Well Jamie was right the handle did need a coat, the stain kept coming of onto my hand.
I didn't have any clear coat so I epoxied the handle but with some small inlays.
I have supplied some pictures from original handle before the grip failed to the final peice.
I think something like this would look great on a cane rod or an old classic rod of sorts.
[url=http://photobucket.com/albums/c196/IslandBrookTrout/?action=view&current=Copyof2ingrass.jpg:66d62]http://photobucket.com/albums/c196/IslandBrookTrout/?action=view&current=Copyof2ingrass.jpg[/url:66d62]
[url=http://photobucket.com/albums/c196/IslandBrookTrout/?action=view&current=rodgrip.jpg:66d62]http://photobucket.com/albums/c196/IslandBrookTrout/?action=view&current=rodgrip.jpg[/url:66d62]
[url=http://photobucket.com/albums/c196/IslandBrookTrout/?action=view&current=feathagrip.jpg:66d62]http://photobucket.com/albums/c196/IslandBrookTrout/?action=view&current=feathagrip.jpg[/url:66d62]

later
Mike