Help!!! Converting Foam To Cork

[Grantm1120]

I'm not quite sure if this is the right forum. But I'm trying to figure out if it's possible to switch out my foam grip to cork? I have a handful of new shimano crucial rods that I am trying to convert like the old ones. Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated thanks Guys

[Bassin_0502]

Sure, you can do it. Usually when you a re building a rod, the handle and reel seat components are mounted from the tip of the rod (before any guide wrapping obviously) and glued/epoxied into place. The handle is often reamed out with a taper to match the rod taper at that point. In your case, you can consider a complete rebuild where all of the guides, foregrip, reel set, handle etc are removed (and trashed) and you are basically saving the blank. Depending on your skill level, you can leave the guides and reel set in place and  cut off the EVA foam (carefully!) for both the handle and foregrip. You can purchase pre-made cork handles or glue one up yourself from cork rings. The center hole would then be reamed to match the rod taper, and the cork handle and foregrip would be cut lengthwise into two halves each. These would then be epoxied onto the rod in a sandwich fashion; again the success here is entirely dependent on the builder skill level. If only the handle and butt plug are replaced, and the reel seat is staying in place, you can slide a new handle on from the bottom. Only issue is that the forward end of the handle will need to be reamed out large enough to slide over the widest part of the rod blank at the bottom. There is no way to taper. You can use a couple of turns of masking tape around the blank at the forward end as an arbor. Just epoxy well.

 

If this sounds more involved than you want to tackle, ask at shops near you for some names of local rod builders and get a quote from them. Search for Delaware Valley Tackle on this site, I believe he is a site sponsor. He can set you up as well.

 

Lastly you might consider just enjoying the EVA handles!

 

John

[MickD]

Those are some pretty nice rods you are considering taking apart.  Keep in mind that right now they are good looking rods that work well, and  what you may end up with is a bunch of rods that may not look good and not even work any better.  I would not consider taking the guides off to make rebuilding the handle/grip area easier.  Tell a custom builder you want that done and you might as well just sell them and start over with new factory rods or custom rods made just the way you want them.

 

They must be casting rods, right?  Because with spinning rods your hands are on mostly the reel seat and not on any grip exc the butt grip when casting with two hands.  (And maybe the foregrip when jigging).  On casting rods most people use the grip for casting but retrieve palming the reel, which makes the EVA a pretty good grip.

 

What is the reason for your wanting to switch EVA out for cork?  Knowing that might help us figure the best way to skin the cat.

 

 

 

 

[Capt.Bob]

The rear handle can be converted from the rear without dissembling the reel seat by a good rod builder. I did this on these two St. Croix Extreme rods which were originally split grip with eva foam and cork over a year ago, and they get used a lot. while we were at it we internally permanently balanced the rods perfectly with the reels that were going to be used on them, and they are much more sensitive than before the rear handle conversion. My Builder is very good, he is an instructor for a Nationwide rod building supplier. These were both built with 1/2" rings and but pieces. There was a lot of contour work which was very time consuming as you can't just spin and sand rubberized cork (the dark rings) and natural cork and keep the transitions smooth and even without a lot of extra attention to details. The $50.00 per rod was a bargain in my opinion. If I would have went with pre made cork handles I would have been able to get them done for $30.00 buck's a rod. The front cork can be built and installed also with a little extra bench work without removing the handle. Just talk to a reputable builder. Good luck and let us know what you find. 

It may not be worth the cost on the Shimano rods, but I got both of these at 60% off, and would have sold them if I had to have a split grip, I just like full cork, luckily it was very cost affective on these two rods as they are very sweet!