MAKING CUSYOM WOOD INSERT GRIPS

My web site page on making the grip was out of date and did not address some of the innovations which I  am now using.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.

 As you can see we have eliminated a significant amount of the wood and the weight associated with it.

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.

 Western (RHW) with Amboyna burl, canary wood, horn, and Ivory.

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.) 

Western (RHW) with Amboyna burl, canary wood, horn, and Ivory. 

 Fulls wells grip and fighting butt with Redwood burl, E.I. rosewood,horn and ivory

The blanks are transferred to turning mandrels and using these as handles excess stock is removed with a disc and belt sander.

 Western (RHW) with Amboyna burl, canary wood, horn, and Ivory. Notice the voids in the eyes of the Amboyna burl, these will be stabilized with CA glue.

 

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.

 Western (RHW) with Amboyna burl, canary wood, horn, and Ivory.

 Fulls wells grip and fighting butt with Redwood burl, E.I. rosewood,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)

 Western (RHW) with Amboyna burl, canary wood, horn, and Ivory.

 Fulls wells grip and fighting butt with Redwood burl, E.I. rosewood,horn and ivory

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.

Posted by Harper Fly Rods - Dennis at 7/30/2012 1:17 PM  

MARCH TRIP (2012)

Finally after several months I had a chance to get in my first fishing trip of the year. As always the anticipation and preparation were big part of the enjoyment of the trip. Got a list of recommended flies and tied up a bunch.

The weather was cooperative and the fishing conditions were great.

The catching was not red hot but all the fish caught were in the 19 - 20 inch range.

At the end of each day there was FANTASTIC food (I didn't have to cook as I supplied the flies) and great deck time to discuss all the really important issues of life like the next trip.

Posted by Harper Fly Rods - Dennis at 4/15/2012 11:50 AM

CASTING FOR RECOVERY FLY ROD NOV. 2011

After last spring's successful Casting for Recovery auction for one of my fly rods, I was asked to consider donating another rod. Of course, the answer was yes.  How can you say no to such a worthy cause.

The process started last summer when I was sorting some of the special feature woods I use in my grips. I wanted this rod to be as nice or better than the one I made for the spring auction, so the wood for the grip had to be very, very special. I sorted some of my best burls and found I had quite a choice. Some of the burl pieces are are shown below. 

I choose a piece of Amboyna burl (the most beautiful and expensive burl wood in the world) which was 1/2 sapwood and 1/2 heartwood with the interface running length-wise on the grip. This piece was not only bi-colored but had very small, dense eyes in both the sap and heart wood. 

  

I did not have any pink wood but I did have some purple heart which I chose as the accessory wood knowing it would go well with CFR theme. I also selected horn and Ivory to go with this beautiful wood. The pieces were cut to appropriate size and prepared for assembly.

The center of the mid piece was bored to 3/4" and cork lined to reduce the weight of the wood. The fore piece of the grip was bored to 5/8" half way through and lined with cork. The butt section would later be hollowed to receive the recessed reel seat. The pieces were center drilled and assembled. 

 

The grip was shaped on the lathe to a 6 3/4" western style (reverse half wells) and reel seat insert to fit, nickel silver reel seat hardware.

The four views, below, show the beauty of the Amboyna burl used in this grip and reel seat. 

  Now, how am I going to decide which view goes on the top part of the rod???

To me it is the eyes which make Amboyna burl so special as well as the swirls and twirls seen in the wood. So it boiled down to sap wood or heart wood. As I turned the piece on the lathe I noticed a small drying check in the sap wood, it was stabilized but was still visible (see 3rd photo of the 4 above) so the heart wood became the top(see top photo of the 4 above).

Now to chose a blank for this rod. I decided on a Five Rivers Signature V 9'6" five weight. This is a medium fast action rod, very light and sensitive, for those delicate small fly presentations yet can develop high line speeds to punch through those afternoon winds. The extra 6" makes for easier mending to get those longer drag free drifts. Its medium fast action make for easy relaxed all day casting.

The components to complete the rod were a fuji ceramic tip top (1/2 the weight of a standard chrome tip top) followed by six #1 fine wire snake guides then two # 2 fine wire snakes, one #3 and one #4 standard snake guides and a Fuji # 12 ceramic insert stripping guide. All in chrome finish. These components maximize the rods performance.

Gudebrod maroon and metallic silver were the threads chosen for the wraps. A silver two thread band is centered on each guide foot.

 The ferrule and but wraps include a silver five wrap spiral (because it's a 5wt.) sandwiched between two 3 thread silver bands.

 

 A multilayered layered feather inlay featuring an amherst pheasant collar feather and red rump feather, a peacock pheasant eye feather and 5 (because it's a 5 wt.) jungle cock eyes, was placed just above the grip. (Fore more detail see post: Casting For Recovery Rod  Mar.  2011)

 

Just finishing he feather inlay with the top 2 sections on the dryer.

  

All my rods have a lot of "MOJO" built into them but for a little extra, a pink ribbon was added to the reel seat before the butt cap was attached.

Here it is finished and ready to fish.

Click HERE for auction site

Posted by Harper Fly Rods - Dennis at 10/21/2011 8:11 PM

RAMBLINGS ABOUT A ROD WRAPPER

After over ten years and about 2 hundred fly rods I'm  finally putting my old wrapping stand out to pasture. It did everything I ask it to do but was not very attractive. Some pressboard covered with wood grain vinyl. A velcro strap to hold the blank and 2 thread tension devices (both the same). Very utilitarian but not a thing of beauty.

