The reel seat and grip for this beauty turned out to be a slight challenge. The original grip was a peace of turned soft-wood that was covered in thin cork. This grip served as an attachment point for 2" of the rod as well as the base for the reel seat sleeve. The new grip needed to be strong to handle the stress from fighting a strong fish as well as casting the rod, all while looking good. This was solved by deciding to turn a fully wooden polychromatic grip consisting of 1/2" maple and walnut peaces, with a 3/4" peace for the up-locking hood. (Just a note all of the wood used for the grip, came from Shop scrap.) To attach the reel seat I will need to turn a hardwood dowel to fit into the grip and the seat and meeting at the but of the rod. The seat wood is a beautiful hand turned maple with chrome up-locking hardware.
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