I'm going to to a partial rattan grip wrap on a fly rod I'm working on. I think I'm also going to try to make a winding check out of rattan if I can get it to work.

I've never used rattan before and I understand that you're supposed to boil it for a while to soften it up, wrap it around a large dowel and let it dry before wrapping it onto your handle.

I was wondering if I boiled it with a bunch of tea bags if it would permanently darken the rattan. Any experience with this? Thoughts? Ideas? I know tea makes a pretty good dye for other things. If not tea, maybe coffee grounds?

Also, what's a good sealer for it once it's on the rod? Some use spar, some use off the shelf wood sealers. Recommendations?

~Jackie

First _-- I have never tried to dye rattan. I think though that you'll find that the underside will take the dye but the hard shell will not. What you're dealing with is a very slick, dense surface. What you can try though is stained varnish or shellac on the grip. That should serve both the purposes that you are apparently trying to achieve. What I think you will find is that over time / with use the high spots will wear back down to the original rattan color with the stain remaining in the valleys. Again - much as can be seen on vintage cane rods.
I don't know how you're planning to start and stop your rattan wraps. What was done on bamboo was a slit cut into / between the bamboo cane and the hosel covering the insert. When I've done this in restoration jobs I've managed to wrap the rattan directly onto the handle of the rod - over a wood substrate. Be very careful with this stuff - the edges are extremely shrarp and will send shards and splinters deep under your skin - I would highly recommend leather gloves for the temperature of the rattan and the splinters.

I have done several rattan grips and will answer your questions if I can. The best method I have found for darkening the rattan is to bring your water to a boil, turn off the heat, and then soak the rattan for 1 hour. You can then put the rattan directly onto the grip without drying it first, if you use Tite-Bond over cork. Smear a very thin coat with your finger. I wrap the rattan and then let this dry overnight, holding the ends with rubber bands. Then spiral wrap with D thread to finish. Varnish the whole thing with several coats. I think a narrow, straight handle looks best. Either a cigar shaped end (the cork forms the hosel) or a gradual taper (the end of the cork forms the hosel). I suppose a tinted varnish would give you color, but the boiling darkens it appreciably and you can certainly try the tea, although you won't know the true color until after it dries. Wet rattan will not give you splinters.

I have found that soaking the rattan in water, (not boiling) is good enough to make it pliable for wrapping, another trick is to add a couple drops of glycerine to the water. (purchased at the drug store) I don't bother wrapping it around a dowel, I just take it and wrap it around 3 or 4 of my fingers and hold it with a cloths pin. Wrap the grip and wrap thread in the grooves and finish with spar.

Jackie,

don't know if this site will help but i recently built up a rattan handle and posted the images... had a few problems but it came out acceptable...

craft and learn...

i second the advice on wrapping/gluing the rattan while it's still wet and securing with a rubber band. someone suggested gorrila glue but i used titebond waterproof and tho i haven't used the rod a lot yet it seems fine.

you can see my construction photos here:


[www.mind.net]

good luck!

tws

I did check out your stuff before posting here. I think I've read everything ever posted on Rattan in these forums. The grip you did looks great, and I was able to learn from your mistake with the clamps. I'm always a little nervous before I try a new technique and like to get as much info as possible before I jump in.

How wet should the rattan be? I'm guessing I should wipe it off a little so it makes a good bond with the glue, but there's not a lot of indepth detail on that aspect of things.

~Jackie

You definitely should not use gorilla glue, as it will ooze up between the wraps. There is no reason to wrap well-soaked rattan around a dowel or anything else before you do the final wrap. Hot water seems to soften the rattan more than tap water, and darkens the rattan a bit. It also is much easier to slice the taper on the ends of the wraps. Make a pin hole in the cork and insert the tip to start. The TiteBond should be put on very thinly or it too will ooze up through the wraps. For my last grip, I got good results going directly from the metal of a hood (designed to be buried) onto a cork grip the same diameter. I used a contact cement for the metal. Avoid curved grips as the rattan looks best laid on a straight grip or a very gradual taper. I will next try rattan over poly spacers using contact cement with a section of cork for a hosel.

Jackie, our posts crossed. Set the rattan on a towel and it will be ready when you get the Titebond down. Some technical details. Do the wrap with the pre-formed cork off the blank, on a short dowel, and you will not worry so much. I have a couple of rattan grips awaiting a suitable project. Lay the Titebond down in 2" increments, don't try to put all the glue down at once. Be sure to rubber band down the end securely, even if the pin-hole trick seems secure. Roll a rubber band along if you need to keep the rattan down as you work. Wrap the rattan on with a little back pressure and it will snug up much better. Consider turning a thin lip into the cork so that the rattan lies flush with the cork. Use a medium width rattan over a 3/4 inch cork and you may not need to splice (Golden Witch lengths). I like a gold thread, no CP to finish, but garnet looks good as well. Watch for micro bamboo fibers to trim before you varnish.

I'm actually going to do a partial wrap, leaving a bit of cork exposed at both ends. My plan is to glue sandpaper to a block the exact width I want the rattan and hold it against the grip as it turns on my drill. This should create a really flat area that's slightly recessed from the rest of the grip assuring that the rattan is flush with the grip overall. A good plan or a bad one?

I'm wrapping the rod in garnet thread anyway, so I'm just going to use that between the rattan. It's nylon though, not silk, and I'm planning on using CP on the rod wraps because I'm going to do a feather inlay over some of them. Should I CP the thread before I wrap it between the rattan, or not worry about it looking slightly different? I only have the garnet in size A. Will that be OK for the gaps in the rattan or should I order a bigger size?

~Jackie

Jackie, the blocked recess sounds perfect. As long as the curve is gradual, you can have some taper in the middle and be okay. Rattan tends to fatten up the feel of a grip, so start with a smaller diameter grip if you can. The lip at the edge of the cork is very small. If you put sufficient back pressure on the rattan as you wrap you can get by with A thread, just don't put so much pressure on the thread that it pulls through the gap. I think you could use CP after wrapping, but varnish perserves some color so you might try a test wrap with no CP. Nylon thread is fine. I think the contrast with the CP garnet on the guides would be good. Let me know how it goes or post a picture.

I'll definitely post a pic once it's all complete. I did a bunch of plain diamond butt wraps and basic rods, so now I want to be artistic. After I do this rattan grip and feather inlay, I'm going to try an EVA inlay grip. I'm definitely hooked and there's no turning back.

~Jackie