The easiest way that I have found to ream out the inside of a cork grip is to find a rat-tail file and chuck it up into a cordless drill.  By turning the drill on reverse, the hole can be gently reamed out in a matter of minutes.  Reamers can also be purchased from rod building suppliers or made from dowel rods and sandpaper.  I prefer the file procedure as it is quicker and there is no chance that any residual particles from the sandpaper or pre-made reamer will remain inside the grip hollow. Be sure to go fairly slowly and check the fit on the blank often by sliding it into place, keeping an eye on the china mark or masking tape.    The grip should slide into place fairly easily but with no excess slop.    We can now move onto hollowing out the end of the grip where the seat hood will rest.  I’ll first take the seat hood and center it over the hole on the reel end of the grip.  I draw a circle with a pencil around the outside of the hood.  After double checking that everything is centered I grab my trusty Dremel with a stone grinding bit and carefully ream out the hole, again gently checking the fit of the hood.  Once it seats properly, I check the fit of the seat, hood and cork.    We are now ready to mount the grip and seat.  I like to put together as much of the reel seat as possible before gluing everything onto the rod.  My thought is that it is one less thing to worry about when assembling things, though it does take a bit of extra time as you have to wait for the epoxy that is holding the seat together to cure before continuing.  First, dry fit the seat components together and check for fit then mix up a small batch of epoxy with a toothpick or bodkin or other small tool.  Take a dab of epoxy and rub it inside the threaded part of the seat.  Do not put any on the wood or you will have problems with the epoxy seeping out between the pieces when assembling.  Once the inside of the threaded part of the seat is coated, slide it over the wooden insert making sure to keep things aligned with the mortised part of the insert.  Any excess epoxy will run out the back side of the seat.  Be careful there isn’t any epoxy inside the insert that might cause problems when sliding the seat over the blank.  Using a couple pieces of masking tape, secure the threaded barrel to the insert, being careful to keep everything aligned. Make sure there is some excess glue inside the threaded barrel and slip the butt cap into place.  Check for fit then tape in place. Set this aside to cure.  Once the epoxy is dry on the seat it is time to glue the grip and seat to the blank.  The first thing I do is to make a dry fit of the seat and grip and put a scratch or mark just underneath where the end of the grip will sit.  I use this mark as the terminus of where to stop the epoxy as I’m wiping it on the blank.    Now I dry fit the seat to see if it will need any shims to keep it stable around the blank.  The inside diameter of reel seats come in a number of fairly standard sizes.  The ID of the reel seat must, of course, be larger than the outside diameter of the butt of the blank.  More often than not it is not a snug fit, so the difference must be made up using shims of some type.  There are graphite shims on the market, which are usually used for spinning rod seats, but masking tape or mesh drywall tape can also be used.  For this rod I’ll be using masking tape shims.  The idea is to wrap the blank in 3 or 4 spots, so that the reel seat can still slide over but with a snug fit.  When applied, the epoxy will fill the gaps between the tape and bond the seat to the blank.  At this point I like to assemble the reel seat to be sure I have all the components in place.  Put on the screw band and slip the slide band over the insert.  Tape these in place with a small piece of masking tape.  One of the most frequent mistakes in rod building is forgetting to put on the slide and/or screw band before gluing the seat to the rod.  We are now at the point where we have a grip that fits snugly over the blank, a seat that is correctly shimmed and that, with the hood, fits together properly with the cork grip.  We are now ready to glue everything together.  Mix up another, larger, batch of epoxy and smear it on the rod blank from the mark on the blank at the front end of the grip that was made earlier.  Get enough on to coat the rod all over, but not enough so that it is dripping off.    Next, using a toothpick or bodkin, put a small amount of epoxy inside the hollowed-out portion of the grip where the hood will sit, then slide the hood into place  Now, slide the grip over the tip end of the blank until it hits the epoxy (be careful not to get any epoxy on the tip end of the blank!), then continue slowly sliding the grip into position while turning the grip.  There will likely be some excess epoxy inside the hollowed-out area of the grip, but this will be covered by the reel seat and hood so it shouldn’t be a problem.   Slip the reel seat over the butt end of the blank until it fits inside the hood located inside the cork.  Make sure the mortised part of the insert is aligned properly with the cut-out portion of the hood. Check that the seat slides securely up against the butt of the blank, that the seat is set fully in the hood and that everything is aligned.    Finally, take a few small drops of epoxy and wipe them around the tip end of the grip where it meets the blank and slide the winding check into place.  Set the rod upright in a corner with the seat resting on the floor and leave it to cure.  In the next episode of Hatches we will measure and fit the guides and tip, wrap the rod and apply the finish to complete our custom built fly rod!  Hatches Magazine Subscription Price: $6.95 for each issue The Premiere issue is ready for shipping & the Fall 2008 issue will be available September 1st.