Been reading a few posts about reaming handle material and wanted to add this question.

How important is a close fit of the cork to the rod blank? My perception is that the closer the better. A close to perfect fit will require less epoxy and as a result less weight added to the rod.

But how important is that? The extra weight of the epoxy is all at the handle end of the rod and not much weight to begin with unless the fit is very sloppy.

I have been reaming individual cork rings and epoxying them directly to the blank, then turning on the blank. While there are some benefits to this, there are things i like about using wood glue for the grip vs epoxy, and turning on a mandrel is less risky than turning on the blank.

The only downside is I'm sure my fit would be less perfect reaming the whole handle vs individual rings.

So, just how perfect "should" the fit be, and in the real world of freshwater rods will anybody know if the fit is a bit sloppy and filled in with a touch more epoxy?

Tucker

reaming any handle should be done from the bottom to top with a tapered reamer close to the size of the blank .
doing this works best as it doesn't take away excess material and if it is a bit loose you can place a couple tape shims to make a more closer fit then butter the blank with epoxy heavily at the starting point where the bottom part of the grip meets the blank it will fill the gap/gaps made by the tape shim you should have a ring of epoxy on the edge of the grip as you slip it down the blank in to position the same applies tor fore grips.
this allows for a secure glue up and done with less epoxy .
the excess epoxy will be pushed down the blank as you slide the grip in to place and just wipe off the excess if there is to much or any excess amount.
this is just another learning curve in this art.
Happy building

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.

Tucker,
The fit is as important as you care to make it.

Any time that you have extra space between the cork and the blank, just fill it with a wrap or a few wraps to fill the gap/s.

I do agree with you on the weight. On many rods, a bit of weight at the butt section of the rod may be a good thing.

Certainly excessive space between the cork and the blank is not good from the standpoint that space means that there is a possibility that the grip may end up being off center.

But, a wrap or a few wraps with masking tape will nicely fill the gap.

But, if you do have to build up a blank with a masking tape arbor - leave a bit of space between the rows or wrap so that the glue can reach down between each row of wraps all of the way to the blank to both perform a more secure glue bond, and to also essentially encapsulate each masking tape circle of wraps to prevent any possible moisture inclusion.

Than, you will be good to go.

Tucker
I glue and stack the cork on a mandrel and turn the grip on a lathe. I use a tapered reamer made from a section of scrap rod wrapped with emery. I carefully ream and test fit MANY MANY times until I get the fit I want.

I fit my handles so that there is a little resistance between the mating parts. A snug fit makes the best mechanical connection the adhesive keeps it in place. Also there are no hollow spots or gaps under the grip.

Wrapping or "bushing" to correct a sloppy fit is like wrapping your socks with duct tape so your foot fits in your shoe, its better to get a shoe that fits.

Have fun and good luck!

Tucker

The short answers to your questions are: a bit more epoxy adhesive is neither here nor there, and; a spot on, dead solid perfect fit using tapered reamers will be more a function of good fortune than outstanding craftsmanship as it is not probable the tapered reamers you use will exactly match the taper of the blank. The good news is the fit does not need to be perfect in terms of the ID of the grip vs the OD of the blank. What is more important is that the grip reaming not wander off center, the result of which usually means a do over.

Thanks everyone. I basically understand the process, but maybe I'm missing something about reaming an entire handle. It seems that in the case of using a scrap blank for the reaming, unless the taper of that blank matches the taper of the rod you are building exactly, there is going to be some degree of slop by the time the full length is reamed.

Using multiple reamers of different diameter and taper may get closer, but it seems it would still be difficult to know if the handle is reamed to the correct diameter, other than the front and back of the grip.

Reaming each cork should give a closer fit along the length of the handle, but maybe the question is, how necessary is that?

Tucker,
Absolutely correct.

As has been stated, you want to have a nicely centered grip that is nice and secure on the rod blank.

It may or may not have a perfect, not gap fit, and still be a nicely centered grip that is nice and secure on the rod blank with the minimal use of arbors as needed to fill space and to keep the grip centered on the blank.

If you are a rod manufacturer and build thousands of the same blank, then you can have a custom reamer made for you to give you a near perfect fit of the grip to the blank with the use of the reamer.

Also, if you glue individual cork rings on a blank where each ring is sized perfectly to the grip you can get a near perfect fit on the blank. Otherwise, there will likely always be a bit of a compromise on the fit of the grip to the blank.

Good luck

Don't overthink it, not rocket science. Just make sure of a few things. 1. don't under-ream so that the cork has to be stretched to go over the blank. Cork doesn't stretch much without splitting. 2. use plenty of epoxy. The excess will come out at the end and can easily be cleaned up. 3. You want to make sure that every void or hole or spot of irregular fit is filled with epoxy, so use plenty of epoxy, and rotate the grip as it goes on to spread the epoxy into these spots. 4. Don't worry about the weight-you first of all want the best adhesion you can get. If you do these things you will have a better rod than any commercial rod, with respect to this issue.

Thanks to everyone that replied. I've built many ice rods and a handful of open water rods, and so far have been happy with all. Much better than standard factory rods. I do what many of you mention to make sure fit is good but to this point have always reamed individual cork rings. Maybe i will try gluing up a handle and reaming to see how that goes on one of my next builds. Appreciate the advice from all.

Try reaming after finish forming your complete grip. I think you'll find it precise enough and much easier. I have never reamed rings individually.

Tucker,

If you are going to build up a grip from individual rings, make it easy on yourself and ream each individual rink to be close to the perfect fit on the blank, as you assemble the grip.

After the grip is glued up, I run a drill through the grip to remove any hanging glue that might be left on the inside of the grip. Then, I will put a mandrel through the grip, using masking tape to build up the mandrel to fit the inside of the reamed out grip to keep the grip centered while shaping the grip.

Then, after the grip is shaped, just a a minor clean up with the reamer -- gives you a perfect fit on the blank.

Summary - with individual rings - size each ring before gluing the grip together and thus make it much easier for the final fit of the grip to the blank.

Also, if you wish, you can use a caliper, masking tape and a mandrel to size the mandrel to be a match to the blank before gluing up. If you use threaded rod for the mandrel, it makes it easy to clamp the rings together with minimal glue on the inside of the grip.

All of these little notes - facilitate the minimal overall use of labor to complete the rod.

I know most all here will disagree with this, But I use expanding polyurethane glue on {Butt grips only after assembling your rings with titebond-III and reaming } It fills any voids if there happens to be any, It's lighter and every bit as durable as epoxy, I started using it on my personal rods with long grips and Never had a problem with a loose rear grip, I actually feel I get a better bond with it. So I now use it on my customers rods. I have yet to have One come back, With a rear grip failure! And I will add that Quite a few Professionals who build a lot more rods then I do, Use it, And high volume rod builders also use it. There is a learning curve to using this and any adhesive, You can't go slathering it on like epoxy, That's where most make their mistake. Anyone who says it has no place in rod building has never taken the time to learn how to apply and use it properly. And I never mist with water! Mother nature provides plenty of humidity in the air to activate it Unless you live in the desert. Just my 3 cents Inflation, LOL Jaa