I am designing a set of rods (5 wt and 7/8 wt) that I think will be used as prizes for a tournament we are planning. The blanks are a matte black and I am going with black EVA grips with red inserts. What I want to do is place the inserts at a 45 degree angle to the eva on the front and rear third, and two inserts crossing at as 45 in the center. The question I have is what is the best way to cut the eva so I get the angles I need. I have read about using string and a lathe to cut to length, but not how to cut at angles. I also need to make a straight cut since my EVA block is about 14" long. I could use my lathe and string, but first I have to bore the center hole which leads to my second question.

Next question, what is the recommended way to bore the center hole? I have a long 1/4 bit that will go all the way through a 7" handle, but getting the alignment right is the issue. If it was wood, I would put it in my drill press vise, tighten things down and have at it. But EVA is much softer than wood, so doubt I can use the same technique.

John,
A really simple way to do the cutting is to use a miter saw with a thin abrasive wheel installed on the saw

Set the angle that you wish to cut, lower the wheel and the cut is done.

You do not mention, if the EVA block is square or round.

If it is round, chuck the EVA into the chuck on your lathe - use a rod rest to support the free end of the spinning EVA and insert a drill bit of the appropriate length into the tail stock chuck and use the tail stock to advance the drill bit into the spinning eva.

If you like, you can drill 1/2 the length, then reverse the EVA in the lathe and drill the other 1/2 of the hole. The holes will meet perfectly in the middle.

-----------------------
A picture of the setup that I use for doing this task:

[www.rodbuilding.org]

A picture of the steady rest that I made many years ago to support a rod blank when doing full length blank - on the blank - handle turning.
In the picture of the lathe, the steady rest was the latest design of this steady rest made from aluminum bar stock, steel rods and skate board ball bearings. To mount it on the lathe, I just used another piece of aluminum bar stock under the bed of the lathe to serve as a clamp to clamp the steady rest to the bed of the lathe:

[www.rodbuilding.org]

A picture of a 10 inch miter saw:
[www.rodbuilding.org]

[www.fleetfarm.com]

+++++++++++++++++++++++++
If you only have a few pieces of EVA to cut, you can use a simple miter box and miter saw:

[www.walmart.com]

A saw like this has been used for a very long time - for folks with no power to do all of the necessary miter cuts in construction.

Inexpensive and works well. For cutting the eva, just use a very very fine toothed miter saw.

Good luck

p.s.
You could also make a special miter saw from 3 boards, and then make your miter angles in the front and back board using a hack saw. A hack saw has a rigid back and you can put in a fine toothed blade to make the initial angles in the box. Just take your time and you will have a perfect miter box for about 50 cents. Just use a pine 1x4. Only make the front and back as tall as the EVA that you are going to cut, so that you do not run into clearance issues if you use a hack saw to cut the miter slots in the box.

I my self use a super sharp thin blade kitchen knife to cut eva and I bore it with a rotary file to cut the angles I hobby craft a miter box and hold it snugly so that doesn't roll or slide and cut it with a smooth single stroke that keeps the face ends square but make sure you have the same density for your color pieces as the black or they won't shape well and gluing them back together use pvc pipe cement as plyobond doesn't hold and the will separate.

there these [www.anglersworkshop.com]


maybe someone else will chime in or Billy Verona will add some of this knowledge working with cutting shaping eva and haplon grips

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

To avoid the boring issue, I order my EVA from Billy Vivona with the blocks already bored. A miter box with a hack saw in lieu of the saw that comes with it works well for EVA, if you don't have access to the power tools outlined by Roger. It's not as precise as a nice miter saw, but it does work.

Since you have a drill press, you could take a few pieces of scrap wood to tack into a box shape to hold the EVA while you bore it, and go at it. All you need to do is make sure that the block won't flex or turn.

