So I received a bunch of nice burnt cork from Andy Dear a couple of days ago, along with a few mandrels (thanks!).

First one I glued up and had on the lathe...came out beautifully...dark burnt burl with the lighter stuff on both ends. Nice looking, meaty full wells grip.

I wanted to get it done so I could put it on the 5wt that I've had in the shop for a while. Tapped it off the mandrel no problem and got it ready to ream out. Started with a 5/16" in the drill and then stepped up a bit. About halfway through, the cork was a little difficult to ream out. I figure, hey, no problem, and keep going at it with the drill.

Next thing I know the cork splinters in my hand and literally bursts into flames. Now I knew it was hot here in Maryland today and the product is called burnt cork, but jeez...

I think next time I'll have a little more patience :)

Scott Kinney
The Longest Cast Fly Rods
[www.thelongestcast.com]

Not that it will help you now, but many buiders find it easier to ream/bore the rings first, and then place them on larger mandrel before the turning operation. The cork clamp detailed in an earlier issue of RodMaker makes this a snap (photos are on the photo here under my name). Then, after you tap the grip off the mandrel, you only have a very limited amount of final taper reaming to do in order to achieve a perfect fit.

.................

I've used the FlexCoat pilot drills on Andy's cork several times and they've always worked just fine. The drills get me pretty close to the final ID so the amount of reaming needed is minimal.

Tom,
Where are the photos?
Dave

Scott,

I too ream rather than bore. Andy made me some great mandrels as well and I use them alot for seat inserts.
For the cork, I have had a local machinest make me some mandrels with the same general taper as the rod blanks. This way, as Tom said, the cork is near the size and taper I need when I knock it off the mandrel and of course, I can turn it right on the mandrel! I had the mandrel made a bit long so it actually tapers from about .390 down to .290. I usually mark the mandrel at the diameter that matches the blank where the back of the grip will fit and glue the cork on there. I have even had a few handles come out to a perfect fit! I believe the glue that is left in the cork makes for a much more durable handle as well.
The only thing a person must keep in mind when doing this is that you may end up with some wax residue in the channel and without proper cleaning could end up with a poor glueup!

Dan Craft
Dan Craft Enterprises

Scott I just made a handle with Andys burl and I did the same as everyone else except I use a treaded 1/4" rod to glue the cork and as a mandrel. I used masking tape to buildup the treaded rod to fit the cork. The handle came out nice, I am sold on burnt cork and now have to retrofit all my old rods with new handles... Bob.

Got up the courage to do the reaming again today and had no problems...just needed a bit more patience and time to clear the dust off the files (I use rattail files chucked in a drill). A little smoke but no flames!

I may try to get a mandrel like Dan mentioned. Sounds like that'd be the best of both worlds.

I've been gluing them up on 1/4" threaded rods but found that they are too flexible to turn good handles on. So I knock them off of there, and now that I've got Andy's mandrel, am ready to go with the turning.

The burnt cork is a neat product but I think it might have to be a special item for me as the handle I made today weighs about three times what a comparable cork handle would weigh. Since I do a lot of lightweight fly rods it might not be the best. Hmm...trim rings, maybe.



Scott Kinney
The Longest Cast Fly Rods
[www.thelongestcast.com]

Try drilling the rings out large enough to use Flexcoat arbors inside the grip. That really cuts down on weight

Mike