Does anybody know a supplier that has pre-made, pre-shapened cork handles with burnt cork rings inside them. I am trying to avoid making the handles from scratch.

Thanks
Steve

Lamar will be offering them in just a few weeks. I spoke with Andy today. I know he is tooling up to offer pre-shaped handles in all versions of his exotic cork.

.........

I suggest taking the plunge and getting a lathe. Andy Dear also sells "practice sticks" which are about 12 inches long and made from pretty bad cork. I bought two of them from him and practiced on them before I tried my first grip. If you also get his DVD he shows how to make grips, reel seat inserts and butt caps. I made my first insert this past weekend, followed Andy's directions and it turned out great. With a lathe you can also make really nice pens as Christmas presents. A lathe is wonderful, you can make grips to fit you or whoever you'e building a rod for and you you can make them whatever shape you want.

steve... it's actually pretty easy to make a grip from scratch. even without a lathe.

i did one just a few weeks ago using a 1/4 inch mandrel from andy. i don't have a lathe, or even a small grizzly hobby lathe, and am impatient at times, so i chucked the mandrel with glued up rings (clamp quickly made from scrap wood, and a quick trip to a hardware store and some titebond III) into my cordless drill. i went through three batteries worth of power, but ended up with a nice grip in the fenwick style after sanding it down with differeent grades of sandpaper on my back door step..

the only problem without a lathe and a tool rest is the chance of the grip being slightly out of round, but there's no discernable problem with mine.

preformed burnt cork grips could be very interesting.

eric
fresno, ca.