Hi, I am gathering parts and pieces for my first rod and I have a question about cork/rubber rings. I plan on using one for my handle butt. The rings I purchased have a 1/4 inch hole through them. How should I plug this hole? I noticed the company I purchased from has plugs for sale but they are 3/8 diameter and look tapered. Should I get one of these and make the hole in the ring larger?

I think this topic has been posted before but I was unsuccessful in finding it through a search.

Thanks for any help
George

Purchase the plug too. It'll fit snug as a bug in a rug.

George: Your rubberized cork ring has a hole because it is usually glued onto the rest of the cork handle, then the handle, including that ring, is reamed out to fit on the blank. The hole will thus automatically be larger. You can also putt that ring on at the end of the assembly, if you do that it will be much more secure if it is reamed so that most of it fits over the end of the blank, and (again) glued to the cork - some form of clamping is a good idea for that. So again, the hole will be larger - that 3/8" plug may or may not fit. There are other ways to fill or cover that hole, you can be creative: coins, flat buttons (both first coated with epoxy), a natural cork plug, etc. Taking care of that will be easier, in my opinion, if you arrange things so that the rubberized ring extends past the blank end just a bit, say 1/8". Welcome to the club, I remember when that very thing puzzled me.

George,
Angler's Workshop has many sizes of rubberized cork plugs, if you buy the handle there, they will send along a correct sized plug for free if you give them the size of the blank's butt.

I've tried to buy plugs from AW and not had any luck. They'd give me a plug with a grip, just not sell me a handful of plugs. Besides, they're never the right size anyway if you make anything bigger than a Crappie rod. I just make my own now. I measure up the hole in the grip, after it's mounted, with a circle template and pick the circle that's just larger than the hole. I trace that onto a rubberized cork disc. With a large X-Acto and a chisel blade I cut that plug out with 8 or 10 facets. I lay that plug on its side and with an X-Acto firmly against the side of the plug roll it to score a line around the plug 1/4" - 3/8" from the end. Then with the chisel go from the end (blank end) of the plug remove enough material so that the plug will fit inside the blank. Finally, with a sanding block I make the top 1/4" or so of the plug nice and round. Sand right up to the line I drew. Takes just a few minutes. And it always fits.




Better to have and not need than to need and not have.

I usually either order the rings without the hole and drill halfway through the ring with my drill press at the same dia. as the butt of the blank, then you just slip it on over the end of the rod before you clamp the rings, then you dont have to worry about a correctly sized plug. So you could plug the rind and then bore it out to fit over the rod blank.

Scott Sheets

Thanks for the tips everyone! I guess I have several options. I think I am going to like this hobby. I can't wait until I reel in that first fish on "my" rod.
George