can they the sanded from a cigar to a reversed 1/2 wells safely? or is this job best left for a real professional? my hand does not like cigar grips
No. There is not enough cork there. You might get close to the shape, but the grip would wind up way too small. Is this an existing grip on a rod or are you building one?
its an IM6 Wiinston, and these hands dare not touch it
In that case, depending on how many pieces the rod is, either guides would have to be removed and a new grip slid on or the seat and grip removed and the new grip put on from the back. I don’t really like the last option as the grip would not be fitting the blank as close as it should. A 4pc rod would allow a new grip to be slid on without removing anything but the hook keeper and the old grip.
There was a similar question on another forum. It was suggested to try wrapping the grip to make it larger and maybe a better fit. There are many good choices found with the tennis raquet grip wraps. You should be able to find some choices on the net.
I bet it can be sanded to a shape you will like better, find a rod repair person near you and ask them.
flybugpa,
I will present my fix and hopefully guys/gals with actual experience can chime in and tell you if my suggestion is doable! If I HAD to do it, I was thinking that you could get some over sized cork rings - ream them out so they slip over the existing rings in the area you want your half-wells - glue rings together and glue them to the grip - when dry, rough shape with sharp knife or safety razor blade - go to wood files - go to sandpaper (60(?) grit>200 grit>400(?)grit and your done - see, easy!!! IF I HAD TO!!! Let me ask this: Why can’t the corks on the grip just be removed in the area of the half-wells entirely, and be replaced and shaped?
Best regards, Dave S.
There is a way to repair individual rings, which, in essence, is what you need to do. You remove the desired rings, then you ream out the hole in the new rings to fit the rod shaft at a given ring location. Be sure to clean any residual cork from the blank in the area. Do this one-by-one for each specific ring location. Next, you cut the ring in half ACROSS the hole. You now have to “C” shaped pieces of cork. Simply coat all requisite sides with glue and put into place. Usually, the fit between the replaced rings and those lateral to them is sufficient to hold them snugly in place. However, they will need to be bound with string for ‘hoop’ pressure to hold the two pieces together and to the rod shaft. If they need to be bound lengthwise. simply put large nails, small bolts, etc., directly opposite one another at both ends of, and perpendicular to the axis of, the grip (you will need four to eight hands to accomplish this!) and bind in a figure “8” fashion back and forth from tip to butt end, and alternating from side to side around the shaft. Once the glue has dried, you can sand to any shape your heart desires.
By the way, if you replace more than one ring, whether or not they are adjacent to one another, be sure to alternate the joint between the two halves at various points AROUND the shaft. This way, if the glue joint should ultimately show, they won’t all be in a line with one another. With a little patina on the rings, they won’t show anyway.
This very old ring repair technique seems to have gone the way of the nickle cigar, as I have not seen it referenced, or diagrammed, in years; but, it does work! I have previously used it.
Hope this makes sense. If you have questions or problems, feel free to PM me.
aged sage
Just out of curiosity, whats the value of this rod, and what does replacing the grip DO to the value of this rod? On a home built rod like many of us have, it’s no big deal. On a higher end factory rod… I think I’d leave it alone myself and use the opportunity to build a custom rod.
flybugpa,
This may sound like a dumb question, but does the manufacturer make your rod with a half wells? You might try selling yours and getting what you need? If the rod has sentimental value, then my question would be moot. Very good advice/instructions from aged sage!! I also googled " replacing corks on fly rod handle" and got a bunch of sites, such as the URL below. Hope this helps!
Best regards, Dave S.
Have you tried contacting the maker of the rod to see if they would have another butt section they would sell you? If so you could build another butt section to suit your needs. There may be a color difference and possibly a slight difference in performance, but you would have a rod still OEM and another to suit your grip>
Just curious. What is it that you don’t like about the cigar grip?
I don’t like them either.
