Can you sand EVA foam grip handles

[Bay of Quinte Bass Addict]

Can you sand down EVA foam grips on fishing rods? I have a few that have carpet burn and just wondering if I gently sand them down if it will look awful and be a different shade of color than the top layer of foam/look awful?

[bulldog1935]

I suspect EVA will melt/burn under power-tool heat, but you can probably gently sand them by hand.  

If you want to improve them - put X-shrink over them - you can buy it on Amazon - "X-Tube Heat Shrink Wrap"

Surf rod above, with a layer of cork tape under the X-shrink.  

Just below is one of my favorite JDM rod-blank series, with my most-hated grip.  

The grip is too small for (western) human hands, and the ridge on the back is intended to split 3rd and 4th fingers, to keep your 4th (little) finger in contact with the blank.  But on me, it splits 2nd and 3rd fingers, and splits them wide - very uncomfortable.  

I used spare closed-cell foam sheet, blue tape, and X-shrink to test a new shape - easy to cut off and start over.  

When I liked it, I built up the grip with cork tape, eliminating the ridge, and covered in X-shrink.  

I did the same thing on 2 rods/ grips, and I love this grip shape.  

Buy the diameter that's close, but easy to slide over your grip.  

Easiest way to apply it is boiling water from a tea kettle - pour from the center to one end, then from center to the other end.  

[PhishLI]

2 hours ago, Bay of Quinte Bass Addict said:

Can you sand down EVA foam grips on fishing rods?

Tricky. If I were determined to attempt this myself by hand, I'd hit the area of concern with spray freeze in a A/C'd chilled room and work fast per area. Probably have to sand the entire handle to achieve something resembling uniform texture.

Amazon.com: MG Chemicals 403C Super Cold Spray, HFO-1234ZE, 235 gram Aerosol, 8 oz Aerosol

[T-Billy]

@bulldog1935, nice work on those handles. I really like the grip that x-wrap provides. The cork handles on all my musky rods are wrapped with it. I use a heat gun to shrink it.

[GRiver]

@bulldog1935 those look excellent. The edges look factory. 
How’d ya do that?

[MickD]

I expect all EVA is not the same, with quality/density variations, and if degraded as you describe, it might be different than good quality new EVA-My point being that good quality new EVA is easily sanded, can  be turned on a lathe/drill press and sanded to shape with sandpaper.  And it comes out very nicely.

 

But if degraded and quality unknown, it's probably a crap shoot.  Covering it as earlier suggested is probably the most risk free method of restoring them.  Winn grip tape is easy to use and provides a nice tacky grip, too.  And if one doesn't like it, take it back off and try something else. 

[bulldog1935]

2 hours ago, GRiver said:

... How’d ya do that?

skipped the heat gun and used the tea kettle.  

 

X-shrink vs. Winn Grip - X-shrink is 20 cents, Winn Grip is 20 dollars.  

X-shrink lasts longer.  

Here's where personal tastes vary - Winn Grip feels creepy, X-shrink feels silky, but grips like sandpaper.  

 

Since I'm here, also used X-shrink to rescue the splitting soft foam grip on 12-y-o kayak stake-out pole.  

 

I made indexed-position hand grips on my straight-shaft kayak power paddle by rolling on closed-cell foam with spray contact cement, and covering with X-shrink.  Used bent-shaft touring paddle to index the hand position.  

 

 

[webertime]

Yes you can hand sand them down easily and they don't look much different once the dust is cleaned off.  Had a foster puppy chew one of my builds butt grip and I sanded down the damage. 

[GRiver]

@bulldog1935 don’t want to steal the thread, could you pm where you’re getting the materials?

[MickD]

3 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

Winn Grip is 20 dollars.  

No, it's about $12.

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/winn-slim-grip-rod-overwrap?ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=Cabelas|Shopping|PMax|Fishing|HighMargin|NAud|NVol|NMT&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8MG1BhCoARIsAHxSiQn7brHC_9XQfywrvrX16dQhaCNQwFGiGwvILJsDGq7HY9in8bKzhxgaApkuEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

3 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

X-shrink is 20 cents

Cheapest I found was about $9.00.  

https://www.amazon.com/WFLNHB-Fishing-Waterproof-Insulation-Lengths/dp/B07RSWRGM3/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1PZSD6ZM7URPV&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NJe1iPLj6YuV-p33UrczQljC92f8Kj-7y1Xst95yHzLWukT4dl8ZuP5CaCS2Re_YkDKQ6fJRlwpDzy1D2BZY_foWbJ9BQe4RmObI7U7dpCFSBRUDh7Ie-eL5rStub_YkP1F1mXnOobFifWaLo0abDLqUwOICWEaWZK8j2a7c3BiQFWxnxmPUQIrFfd1oX0itwGldNWqIkVb6dZbMOw6NGdADJ0qIERKyHjYhdgXL_e4.P0PPn4a1pd_ReJQkqlP7gZjfCDslNBFDw0jkXEsG7R4&dib_tag=se&keywords=x%2Btube%2Bheat%2Bshrink%2Bwrap&qid=1722871931&sprefix=X%2Bshrink%2Btube%2Caps%2C384&sr=8-5&th=1

[bulldog1935]

Daiwa likes X-shrink grip enough to use it on a $900 tuna rod.  

(along with everyone else in this market - I don't think you can sell a blue-water rod without X-wrap-over-EVA foregrip - the combination is perfect)

Winn Grip wraps like bicycle bar tape, so the specific length needed on a rod grip combined with service life will factor out in my comparison.  I will also retain my literary license.  

If you like Winn Grip, knock your lights out - to me, it ages into spongy snake scale.  

https://www.rodbuilding.org/read.php?2,512216

[MickD]

39 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

If you like Winn Grip, knock your lights out

My point was to clarify the prices, not advocating one over the other.   I do question reports of early failures/wear outs.  Like other plastic/rubber materials, Winn doesn't like DEET, and could be involved. I have some many years old that are doing very well, son has a couple, too, no problems.  We do take good care of our tackle, and use no DEET.