Question about sanding grips

[Phish_On]

Not a big fan of full wells grips. Was gunna try to sand down the front well to fit my hand better. Anyone ever do/try this before? If so how did you go about it?

TIA-Joel

 

[lv2nymph]

I've never tried it on a cork handle of a rod but, get a couple of different grits of sand paper start with the more aggresive and go lighter. I would not think a lot of pressure would be needed with a material like cork. Start with 180, and go lighter from there. You can get sand paper by the sheet in most places.
You got me thinking about this, I have a rod that's old and the handle is very dirty from use. Depending on how much material you're to take of the handle 100 grit took it off nicely. You'll end up with scratches but progressively go lighter and they will go away. I cut a sheet in half then in half again, fold that, I put it in the palm of my hand and rotated/spun the rod so the paper worked with the grain of the cork while doing this squeezing the handle. This grit works, you could even start with 80 or even 60 grit If you're taking an 1/8th or more off. Obviously take care not to touch the rod with the paper, a couple of layers of duct tape for safety perhaps? Hope this helps. My handle is a little smaller and looks brand new now!

 

[Phish_On]

Thanks. Think I'm gunna give it a try.

 

[Fishidiot]

What Lv2nymph said.
I've sanded and shaped a fair number of rod grips and it's time consuming and difficult to do this. If you're taking a lot off, it's also difficult to get a symetrical shape unless you turn them on a lathe. With that said, you can still get a decent shape by sanding manually. Sometimes I'll use a file or wood rasp if I want to really take off cork/wood. Take your time and work slowly and keep "eyeballing" the handle by gently spinning it as you look down the handle.

 

[osprey]

PhishOn just curious as to why you don't like full wells grips?

 

[afishinado]

I've sanded down / reshaped the grips of most of the fly rods I own, both factory and the ones I've made. As FI said, take your time.

To shape you can start with 80grit sandpaper. Shape with that, and use progressively finer SP up to 1000 to finish.

I cut the SP into 3" strips and fold it over, ending with a 1.5" strip. Keep turning the rod and keep it moving and working a section. When you have the shape/diameter you desire, do the same thing with progressively finer sandpaper.

Turning the rod and sanded it is actually going against the grain of the cork. To get really smooth finish, I run the finer SP lengthwise along the grip while turning.

Any cork will have to be filled. I suggest using Elmers "Golden Oak" filler. Fill voids, let it set for maybe an hour, and do you final sanding lengthwise for a great finish.

Take your time! It's not hard, but it takes some time and patience to get the job done well. You may want to experiment with a beater rod first to see how it all works.

Good luck.

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

Just remember grip modification voids the warranty of most fly rods.

 

[Phish_On]

Osprey- Full wells just dosent fit my hand right. If i use a full wells allday my thumb becomes numb cause of the way i have to hold the grip. I have fairly big hands, i just dont like the way the full wells feels.

Pacofransico- Not really worried about voiding the warrenty. If i break it ill just buy another.

Afish-Thanks im gunna give it a shot this week. Ill let everyone know how it turns out.

 

[springer1]

I extend the butts on almost all my spinning rods by inserting a dowel into the end of the blank and then gluing cork rings onto the dowel.

I then wrap the grip's cork a few turns of masking tape to protect it and then with light careful pressure use a Stanley Sureform Planer lengthwise (not across the handle) to get the cork to near he diameter I want and then block-sand it with progressively finer grit to get it down as far as the tape allows.

Then remove the tape and fine grit sand it with a block to perfect.

If I were doing this on the front end, I'd also wrap the blank to protect it as well.

Just my $0.02.