How a custom grip is made

[Midwest Custom Fly Rods]

Figured this might be helpful to anyone that is just starting out and wondered how a custom grip is made. You can do this without an expensive lathe. All you need it a good mandrel ($11) and a drill. Hope you find it interesting...


Cork comes in 1.250"x.500" and 1.250"x.250" sizes for each ring so this is what I start with.



Next I lay it out in whatever design I want the pattern to be when done.



After that I will coat each side of each ring with epoxy and put it in a clamp/jig to hold it all together to dry. The wood ends have a hole in the center and I use a section from a rod to center it all properly.



Since this one a a custom grip for a 10wt Winston Tarpon rod it will also get a fighting butt so the same has to be done for the butt.



After they dry you now have cork sections ready to mount on the mandrel and turn



I like to use a dry wall scraper screen with a handle to rough in the shape, and then smooth it out with various grits of sandpaper.



And the end result, I custom full wells grip with matching fighting butt with Struble D7 reel seat ready to mount on a rod.



Steve

[waynep]

That does not look like a wood workers lathe . . . What's the lathe setup?

[Midwest Custom Fly Rods]

You can do this without an expensive lathe. All you need it a good mandrel ($11) and a drill.

Just a drill and mandrel Wayne

[Bigdadyrods]

Save a buck or two and don't use sooo much glue there. Last time I built one--yesterday--I only had to glue the two rings together on the flat side, not the round side...

Good job there Steve

Randy

[Midwest Custom Fly Rods]

There's actually not that much epoxy on it. The glue on the outside is just because after I tighten the clamp I wipe the glue down the sides so there's no dried "bumps" from where it's squeezed out which are harder on the scrapper screen

[Bass_Bug]

Nice work Steve. Is that shrink wrap on it in the finished pic?

[lastchance]

Nice job. Thanks for the tutorial. I enjoy making my own handles, but finding good cork is a problem, and when you find it, it's too expensive. I started buying the pre-made grips. Some are pretty decent. Of course I'm no expert for sure.
Bruce

[Midwest Custom Fly Rods]

Nice work Steve. Is that shrink wrap on it in the finished pic?

Yep I usually shrink wrap the grips soon as they are done to prevent them from getting dirty during the rest of the build.

Steve

[kbproctor]

Yep I usually shrink wrap the grips soon as they are done to prevent them from getting dirty during the rest of the build.

Steve

And I thought you had turned the extra glue down to shape and polished it! <duckin' and runnin'>

[waynep]

Mandrel question . . . i assume it's 1/4" since cork rings are 1/4 inch ID right? I have looked at anglersworshop.com, hookhack.com, mudhole.com, where would I find one?