roger wilson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> John,
> A really simple way to do the cutting is to use a
> miter saw with a thin abrasive wheel installed on
> the saw
>
> Set the angle that you wish to cut, lower the
> wheel and the cut is done.
>
> You do not mention, if the EVA block is square or
> round.
>
> If it is round, chuck the EVA into the chuck on
> your lathe - use a rod rest to support the free
> end of the spinning EVA and insert a drill bit of
> the appropriate length into the tail stock chuck
> and use the tail stock to advance the drill bit
> into the spinning eva.
>
> If you like, you can drill 1/2 the length, then
> reverse the EVA in the lathe and drill the other
> 1/2 of the hole. The holes will meet perfectly in
> the middle.
>
> -----------------------
> A picture of the setup that I use for doing this
> task:
>
> [www.rodbuilding.org]
> /photo/17053/title/lathe-with-jacobs-chuck-in-tail
> -stock-to-center-drill/cat/508
>
> A picture of the steady rest that I made many
> years ago to support a rod blank when doing full
> length blank - on the blank - handle turning.
> In the picture of the lathe, the steady rest was
> the latest design of this steady rest made from
> aluminum bar stock, steel rods and skate board
> ball bearings. To mount it on the lathe, I just
> used another piece of aluminum bar stock under the
> bed of the lathe to serve as a clamp to clamp the
> steady rest to the bed of the lathe:
>
> [www.rodbuilding.org]
> /photo/9649/title/skate-board-bearing-steady-rest/
> cat/508
>
> A picture of a 10 inch miter saw:
> [www.rodbuilding.org]
> /photo/9649/title/skate-board-bearing-steady-rest/
> cat/508
>
> [www.fleetfarm.com]-
> off-blade-8-in-/0000000224306?Ntt=8%20inch%20miter
> %20saw
>
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++
> If you only have a few pieces of EVA to cut, you
> can use a simple miter box and miter saw:
>
> [www.walmart.com]
> re-Box-With-Saw-12-in/22597637
>
> A saw like this has been used for a very long time
> - for folks with no power to do all of the
> necessary miter cuts in construction.
>
> Inexpensive and works well. For cutting the eva,
> just use a very very fine toothed miter saw.
>
> Good luck

Roger,
Many thanks. Great ideas, I would not have thought about using an abrasive wheel on my miter saw. And I was wrong. My square blocks do have a center bore already. That simplifies my task considerably.

Matthew Paul Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I my self use a super sharp thin blade kitchen
> knife to cut eva and I bore it with a rotary file
> to cut the angles I hobby craft a miter box and
> hold it snugly so that doesn't roll or slide and
> cut it with a smooth single stroke that keeps the
> face ends square but make sure you have the same
> density for your color pieces as the black or they
> won't shape well and gluing them back together use
> pvc pipe cement as plyobond doesn't hold and the
> will separate.
>
> there these
> [www.anglersworkshop.com]
>
>
> maybe someone else will chime in or Billy Verona
> will add some of this knowledge working with
> cutting shaping eva and haplon grips

When you say PVC pipe cement do you mean the two can cement I have used. One I believe is a flux sort of thing to clean the pipe, the other the actual glue. Do you just use the glue or both?

Do not use PVC cement!!! Only use contact cement for gluing your EVA pieces together. Use two coats and make sure the surfaces are completely covered and dry to the touch before carefully joining them together. After turning the Contact cement results in an almost invisible seam that is very flexible giving the joined pieces a one piece feel that will not separate.
Norm

DAP Weldwood Contact Cement is the type I use, and have seen recommended in the past. A small glass jar with a few ounces can be picked up at a big box store or hardware store for about $5 or a larger can for a bit more. The glass jar has an acid brush built into the cap for easy application. Once you open the bottle it does have a shelf life and will thicken over time. Unless you are gluing EVA on a regular basis, the glass jar is the way to go.

Here are a couple current projects making use of EVA and contact cement:

[www.rodbuilding.org]
[www.rodbuilding.org]
[www.rodbuilding.org]

John,
A couple of different saws that I have modified for rod building, using an abrasive cut off wheel for a cutting blade:

[www.rodbuilding.org]

This mini chop saw uses a thin 3 inch abrasive wheel for cutting.

-------------
A chop saw that I modified a long time ago. This started out as an 8 inch miter saw. But, since I only cared about making square cuts, I made a permanent non moving base from a piece of steel channel. Then, I used a backstop made from a piece of aluminum. I raised the cutting surface or bed of the saw by use of the channel. The reason that I did this, was that an abrasive cut off wheel gets smaller as it is being used. I wanted to be able to continue to use an 8 inch abrasive wheel down to about 5 inches before having to change the wheel.
I used a very thin "tool room cutting wheel" to do the cut ting for mess power required for the cutting as well as to remove less material.

Although I primarily use it for cutting rod blanks, I have also cut steel, brass, aluminum and other materials.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Good luck

The best way to cut EVA is with a Marchisella EVA Cutting Tool both accurate and safe. To make this tool the instructions are in Rodmaker Magazine Volume 13 Issue 4. As for cutting angles in EVA I would use a miter box with a Hobby saw.

John, what tools do you have for working with EVA? A chop saw modified like Roger said would work, but wouldn't be my prefered tool, a bandsaw with a good blade will cut eva like butter. I made a simple jig for the bandsaw that I can adjust to different angles, that works well for all kinds of segmenting. If you don't have a good bandsaw a simple mitre box or homemade mitre box and a good Japanese saw would work well too. I've done a lot of segmented turnings, but use a bandsaw for most of it.

Roger i believe a block of EVA is square.

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

I use a band saw with a sled I built to hold the EVA at angles that are repeatable. [www.rodbuilding.org]

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)