I may be over thinking this but here goes. I'm building a 9wt fly rod and I'd like to do a cross wrap and have it come seamlessly out from the end of my cork grip. I assume I would ream the cork to get a good fit first then start my wrap a little before where the cork grip is going to end. After tying off the wrap and putting a light coat of finish on it I'm concerned the added thickness is going to give me issues installing the cork grip.

Has anyone else had this issue? Is there a better way to accomplish this?

Thanks any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated

I think what you'll have to do is this - Make the decorative wrap and tie off per normal. Then use thread to create a sort of shim or bushing behind the wrap tie-off towards the butt. A spiralled thread works well as a "spacer." Then you will ream the grip to fit over the wrap and seat onto the "shim" you made with the thread behind the wrap. This area, with the thread shim, should be larger in OD than your decorative wrap.

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so in theory I could use masking tape as a shim just like a reel seat and ream the cork after the decorative wrap was finished?

Or just wrap all the to the reel seat and ream to fit? Will the epoxy paste adhere to the finish like it would the black?

I wouldn't use masking tape, but yes, you could do that. You could also make the wrap extra long and allow it to serve as the bushing or shim for the grip, but that's a lot of extra work.

Yes, the grip epoxy will adhere to the finish epoxy. Or you could mount the grip on the thread with epoxy and then finish the portion of the wrap extending beyond the fore end of the grip.

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Tom your first response made the most sense. I just couldn't visualize it in my head for some reason. A small shim right before the reel seat should work perfectly...

Thanks for your help

Are you making your own grip? If so why not install all the cork rings except the last couple or so. Then you could do your wrap, followed by installing the last couple cork rings. Then apply finish, followed by turning the grip to shape. Never done this, but just an idea.