Reducing / Replacing A Fly Rod Handle

[Wildfisher]

I'd like to reduce the  diameter or perhaps replace altogether the cork grip and reel seat of my old Nielsen rod. Any suggestions of the best way to go about this?

[superscot]

Fred have a wee look about utube !

[bibio1]

i believe boiling water will melt the epoxy and allow you to remove and replace the handle.

it'll be tricky. probably cheaper to buy a new rod.

[Bobfly]

If you can hold the butt section between centres and spin it on the likes of a woodturning lathe you will be able to use sandpaper to reduce the diameter evenly and shape the handle to suit. Near you are members of the Taywood woodturning group and you could try
Dave.Inglis@talktalk.net to ask who might help.

[Wildfisher]

probably cheaper to buy a new rod.

I  really like the rod. The handle and reel seat are poor though, so I'd like to try and save it.

[Highlander]

Not a hard thing to do you just have to be carefull you could try the boiling water trick as Paul suggests. One & only time I did it I used a hacksaw & cut the reel seat in a spiral motion & peeled it off. The cork handle I put in a vice & used a sharp Stanley blade knife to remove the cork. A cut along the full handle fairly deep & they broke off easily enough. A bit of sanding but leaving some cork on to give a good key to the new handle. I used epoxy to fit reel seat but not on the cork. I used a waterproof wood glue which sands with the cork much better than if there was epoxy rings which would be too hard.

Tight Lines