Please forgive me but here goes...on a rod with a Tennessee handle, how would the builder put on those rings that hold the the real foot in place (at least on some models).  are they big enough to simply slide over the cork handle but not slip off when holding a reel?   I'm not building a rod...asking for a different reason.

If the handle is straight, yeah, you can slip the slip rings over the butt.  Most guys tape down the slip rings after they put on a reel, so how they get on the handle is not very critical - but most of the handles I see have a butt that is larger than the slip rings, so the rings are put on before the butt section of the handle is glued up.  That way, the rings won't mysteriously disappear by slipping off the rod handle.

Please forgive me but here goes...on a rod with a Tennessee handle, how would the builder put on those rings that hold the the real foot in place (at least on some models).  are they big enough to simply slide over the cork handle but not slip off when holding a reel?   I'm not building a rod...asking for a different reason.

Most custom Tenn. grips are tapered slightly at the ends to keep the rings from falling off the finished handle. They are also sized to be tight when the reel foot is inserted into the rings.

The way these grips are built is so that you have a slight balance adjustment (moveing the reel forward on the grip,or, to the rear of the grip when mounting the spinning reel.

But even over time they will/do compress just enough to lossen the reel foots grip, and then they need help with some tape....

Tight Lines!