It is being replaced by a home made one, constructed of Afzelia burl which has some modifications from its predecessor.  Two types of thread tension devices,  one which acts on the thread, the other which acts on the spool (much better for silk tread). The blank is held by elastic bands rather than the velcro, brass post are more optimally located for better thread angles and it is 3" longer. 

This is what customization is all about. Improving the functionality of an item  and making it a one of a kind thing of beauty. I don't know if the rods I wrap on the new stand will be any better than those with the old wrapper, but so far I've enjoyed working on the new wrapper much, much more than the old one.

It's like fishing with an off the rack cookie cutter rod vs. a custom rod. 

Remember, TOOLS CAN BE BEAUTIFUL!!

A special thanks to Mike for his help.

Posted by Harper Fly Rods - Dennis at 6/2/2011 6:07 PM | 

CASTING FOR RECOVERY ROD

This past Feb. while I was working the Trout Unlimited booth at the Pasadena Fly-fishing show (2010), I had a chance to meet and chat with the wonderful ladies from Casting for Recovery. I knew of their mission previously and took the opportunity to learn more. I was so impressed with their work that I offered my help with their fund raising. They have contacted me and asked if I would be willing to donate one of my custom rods for their Spring 2011 on-line auction. I was honored and of course, accepted their request. 

I want to make a rod that will generate lots of interest and raise as much money as possible. For the blank, I chose a Five Rivers Signature V nine foot, four piece, 4 weight. This is the 4 weight rod I fish and I don’t think any other 4 wts. compare to it. 

Once the blank was selected, I had to think about components. As with all my rods, performance is the primary concern. For a tip–top I decided on a Fuji CFAT size 6. The ceramic insert gives better line flow and saves almost 0.2 grams compared to a standard chrome tip-top. A size 12“N” style stripping guide with silicon carbide insert followed by a #3, #2 light, #1 light, and six #1/0 light chrome snakes make up the guide set.  The selection of these components saved about a gram and a half of weight compared to std. wt. guides and std. loop tip-top thus maximizing performance in sensitivity and ability to deliver tighter loops and greater line speed. 

After selecting these components to make this a fantastic performing rod, my task is to make this rod into a ‘one of a kind’, thing of beauty. I remembered a piece of afzelia burl with some spalted sap wood and gorgeous eyes that I had set aside to use as a featured wood in a very “special” grip. What could be more special than a rod for Casting for Recovery?   This afzelia sap wood was combined with amboyna burl, buffalo horn and ivory to make the grip and reel seat.

 The grip was glued on the blank and after several days of consideration, I have selected thread colors of medium brown and metallic gold for the wraps

More to come as the build of this beautiful rod continues.

I had all the components assembled Fri. so decided to build the rod this weekend. Fri. night the guide placement was determined and marked on the rod and the spine was found for each section. I took the time to do the guide foot prep and glue on the tip-top. Got up Sat morn. Had my coffee, read the news and was ready to wrap. I decided on a 2 wrap gold inlay in the center of each guide foot wrap 

The ferrule wrap and butt wrap design would have a 4 wrap spiral (because this is a 4 wt rod) located between two 3 thread bands of gold thread.

Watched some great basketball and got all the thread work done by late afternoon. Then it was time to think about the feather inlay.

I have to think about the design for a while. 

About 9:00 pm wandered back into my office looked at my thread work, did a little more burnishing, and had to plan the feather inlay. Got the feathers out to study again. A pattern began to develop which involved feathers from the Amherst pheasant, Peacock pheasant, and of course the Jungle Cock.

The feathers selected were Peacock Pheasant eye, Jungle cock flank feather, Amherst Pheasant neck hackle feather and rump feather and 4(because it’s a 4 wt) jungle cock eyes. It was now about 11:00 pm and decided to go to bed because the next step would take about 4 hours.  

 Got up Sun morn, had my coffee, read the news, checked my e-mail, watched Meet the Press, and started the inlay.

First the Jungle cock flank feather was applied to the blank and allowed dry.

Then the Amherst neck hackle feather was applied and allowed to dry.

 

Then the Amherst rump feather was applied and allowed to dry.

 Then the Peacock Pheasant eye was applied and allowed to dry.

The first set of jungle cock eyes were applied and allowed to dry

And finally the last set of jungle cock eyes were added.

I completed the inlay and got to watch Duke and Ohio St. win their conference tournaments and the NCCA tournament brackets announced. Now all have to add are couple coats of CP to the entire inlay allow it to dry over night, apply thread finish and attach the reel seat. 

2 coats of flex coat lite were applied to the guide and ferrule wraps.

And to the feather inlay.

 The reel seat was then glued on.  

 

All my rods have quite a bit of "MOJO" built into them but again I wanted to add a little extra to this rod so before the butt cap was glued on a mini pink ribbon was inserted into the base of the rod.

Attach the butt cap and the rod is ready to fish.

Here it is, the finished rod with rod sock and rod tube. You could be the owner of this high performance one of a kind, beautiful fly rod and at the same time help with the the fantastic work being done by Casting for Recovery. Please bid generously during the Spring 2011 on line AUCTION held May 2 thru May 13. 

For more pictures of the finished rod go to my web site, by clicking on the banner at the top of the page, then go to Gallery 6

To see how the grip was constructed, click on making the grip.

Dennis

Posted by Harper Fly Rods - Dennis at 3/11/2011 2:01 PM |