Sunday I finally broke the grip on my nine weight that I built with cheap cork rings. I bought a bag of 50 rings for like $30 a few years ago. I should have culled out the crummier ones. I am casting a 350 grain sinking head for stripers with this rod, and the grip disintegrated where the thumb and index finger go. I could feel it collapsing the last couple times fishing. This morning I glued up some composite rings and good cork for the replacement, like this one on a six weight: 
I like that!
How the heck do you go about replacing the grip? Do you strip guides from the front or take the reel seat off? Or do you split the grip, pop it over the blank and glue it back together?
I strip all the guides and wraps on the blank side; cut off the old cork (exacto knife) and replace the cork, from the blank end. Then you get to redo all the guides and wraps … and finishing!!
I was afraid of that. 
Ive replaced them from the reelseat side. Im not about to remove snakes, the tip, the hook keeper…etc…etc.
Sully,
Can you get a tight enough taper to fit from the reel seat end? I think it would be easier to replace the guides than to try to get the epoxy to release from the reel seat!!! Et ergo … why I replace from the blank end.
Kind of what I was thinking Betty. Besides having to remove the reel seat (a major task if it’s on there solid) It seems reaming out the new cork to slide up from the butt end would make for a sloppy fit. But then again one could always shim it with masking tape! Although that really sounds like a shabby way to do it.
Now, unless it’s a one piece rod, there’s no ned to remove the tip and there should only be 1 or 2 guides to remove. Any thing over 8’, chances are the first 2 guides are strippers. A 3 piece, only one guide on the first section at best. A 4 or 5 piece there wont be any guide on the butt section.
Some reelseats you just sacrifice…but many ( most??) you can get to release if you apply some heat…CAREFULLY…and wear welders gloves to GENTLY twist it ever so slightly. Once you get it moving then ya have it whipped!
Those plastic . graphite reelseats…I just cut tem off with a dremel and a large screwdriver…too cheap to mess with
As you get further and further towards the butt end…the taper drops drastically and once you “destroy” the cork off and clean it all up you can use a vernier on the butt to check it. You have to ream for the largest ( butt end) diameter and then figure out the arbor size ( put that masking tape back…lol) for the forward end. Using LOTS of arbors or some long ones at least…you trial fit the new reamed out grip on the rod and if it feels “right”…slather on the U40 and have at it. If you’re slick at it…you shim the front of the blank to match the rear OD…that way you have a straight hole thru the cork. Take a srap piece of butt section if ya habe one handy…and do a tight wrap about 1 inch long ( thats enough) with masons cord. Soak it with wrap fnish and let it dry. When dry apply another tight wrapped layer of the same cord…soak again with finish…and then look and see how thick it is. Of course on an actual rod you would want to brush on a very liquid epoxy using say one of those throw away rod finish brushes
Depending on the blank size and the rod “weight” ( line weight) some snakes and tip wont fit thru a smaller hole. A blank such as a Lamiglass fly blank always has been LARGE and with oversized snaked and tip loop…they wont squeeze thru a manhole I dont think. I have a 4 wgt Sage here though with “0” sized snakes and standard tip…that I think can fit thru a 10 penny nail hole ( did I say they were small??)
Just depends on the situation.
EDIT: BTW…what if you had applied hours and hours on a fancy butt wrap on this hypothetical rod…gonna strip it all off and pitch HOURS of work?
Another way is just remove the old grip and clean the blank. Measure the blank at back, mid, and fore. Ream new grip based on those measurements. Carefully split the new grip length wise with a fresh razor. Soak the grip in not quite boiling water. Apply glue to the blank, slip the now pliable grip over the blank. Apply glue the length of the slit. Use shrink tubing or tape over Saran Wrap as a clamp. Touch up with sandpaper when dry and good to go. Other than removing old and cleaning blank, takes longer to type out than do. Single rings or sections of grip can be done same way.
I never had the “cajones” to split a grip to do that…but it certainly would work no doubt. I did meet a guy once that had used his lathe to turn down the existing grip to ? “X” diameter…and then bore the new grip to a matching size in essence making the old grip a giant arbor for the new one.
Ok, I’ll give you that! However, If you spend THAT much on Fancy weaving, would you use cheap cork to start with? And a rod with that much work, wont have a cheap graphite seat. I think the best thing in that case is a rattan over wrap.
I guess back to the bad cork scenario, there is no single best way to replace a cork handle. It’s going to depend on all these factors, which is, whats the least invasive for a particular rod based on the rod’s own specs.
By the way, If you need welding gloves, I think it safe to say you might be applying a little too much heat?
Oh I wouldnt use any cheap cork…but “stuff happens” and anything can get damaged and then someone brings it in to be fixed if possible.
I refused to use ( except on one and only one rod) any of the “graphite” reelseats.
Warm a metal reel seat up to about 140 ( and it takes more than that to break the glue loose) and then grab ahold of it barehanded!!! So the leather gloves igve you some insulation plus some “grip” to give it a EASY twisting
This is along the lines of what I was thinking. I didn’t think about the heat shrink as a clamp, though. GREAT idea! I have used heat shrink a lot in the radio biz. Probably shouldn’t use the stuff with glue in it, though. :lol: I also would not have thought to heat it in hot water, either, but it makes sense.
I can see where if one was doing this as a business, the other methods would be cost prohibitive to most customers. Those are very time consuming even if they are the “preferred” way to do it.
I can see Betty’s method being best in a lot of cases where there is only a hook keeper and maybe one stripper to take off. The more guides and wraps you have to scrape off, the more of a chance you have to scratch or gouge the blank.
With Sully’s method, you are having to wrap a LOT of tape back in there to shim things up. <Duckin’ and runnin’!> Plus, you need to make sure you can hide the larger hole in the rod end of the grip. Then you have to wrap all that tape in there to shim the seat back up… :lol:
Seriously, Sully’s repair would be solid as all get out but would take forever to do. When I had my saddle shop, I quickly learned that some repairs could not be done the “best” way economically. Sometimes you had to do things in a creative way to make the repair without getting the saddle back to “original” condition, but close enough to satisfy the customer.
Forget the welding gloves. I use an Ove Glove (Now with silicone grippers!)
If I have my welding gloves in the shop downstairs for pulling a reel seat, they won’t be with the welder and I will spend a day and a half looking for them, going over to Harbor Freight and buying another 3 pair pack and then remembering where the danged things are.
Fortunately this is a four piece rod, so all I have to do is strip the butt wraps, ream the new grip and mortice it for the reel seat, and put it on. If it was a two piece I would do it by stripping the guides too.
Greg F
There is a heat shrink available that glue will not adhere. I use it for making carbon fibre grips. Forces the wetted out carbon fibre to conform to the grip form. Leaves a very nice outer surface finish on the CF without a ton of cosmetic work required. Cool stuff.
I just want to say I’ve learned a lot from reading these posts.
Comment: Good cork is expensive and hard to find as we all know. I got ripped on a deal on another site. So, yes, buyer beware.
What Bruce said !!