Many years ago (1999 Black Hills Fish-In) I got bit by the “Gatti Bug”, when I was allowed to do some trial casts of LadyFisher’s FRC 3 wt Gatti Fly Rod! Gatti’s are a Italian fly rod that have a ceramic-graphite compositing and back then were very high end. I was able with the help of LadyFisher to order just the black from Gatti (who was st that time, a sponsor of FAOL) that was mailed to my local fly shop “Anglers Hut” in Little Canada MN. Back then I only had one fly rod which was a Cortland CL series 6 wt. I used Al Campbell’s “Building a Graphite Rod” series for all my instructions.
My Cortland handle was too small of a diameter for my hand grip, and was the wrong shape for my hand grip, so it took me a long time after I received my 3 piece Gatti FRC 3 wt, before I started to build my first fly rod.
First thing I had to do is figure a way of measuring my hand grip size and shape. I search on the internet for help, but could not find anything! And from that I wrote my one of my first articles for FAOL. I early writing were not that professional, so I apoligize for the youthful (50 years old at the time I wrote the article) enthusiasm.
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/rodbuilding/customgrip.php
After that I built my “Gatti”, I replaced the handle grip on my Cortland CL fly rod. Since then I have build more fly rods from blanks for myself always using the handle grip model that I made from using two dowels one being 1/4 inch diameter, and the other dowel being a 1/2 inch less in diameter than my hand grip diameter (read the article). I cut the 1/4 inch dowel into two sections to roll the “Play Dough” out to a uniform 1/4 inch diameter for placement on the larger dowel (I have a 1-1/8 inch hand grip diameter, so I needed a large dowel that is 5/8 inch diameter).
For removing the original handle grip I recommend using a “Channel Bar” to nip away and the handle grip, on the edges (never have any part of the Channel Bar anywhere near the rod blank. There will be cork remaining on the butt of the rod, which can be evened out using some a half-bastard file (flat side) then some sandpaper (using a sandpaper holder) leaving about 1/16 inch of the original cork handle still attached to the fly rod blank.
Then using a “Rat Tail” file you ream out the inside hole on the cork disks (I bought 1-1/4 inch diameter Burled Cork) to slide onto the fly rod blank. From there I used Al Campbell’s instructions for securing the cork sections to the rod blank and used my model for shaping my new handle using the “Half-Bastard” file for initial shaping then using sandpaper for all shaping down to the final diameters. The neat part about using the 1/2" diameter cork disks, is you can make marks on your model to use for comparison when you are removing cork material from the newly affixed cork disks that have been epoxied together. I started out with a course sandpaper( 60 grit), moved on to 120 grit, 180 grit, 240 grit, and 300 grit. Save the cork dust from the 300 grit sanding for fill holes in the cork. Then i used 000 steel wool for smoothing the surface of the handle grip. I did all the filing and sanding with the rod blank on a flat surface, doing only 3 or 4 swipes, then rotating the rod blank 1/8 of a turn…
Most anglers have trouble with their casting because the handle grip size and shape on the fly rod, does not match their own hand grip diameter and shape.
Ted Williams “Hall of Fame” outfielder for the Boston Red Sox’s, and fly angler, could tell if the handles on his custom “Louisville Slugger” bats were even a 1/16th of a inch off is diameter, and he rejected them.
That is how important the correct hand grip diameter and shape are to hitting 0.400 Season Batting Average or for casting a fly to a fish!
I have a complete fly tying tower setup that I have used for building my fly rods, and turning the rods. The tower have marble bases and can be placed at and position when wrapping the guides or turning when applying epoxy. Willing to loan them out to anyone who is willing to pay the two and from postage, and insurance of $200 (if they get lost in the U.S. Mail, or damaged in shipment).
My rod building days are over, so anyone can use them, and if you like them I willing to let them go for $100.
~Parnelli
PS: I have a Three Year Rule: if I have not used something in 3 years I sell it to a stranger if the price is right or I give it away to a friend! Some of the fly rods I have inherited are out on long term loans to anglers I know