glued up a handle using regular cork rings and brown burl and was disappointed in the colors. had hoped for more of a contrast. read the thread on dyeing but would rather buy a few dark ones. i saw burnt cork in the old videos i viewed but can't find any. any suggestions? THANKS

John,
Burnt cork is in my judgement much more attractive than burl cork and will give you more contrast between it and the rest of your cork as it is a very dark brown. Unfortunately it has not been available from any supplier in 20 or 25 years. However, once in a great while you will find someone selling some on @#$%&. If you keep watching you may find some there.

John,
You might also want to check with Angler's Workshop. They have been saying for a year that they were going to have some but the last time I checked they still did not have any.

You can make your own "colored" rings out of thinned clear, cork dust, and tints.

Here is a way to highlight your burl cork rings. I use this method and you can adapt to about anything. I buy sheets of Fun Foam at the craft stores. It is about an 1/8 " thick and very pliable. You can trace a cork ring with a pen and then cut it out with scissors. Real quick and easy. Fold the circle in half and cut a small vee out of the ceter folded area. When gluing up cork rings on a mandrel I just butter them up real nice and remove the excess Rod Bond and glue them up next to the burl rings. You can use a bracket style, laminate one on the outside of the burl rings. Or you can lay one inbetween two burl rings surrounded by natural corl rings. Both applications look good. When you compress the cork in your press be sure to watch how much pressure you apply to not overcompress the foam. Keep all rings compressed equally to achieve the same width. Durring this process the foam will soak in the glue giving it a good firm spot in the handle. Be sure to keep the center hole in the Fun Foam ring as close to tollerance as it stretches upon compression of the handle assembly. It sands best using a sanding block for a straight transition to the cork. You can get this Fun Foam in different colors so let your imagination go wild.

Good luck,

Bruce Young
Landing Gear

Lamar Reel Seats has some exotic cork that has large dark areas in it. This might give you the contrast you desire.

Or.. put a coat or two of Tru-Oil on your burl rings which will also darken them and bring out the burl pattern.

.........

Tom Kirkman wrote:

> Lamar Reel Seats has some exotic cork that has large dark areas
> in it. This might give you the contrast you desire.
>
> Or.. put a coat or two of Tru-Oil on your burl rings which will
> also darken them and bring out the burl pattern.
>
> .........
andy has some back ordered for me. will try the tru oil trick. thanks.

I second the Foam sheets! I use a lot of them and they really look nice when they are color-coordinated with the wrap colors. They come in a wide range of colors and a couple of different thicknesses.

Mike

What I have done in that past is use a old nylon stocking and burnish while turning the cork at high speed on my lath. I have also done the same thing after putting on a clear or tinted varithane. I burnish the rings till the nylon starts smokeing. This well also give the cork a petina look.
Good Wraps Bob

Tom's idea is what I would suggest also , the TruOil realy brings out the color and highlights in the burl . I have also done thin (1/16) EVA rings between the two different corks , looks outstanding. JD