I've always used those cheap cork reamers to ream out cork grips that I've turned on a mandrel. Are there any reamers that can be used in a drill to speed it up? I build a lot of fiberglass fly rods and some of those wind up needing over a 1/2" opening, takes a long time by hand.

The Dream Reamers can be used in a hand drill. Caution, be sure to run the drill in reverse so that the reamer does not screw itself into the grip!

not sure who puts this out but it is a spade bit for a drill that is about 18 inches long, some you pull through an some you push through depends on how the bit is set up,
[ made ] you can't change it , i think Mudhole has them as well as other suppliers , look around , no matter what reamer you get you will still have to use the dream reamer
to put the last touch to it , or some thing like it I think , you could build the handle on the rod then turn it down , lots of builders do that

William Sidney
AK

The cork drills are the spade bits made by Flexcoat, they work great but follow the instructions and go half way through the grip and then turn the bit around.

Bob

Yep. Use .25"id cork on mandrels & use the spade bits with .25" pilots. Fast & easy. Minimal reaming required to fit the grip.

Thanks for the advice, I'll try these out.

PS I like the ones you pull through the best follow directions , do half way then do the other end , still need the other reamer to finish the grip

William Sidney
AK

Andrew,
Another fairly inexpensive option is to use a set of circular files, with the end trimmed off and trued up to fit into a variable speed drill.

Then, combine these files with long extension bits for drilling out the center of the grip.

I first ream each end of the grip to the size needed for the blank in question using one or more of the files.
Then, i use an extension bit to drill out the center of the grip of a size that will allow the grip to slip onto the blank.

The files and extension bits will last - virtually for ever - drilling and filing out soft cork or eva.

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I use a corded variable speed 3/8th or 1/2 inch drill - depending on the size of the shank on either the file or the drill bit to hold the file or drill bit.

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