Hi

This is my first build so go easy on me!

I've made a mistake in reaming too large a hole at the base of a preformed cork rod handle. When it is pushed down the blank to its final position, the hole at the base is too large by around 3mm. There is a fair amount of play I would guess as much as 3 or 4 inches up the handle.

Is this recoverable?
so far ideas are:
- glue and masking tape around the rod to fill the gap
- pouring down the saved cork dust to mix with epoxy and tape
- cutting three or four slivers of cork from an old rod to stick down and plug the gap

Will any of these work to stop movement on casting?
It's a four weight 9foot Batson Rx7+

cheers all
Will

hello will as someone who made a few rods in the 70s fibreglass blanks etc, i used a micrometer and callipers to get the right measurements on handle cork. duck tape would be better, 3mm is quite a difference so think best buy new corks. i am sure our professional rod makers on here will come to you rescue so good luck there is a nice feeling to use your own made rod

Very easily done Will. build up the blank with masking tape.

Pete

yes peter is right masking tape would be better, well done

thanks all- have built up with a couple of small masking tape arbours. Took off one wrap at a time and have achieved a nice snug fit- not too tight and not loose.

I'm even holding off gluing til tomorrow as I get the feeling I will end up with a much better result if I slow down

Plenty of time to get it done for March 2nd season start for brown trout in south Wales
cheers
Will

Masking tape or stick it with this

Gorilla Glue (Polyurethane)

Carefull with this you may just stick yourself up as well

No need for new corks mate you will be Ok


gary

Nicho Bamboo Rod Co

Me, I'd use the masking tape and Regular Araldite route - hasn't let me down in 40 years !

Good Luck

Steve P

You have given yourself the best piece of advise, a few hours away from the build will often work wonders.

I did go to the bother of replacing two rings on a slack RHW grip I purchased a few years back, I used my lathe and a stanley blade to remove the sections then popped in two new rings and turned it down the next day, took 24hrs because of the glue and clamp process, I did feel better for doing it that way but the end result would have been just as good using a few turns of masking tape.

Very few builders would ever bother replacing a slack cork or two, take the easy route.

On the subject of grips, I've been messing for sometime with various subtle changes to my usual build methods, my last 5 builds have all had slightly differing grips, glues, method of glueing, amounts of glue, and different types of cork / burls, from this period of messing I have changed the way I now produce a grip, if the rod is for my own use I will.....

Use as little cork as possible, ie a narrower grip while maintaining the length.

Keep glue to a minimum, glue one side of shrive only then wipe off with an old credit card to get an even very thin coating.

Ream down the grip bore to fit as tight as possible, so only the minimum amount of glue is needed when glueing to the blank.

Avoid dense Burls or rubberised cork other than for either end of the grip, they seem to dampen the feeling from the grip. (and are much heavier)

After years of using Araldite slow to bond the grip to the blank I'm now using Titebond PU, which seems to aid sliding the tight cork grip down the blank, titebond 3 wood glue works fine for the shrives.

A lot of obvious points, but together will give a far better feel of what's happening during casting or playing a fish, too much cork or glue will loose feeling.

Regs, V..

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