15 replies to this topic

[Moushka]

I have been having a hell of a time with tendonitis in my casting arm. Early this spring I was at a rod building supply shop and noticed a broken maniform grip that I thought could be fixed (The front 1/3 was missing). Since Maniform grips are suppose to help alliviate tendonitis problems I bought the broken grip with the thought that I could jimmy it up someway.

Pain is a great motivator and finally today I decided to do something with that broken grip. Because of it's werid shape, regular cork rings wouldn't fit. So I bought a peice of sheet burl and cut a couple of pieces to fit (they became "accent pieces) and glued cork rings between them (1 @ 1 1/2 and [email protected] 1 1/4"). Than the I cut 1/2" off the rear of the grip to reduce the length (I have small hands) and weight. The grip is about 1" shorter than a regular mainform grip.

I mounted the grip on a Damon 8'6", 5wt Chateaugue blank (glossy chestnut brown) that I had on hand and added the lightest acrylic reel seat (Dave Winslow's Insert /cappucino/black hardware) I had.

What a weird Ugly Duckling it turned out to be! I am almost embarrassed to be seen with it. My only hope now is to find the right thread colors to match the reel seat. Kinda like putting a flower hat on a donkey!

The Cappucino reel seat has deep shades of brown with a golden-tan glow. I am going to use black singlefoot guides to match the reel seat hardware. WHAT WOULD YOU ADVISE I USE FOR WRAPS & ACCENT?

[MSUICEMAN]

it aint that bad, it will surely fish just fine, and hell... if it helps with your tendonitis, its well worth it!

[Whirnot]

Dark Brown and Copper?

[froggy]

I'm not a fly-fisher but I've used a few casting rods that had a similar grip [with trigger]. It's a comfortable rod to fish with.
I'd have to agree with Whirnot, dark brown and copper would look nice with that seat. It looks almost flame-like in the picture.
My opinion,
Froggy

[Carlin]

Please let us know how you like that grip once you get a chance to give her a test cast. I'd love to get your take on it.

[Moushka]

Bill and msuiceman both think brown and copper thread. I'll have to see if I can find some metallic copper thread in town. I've got some brown thread on hand.

Carlin,
I'll let you know how the rod grip works out. I can tell that one disadvantage is that it doesn't fit in a slim rod tube and if I keep it I will have to use a 3 inch or one of the triangle tubes that I use for 3 piece rods.

[Whirnot]

I've got brown out of the but no copper mettalic, you might need to use a copper nylon thread and use CP.

Bill

[Moushka]

Well here is where I made my first mistake.

Better planning required next time.
If I had made a few wraps on the butt of the rod blank and covered them with epoxy to experiment with colors it would have saved me some anxiety and they would have been covered by the grip later.

Live and learn!

[Whirnot]

Moushka,
I usually just try a test wrap anywhere on the blank. then put some water on it. It gives you a real close idea of the finished look.

[Ralph Jones]

Brown to match the swirls on the seat insert & Copper trim. Or, Black alconite fly guides to match the reelseat hardware & invisible wraps. I like both but I like the second choice better. Ralph

[MSUICEMAN]

if I don't know about a color combination on a rod, do a wrap under where the reel seat will be and put finish on it. that will give you the exact look as to how its going to be at the guides, plus gives you some practice. then you can either CAREFULLY use a razor blade and get it off, use some heat from a hairdryer to get it off, or if its small enough, who cares, surface prep it and put the seat over it. Good thing about there is you don't have to be too careful to clean it off perfectly...

[MSUICEMAN]

also, when doing invisible wraps.... when you prep the guide (grind feet) the black is going to go down to the base metal.... if you are going to be doing invisible wraps, this can be unsightly.... paint em to match, let dry, then put em on.

[flyfishingwright]

I read something recently that works well. If you put cooking oil on your wraps it will show what they will look like when finished. It gives you a very accurate picture of how the wraps will look wiith out cp. You can even put it on guides that have been wrapped on. However, you will have to take them off and redo them. Make sure you clean all of the oil off of the blank. I have been using olive oil and it really works great. It even gives the appearance of epoxy. This works much better than water.

[crane_andrew]

moushka:I understand you purchased this grip through a local store but do you have an idea where I could purchase one online?I have searched and could only find one in the UK.

[Bigdadyrods]

This post is 6 years old!!!!
BTW--Anglers warehouse sells them.

Randy