Ever seen a Cumara with a full grip? Now you have!
Ever seen a Cumara with a full grip? Now you have!
A friend of mine (Good351 on TT) got a crazy cheap price on a 7' 11" MH Cumara a while ago. He prefers full grips on his rods, so we decided to see what we could do about making one for the Cumara! I have built a few rods, but my experience is limited compared to many so this was bound to be a fun learning experience.
The rod on the operating table!
First step completed.......getting the butt cap off was a struggle! Turns out it has an aluminum stud that is epoxied into the butt of the rod......had to use a hacksaw to deal with that! Used a file to flatten the backside of the buttcap so I could re-use it. Took the foam,winding check, and thread off with a razor knife and used some sand paper to remove old epoxy.
Same thing for the other part of the grip. Used a flat screwdriver to remove the old foam from the mortise on the rear of the reel seat.
Used a piece of handle foam from Mudhole.com and began by cutting it to rough length and reaming the inside to get a snug fit on the blank. Tried doing this by hand, but gave up and used the drill pretty quickly!
Put the rough grip on a mandrel and then used my benchtop lathe to take it from 1.375" to the 1.10" diameter of the rear of the reel seat. It looked pretty plain this way, so I made a very slight taper towards the back and then a little flair back out to mate with the buttcap.
Cut to final length on the lathe and also cut the tennon to slip into the reel seat.
Used epoxy to glue the new grip on.
Done!
Fun build and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again............might have to try it on one of my own Cumaras!
Matt
The rod on the operating table!
First step completed.......getting the butt cap off was a struggle! Turns out it has an aluminum stud that is epoxied into the butt of the rod......had to use a hacksaw to deal with that! Used a file to flatten the backside of the buttcap so I could re-use it. Took the foam,winding check, and thread off with a razor knife and used some sand paper to remove old epoxy.
Same thing for the other part of the grip. Used a flat screwdriver to remove the old foam from the mortise on the rear of the reel seat.
Used a piece of handle foam from Mudhole.com and began by cutting it to rough length and reaming the inside to get a snug fit on the blank. Tried doing this by hand, but gave up and used the drill pretty quickly!
Put the rough grip on a mandrel and then used my benchtop lathe to take it from 1.375" to the 1.10" diameter of the rear of the reel seat. It looked pretty plain this way, so I made a very slight taper towards the back and then a little flair back out to mate with the buttcap.
Cut to final length on the lathe and also cut the tennon to slip into the reel seat.
Used epoxy to glue the new grip on.
Done!
Fun build and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again............might have to try it on one of my own Cumaras!
Matt
Re: Ever seen a Cumara with a full grip? Now you have!
I know this might be more suited to the Rob Building section, but I was hoping that more people might see it here since its something that anyone can do without special tools or knowledge.
Thanks
Matt
Thanks
Matt
Re: Ever seen a Cumara with a full grip? Now you have!
Looks really nice. Great Job! Did it affect the balance very much?
Re: Ever seen a Cumara with a full grip? Now you have!
IMHO, it made the balance slightly better since long rods with a split grip tend to be tip heavy.JDLaman wrote:Looks really nice. Great Job! Did it affect the balance very much?
Matt
Re: Ever seen a Cumara with a full grip? Now you have!
Looks great and it doesn't seem to hard to convert it
Re: Ever seen a Cumara with a full grip? Now you have!
Very good job! That is how they should have made the Cumara .
Kaleb
Kaleb
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Re: Ever seen a Cumara with a full grip? Now you have!
Great idea Nicely done
Re: Ever seen a Cumara with a full grip? Now you have!
Great job. I might have owned one or two of these if Shimano made these in full grip.
Re: Ever seen a Cumara with a full grip? Now you have!
Very clean job.....
Re: Ever seen a Cumara with a full grip? Now you have!
Very nice job.
Y don't like the cumara's split handle , the bottom grip is too small, IMHO
Y don't like the cumara's split handle , the bottom grip is too small, IMHO
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Re: Ever seen a Cumara with a full grip? Now you have!
Great Job. I've become a fan of the full grips over the split lately.
Very nicely done..professional
Very nicely done..professional
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Re: Ever seen a Cumara with a full grip? Now you have!
Looks even better than the original! good job
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Re: Ever seen a Cumara with a full grip? Now you have!
good job!
never thought I would see the day that guys would be going to full grips!
next thing will be guys building. with macro guides! hehe
never thought I would see the day that guys would be going to full grips!
next thing will be guys building. with macro guides! hehe
Re: Ever seen a Cumara with a full grip? Now you have!
I like split grips on all my rods up to 7', I prefer a full rear grip on rods over 7'. It making them balance better thus making it feel lighter.Iowa Matt wrote:IMHO, it made the balance slightly better since long rods with a split grip tend to be tip heavy.JDLaman wrote:Looks really nice. Great Job! Did it affect the balance very much?
Matt
Great build Matt, thanks for posting all the steps.
Re: Ever seen a Cumara with a full grip? Now you have!
looks factory.. awesome j0b!!!
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