My web site page on making the grip
was out of date and did not address some of the innovations which I am
now using. I started to work on it and decided to give those who visit my blog
a preview.
In the early 50's when I was
learning to fly fish I started with a 9' bamboo rod with a solid wooden grip
and reel seat. Today, I realize what a "beast" it was as far as
weight goes for a 9 year old.
About 5 yrs ago I was inspired by
Terry Henson. With his encouragement, I started to use wood inserts in my grips.
Most of the time, these were successful but a few times weight became a
problem.
The 2 rods above (Top - Tulipwood w/
Bloodwood, Bottom - Ebony and Ivory) are beautiful but the extra weight tired
my arm after a half day of casting.
The problem I faced was to lower the
weight and still be able to have the beauty of the wood and I think I've solved
the problem.
The process begins the same, as
always, selecting the most beautiful and unusual woods available to be featured
in the grip.
In this case I have choosen Aboyna
burl and Redwood burl. The top photo shows the fantastic eyes of the Amboyna
and the eyes, swirls and twirls of the Redwood burl. The lower photo shows the
sapwood, heartwood interface showing the natural multi color effect on the wood.
With the featured Amboyna, I choose
Ivory, Horn and East India Rosewood as accessories. With the Redwood, I choose
Ivory, Horn and Canarywood as accessories.
The Amboyna, to be used in a Western
style (RHW) grip, had serial sections cut for the fore section, mid section,
butt section of the grip and the reel seat. The redwood, to be used in a Full
Wells grip with a fighting butt, had serial sections cut ,as above, but with
the fighting butt. These sections are clearly marked to insure correct
orientation during glue up.
The sections of the featured wood
are bored out to reduce the weight.
With the Western style the mid
section (1.5 " in length) is bored to 3/4" completely through.
The butt section (3/4" in length) is bored 3/8" deep with a 3/4"
Forstner bit. It could be bored completely through but the 3/8" of
wood at the end helps prevent wobble on the mandrel while turning on the lathe.
It will be removed when inletting for the reel seat hardware. The fore section
(3/4" in length) is bored with a 5/8" Forstner bit to a depth of
3/8" to accommodate the taper in the fore grip.
The Full Wells pieces are bored
completely through and will later be capped with the accessory wood.
Cork arbors are glued into the
openings in the feature wood pieces with Titebond III and allowed to dry over
night. The surfaces are sanded flush with 120 grit sandpaper in preparation for
glue up
The photo below shows the approximate
outside diameter of the finished grip mid sections and fore section of the
Western grip and mid section of the Full wells grip.
Natural and burl cork are added, and
all the pieces are gathered together and inspected.
21 pieces for the Western grip (RHW)
featuring Amboyna burl with canary wood,horn and Ivory.
23 pieces for Fulls Wells grip and
fighting butt featuring Redwood burl and E.I. Rosewood
The pieces are arranged to check for
correct sequence and orientation one last time.
Fulls wells grip and fighting butt
with Redwood burl, E.I. rosewood,horn and ivory
The pieces are glued together
on all thread using "Titebond III". The grip blank is allowed to
dry over night. (Coating the all thread with liberal layer of
"Parawax" makes the grip removal easy.)
The blanks are transferred
to turning mandrels and using these as handles excess stock is
removed with a disc and belt sander.
Fulls wells grip and fighting butt
with Redwood burl, E.I. rosewood,horn and ivory. The redwood has bark
inclusions, voids and small drying checks which will be filled and stabilized
With CA glue.
The wood portion of the grip will be
trued and shaped with wood turning tools to within 1/8" to 1/16 " of
the final diameter. (DO NOT try to turn cork with turning tools as they
tear large chunks from the cork) Any eyes,voids or inclusions
are stabilized with CA glue at this time. The final shaping of the wood
and removal of the cork then starts with 60 grit paper. it then progresses
through 80, 100 and 150 grit paper until the final shape and size are
reached. Then I start the finish sanding with 220 then 320,400, 600,800 and
finally 1200 grit paper. I'm Just removing the scratches left by the paper used
previously. This gives a wonderful polish to the horn and ivory.
The cork portion of the grip has a
single coat of "U-40 cork seal" applied and the wood portion is
finished with Tung Oil. (6-8 coats on the grip and 10-12 coats on the reel
seat)
The inlets for the reel seats and
butt cap are done by hand with a Dremel tool fitted with a straight router
bit and drum sander with 220 grit paper.
The grip insert and reel seat
hardware are dry fit to insure everything is correct.
Finally completed these light weight,
beautiful, one of a kind grip - reel seat combinations are now ready to go on
that special rod of yours.
Thanks for visiting, and be sure to
visit my website.
Please comment.
