bwagner,
I have never built a rod and have thought about doing what you are thinking about doing to see what the end results will be and if it is successful, I will probably build one. A good friend of mine does build some beautiful rods and I asked him once how he remove the handle sections on rods that customer want re-done. He said he just sticks the handle part into a pot of hot water and that will soften the adhesive used and the handle will come off. I don't know if that will work for you or not.
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Warren
Warren
Fly fishing and fly tying are two things that I do, and when I am doing them, they are the only 2 things I think about. They clear my mind.