be better to get a closer fit than trying to ream out the whole grip and maybe it not be the right taper? Seems like the more length you have to ream the bigger margin of error you will have. Then after reaming each halve glue them on the blank and put it in a cork ring clamp. Make sure you make a mark across the line to be cut so that you can line up the halves when glueing. The seam line can easily be sanded by hand with little or no change to the shape of the grip. Just a thought.

Steve

That might work. The best way is to have an assortment of reamers and just choose the one that most closely matches your blank taper. The fit goes bad when people a reamer in a push-pull motion instead of a twisting motion. You need several sizes and should always use one that is close to the ID of the grip. As the hole gets bigger, move up to the next size reamer and continue. Trying to ream a half inch hole with a quarter inch reamer is bad business and will usually only result in a poor fitting grip.

Save up your old blank scraps and on a rainy weekend make up a half dozen or more. They're easy to make and cost only pennies each. If you need instructions look in one of the old Rodmaker issues or ask your supplier. Not at all hard to do you just coat the blank scrap with slow cure epoxy and then sprinkle on the cutting grit and set aside to dry.

A different way. If you have a lathe with a drill attachment you can drill the grip rather than ream. Use drills that vary 1/64 of an inch and use as many different size drill bits as you need to go from the butt end of the grip to the tip end of the grip. This technique will center the hole in the grip and provide an exact fit. The shoulders created by the different size bits will act as pistons to compress the glue eliminating the air bubbles and creating a solid glue line. This only works with a lathe and a chuck large enough to hold the cork grip for drilling.

If you don't have a lathe, using a drill bit will really run off centre, but I discovered by mistake that if you use the drill bit in reverse (without a lathe), it does quite a nice job to stay centre. Just a simply DIY option this, but not as neat as the others though.

A very easy way to ream grips is to use a tapered file chucked in a drill that is turning backward. You need to have the round tapered file turning backward, or the file will simply screw itself into the grip and split the grip open. You need to force the turning file into the grip, while cleaning out the excess cork.

I have several sizes of tapered files and use them in steps, starting with the smallest and going to the size needed to match the blank under consideration. I have tried using a drill press, and also a stationary drill for this operation, but always found it too clumsy. So, I simply use a hand held 1/2 or 3/8th drill - as required by the size of the file and hold everthing in my lap. It is much easier to hold the grip still and move the drill, rather than moving the grip through a stationary drill.

Take care
REW