Watching some of the mudhole videos and reading a bit, many say slide it down til it stops then epoxy from that point down and firmly push the grip down.

To me it's much easier to ream the grip so it fits snug......am I missing something here?

Jon,
I never really saw the point of stretching the grip to put it on the blank. I suppose that it works, but I simply choose not to do it.

I always ream a grip so that it is a nice slip fit over the blank. Glue it on, and move on with the rest of the build.

Be safe

There are a couple of potential problems that result from not reaming EVA grips to at least a close fit to where you want their final position to be. One deals with an increase in the OD of the grip itself, the other with actually getting the grip to it's final position.

I ream mine so they'll stop sliding down the blank (under the power of gravity) about an inch above where I want their final position to be. I've found that if you have to slide force them down much more than that, that the OD of the grip grows and causes fit and finish problems with the back of the reel seat, or any trim rings that you may be using. I like using trim rings between the butt cap and the reel seat. Forcing the grip down much more than an inch will make the OD of the tenon increase and can make sanding the tenon necessary to get the trim ring to slide over it.

The same increase in the OD of the tenon also happens with the grip and can make the grip a larger OD than both the reel seat and any trim rings you may be using. Some people may not have a problem with grips that are a slightly larger OD than trim rings or reel seats, but I like to have them flush.

The other potential problem is that some of the EVA grips are extremely dense. The Batson grips are very dense, and excellent EVA grips. The more dense the EVA, the more difficult it is to get it to slide down much more than an inch.

Anyhow, like I said. I ream them so they stop about 1" above where I want them to be. And as the Mud Hole video for installing EVA grips says ..... make sure that you mark the blank at the top of the grip and apply epoxy from there, down the blank. I usually start my epoxy about an inch above where I've marked so I make sure that I get more than enough epoxy inside the grip.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/26/2016 11:10PM by David Baylor.

It also helps to chamfer the grip slightly where it will first contact the glue, so the glue wants to go inside the grip instead of being pushed down the blank ahead of it.

X2 Lynn. Good advise

Nice idea Lynn!

Thanks, as much as I'd like to take credit, I saw it done by one of the west coast builders. Not sure which. It was one of the first 10-15,000 posts I read.

There is a nice article in the library concerning chamfering.
[www.rodbuilding.org]
Norm

Guess I've been lucky, I only on occasion ream a EVA grip, I just lube the blank up with glue above the stop point, spin the grip in the glue to ensure full coverage and with a aggressive, continuous movement slide the grip down the blank. I than grap the bottom firmly and stretch the grip out to it's original length. I've found that as the grip expands, it also thins and gives me no real concerns as far as butt caps, etc.

Put the epoxy where the grip will end up, chamfer, or bevel the inside edge. Use grade school rubber cement from the point the grip stops down to your epoxy and slide it down. Be careful here or your grip will slide right off, no reaming, no excess epoxy, just rub off the rubber cement in a few minutes. A lot of builders have been doing it for years. Try it on some scrap, use a small ID eva on a large OD scrap and you'll never ream another piece of EVA.

Stretching it too much can also rip the inlays on EVA. Only takes a second to open up the ID and I feel it makes the work a bit easier.