There was a post earlier about reaming cork. One response suggested drilling. Can cork handles be drilled, with a drill bit without tearing apart the cork? Maybe drilling to get the rough hole size, then followed by finer/grit/file reaming to the finished size?

They may have been referring to individual rings which are effectively drilled or bored with most good wood boring bits. Regular twist drill bits will work okay, but you will want to keep the RPM up pretty high, around 1500 to 2000.

Boring an entire cork grip is better down with a power reamer than a drill bit of any sort. It would be tough to keep the bit centered on a long pre-formed grip.


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Steve , a good way to ream cork is to chuck up a rat-tail file in a hand drill and run it in reverse . Works great . JD

well i'm very new so maybe its just gonna take time. i think i've got all the tools inherited from my brother but need to figure out how to use em. having a blast anyway i'm hooked. so far i have a small rattail but it keeps jamming in the cork and out of the chuck on the renzetti, i havent been able to find larger rattail files, and the grit-in-glue-on-blank reamers seem to work except the end is breaking where i chuck it in the renzetti even though i've got it wrapped in tape, and the grits get embedded in the cork. i've managed to ream 3 handles butt and foregrip so far with very good end results, nice/centered fits but the means of getting there as explained above were very awkward and messy. Umnn...power reamer...is that the same as chucking a grit covered blank in a chck on the renzetti, or si it a specialized tool?

You can use the flex coat arbor drills. You just have to work from both ends to keep the edges clean. High rpms and move slow. Doesn't work on long grips, but have done it successfuly on 8" grips, then finish reaming by hand.

Regards......Doug@
TCRds

Doug,
Wouldn't they work if you used an extension? I've used them on regular paddle bits.

Steven,
Maybe if you would Rod Bond a short peice of dowel in the end of your reamer it wouldn't break off. I don't know, just throwin out a suggestion. I'm a newbe too.

Bill in WV

I got pretty frustrated reaming a cork handle with the round files. So, I grabbed a sanding belt from my belt sander. Cut the seam and was able to tear a long strip about 1/2 inch wide. I spiral wrapped it over my rod blank in a spot where the cork handle fit about half way over the length of the sanding belt. I just used masking tape on the ends of the sanding belt. That worked pretty good. I ended up moving the sand paper up the blank a few times until cork was reamed enough to fit the blank.

I "power ream" with a rat tailed file chucked in a variable speed electric drill. Rotate the file in reverse to keep it from being too aggressive. It will still remove cork and even wood in a controlled manner without binding.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"