Soaking EVA foam grips in lacquer thinner?

[JasonGotaProblem]

Fella at the shop said that a smaller inner diameter foam grip is ideal for a large diameter rod, and that you just soak in lacquer thinner for 20 min first and it stretches.

Is that legit? Sounds questionable to me, but this is my first EVA grip.

[foakes]

Maybe try a little piece of EVA foam in a jar of Lacquer Thinner.

I have always thought that Lacquer Thinner would ruin, distort, and make sticky — EVA.  But I could be wrong.

For sure, Lacquer Thinner will eat off paint, melt plastic and graphite.

Let us know — but I am with you — it sounds questionable.

Check with one or two of the rod making supply shops.

Best, Fred

[steelfish]

I dont use EVA on my builds, but I have heard and read that in order to make EVA to stretch you have to soak it on warm water for 5-10 minutes, normally you cut a PVC tube and glue it to a wood base add silicon to the edges to keep the water inside, add warm water, put the EVA grip inside and since it will try to float put anything heavy enough to keep the grip under the water.

on my saltwater rods 100% cases I use hypalon or the new equivalent material, they are more heavy in weight than EVA but 5x HD for SW usage.

[Midway Tommy]

Try it and let us all know it works out.  

[thorhammer]

Nothing I see in older thinner chemistry or newer VOC-compliant thinners looks like a good idea on EVA whatsoever- acetone, MEK, toluene, hexane, ethyl acetate etc etc, at best have a Low rating of compatibility and mostly Poor. Even if your experiment works, I'd expect a much shortened life on the rod before it dries out and disintegrates, possibly from the inside (glued) surface first.  You also don't want but so snug a fit, even if you are able to get the grip on the blank. All you do is bulldoze the glue up the blank and leave big dead spots inside, which will come loose easily if they adhere at all. Best bet is to ream grip with drill or reamer, slighty larger than blank, so you have space for the glue layer.

I deal in chemical compatibilities professionally and there's no way I'd hang a paycheck on that pairing for a build.  Just my 0.02. For the sake of science maybe I'd do a piece of foam on a piece of blank and set it outside for a few months and see what happens, but wouldn't build with it. Too much time to build a rod to have to strip all guides off and replace a foregrip.

[JasonGotaProblem]

Yeah i had a feeling it was bad advice, that's why I had to ask first. Thanks everyone for confirming.

[jurelometer]

I like to use a short blast from a mini heat gun on low through the hole  in the EVA right before sliding it on.  It makes the foam temporarily stretchier, and the heat lowers the viscosity of the epoxy that it contacts. Makes it slide on easier.  May not really be necessary in most cases, but helps with the grip sliding anxiety attacks.


It is the epoxy adhering to the foam and blank that holds the grip in place.  Extra compression from an undersized hole is not going to give you much additional adhesion, and is more likely to lead to dry spots with no epoxy.  And the extra strain on the foam can't be good for it over the years.  Tight is much better than loose fit, but you don't have to go crazy.  You just need solid contact between grip and blank, so that you are not hoping that epoxy is filling the void.

Am not sure about soaking EVA in water.  It makes no sense.  The foam is closed cell, so it should not absorb much, and what it does absorb would interfere with epoxy adhesion.  If you want it to expand or stretch, a very small amount of dry heat in the hole does wonders.

-J

[JasonGotaProblem]

Ya know what? I may just do regular cork upper and cork tape lower. I figure my hand will mostly be on the upper grip anyway, and that far up the rod it's not that much fatter than rods I'm accustomed to building cork grips for.
When it eventually fails from abuse I'll redo in paracord. But the point of building a rod is to fish with a rod you wanna fish with, right? I like cork.
And I wont be using this one a ton compared to my others. So that eventual cork failure might not be thaaaaat soon. And I already have the shrink wrap and a mile of paracord. 

But I will certainly put a slice of EVA in some lacquer thinner to see what happens. Just not for use on a rod.

[thorhammer]

Is this on your spinner? I like cork. and if it wears, then you shrink over it and keep getting it. fyi, an inch or so of heat shrink makes a really clean end seal on your cork tape. I wrap a wrap or two of electrical tape over the cork to hold it in place and shrink over that.

[Jeri]

Most conventional manufacturers glue the blank, and then slide the EVA down until getting tight, then insert a small tube connected to an air compressor - it partially stretches the EVA over the taper - gets a snug fit.

Domestically, ream/sand it out, just like you would with a contiguous cork handle - get it close then heat the inside. Has worked for me, with 24" long EVA handles.

[steelfish]

Am not sure about soaking EVA in water.  It makes no sense.  The foam is closed cell, so it should not absorb much, and what it does absorb would interfere with epoxy adhesion.  If you want it to expand or stretch, a very small amount of dry heat in the hole does wonders.

-J

the "key word" is warm water, maybe because is safer to use warm water to make the EVA flexible and without worrying of direct heat, also "read" (never tried) same effect if you cover your EVA gripa on a cottom towel and then apply direct heat from a heat gun and rotating the grip from time to time until get it warm and flexible.

hypalon has its own way and tips to install it but it might be too heavy for your light rods.

[oc1]

The old poodle/marshmallow Harnell grips were lubricated with soap and slid into place.  Once it stopped sliding, it would never ever move again so you had to get it right on the first try.

[Sharkb8]

I used to use methylated spirit to slide the grip down onto the rod it then evaporates and does not affect the glue

Kim

[JasonGotaProblem]

After all that I decided I am just gonna do normal EVA for all grips. I'll keep the build semi traditional, because I hate explaining my design choices over and over. (why EVA? Offshore rod. Open and shut. Why a mix of cork and cork tape? Well if I'm building a rod... That speech will get old) But I'm doing so via traditional reaming and epoxy, not novel chemical approaches.

This one's coming together quite nicely.

[steelfish]

..... I'll keep the build semi traditional, because I hate explaining my design choices over and over. (why EVA? Offshore rod. Open and shut. Why a mix of cork and cork tape? Well if I'm building a rod... That speech will get old)

you dont have to worry about explaining your choices to anyone, just say, "just because" or " because I can" end of the story.