Process for manufacturing custom moldable hand grip

A method of forming a hand grip on a handle portion of an implement which is individualized for the intended user of the implement, comprising the steps of:

• providing a sheet of dripless, dough-like moldable polymeric material pliable at room temperature and having a length in a first direction at least as great as the exterior circumference of the implement handle portion and a length in a second direction at least as great as the width of the hand grip desired, said sheet having sufficient thickness for formation of a molded impression therein of a desired depth upon the intended user grasping the implement handle portion with said sheet therebetween, said sheet material including a polymer partially solvated by a volatile solvent into a moldable mass, said sheet material having a consistency sufficiently soft to readily accept the impression under normal hand-applied pressure and yet sufficiently firm to permit handling prior to formation of the impression without significant deformation and to hold the impression immediately upon its formation and as evaporation of said solvent occurs without the intended user continuing to grasp the implement handle portion, said sheet material allowing evaporation when exposed to the atmosphere at a rate sufficiently slow to allow formation of the impression and upon sufficient evaporation curing into a permanent molding retaining the impression;
• providing said sheet with a removable, generally nonpermeable film layer covering an outward surface of said sheet to substantially prevent evaporation of said solvent from said sheet material prior to formation of the impression;
• removing said film layer to expose said sheet to the atmosphere to enable evaporation of said solvent;
• wrapping said sheet lengthwise in said first direction around the implement handle portion with an inward surface of said sheet facing inward to cover the handle portion;
• placing one of a pair of opposed end portions of said sheet which are spaced apart in said first direction in position overlapping the other;
• cutting said sheet through at least said one overlapping opposed end portion to provide mating opposed ends of said sheet positioned in a generally end-to-end relationship;
• grasping the implement handle portion by the hand of the intended user with said sheet wrapped around the handle portion;
• applying sufficient pressure on said sheet with the hand of the intended user to produce the impression at the desired depth;
• and
• allowing said solvent to evaporate to atmosphere until sufficient evaporation has occurred to cure said sheet material into said permanent molding retaining the impression.