Guys,
Has anybody built a form to use on a lathe for shaping cork grips for fly rods? I would think this could be a great time saver if used correctly, utilizing hardwood forms with belt sander belts attached to the jig and made up in certain shapes, ie. full wells, cigar, etc.
Dave Gibson

They work, sort of, kind of, almost. Biggest problems when you try to hog off large amounts of cork across the entire face at one time are the resulting load on the lathe motor - smaller unpowered lathes often bog down. And, the sandpaper quickly clogs with cork dust.

Rough grinding type stones are what the major manufacturers of pre-shaped cork grips use. But these are expensive, costing several hundred dollars each and that's for just one shape and size. As you can see, it begins to add up if you want a whole variety of grip styles and shapes. Still, they don't clog and you can get the grip you want in just seconds.

I know it doesn't sound like it, but the quickest and easiest way to shape grips is by free hand, on the fly. It does take some practice before you can start knocking out near verbatim grips, but it doesn't require anything in terms of extra equipment or expense.

Of course, if you were to come up with some good means of shaping grips by means of a contour shaper/sander, please let everyone know. I'm sure quite a few guys would be interested.


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I thought about something like that before I bought Andy Dear's DVD and a lathe. After watching the DVD, it wasn't nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be and it really didn't take too long. The biggest single advantage of making freehand, is that you can tailor it to fit you, or whoever you're building it for. I don't have very big hands, but I like my grips a bit bigger than preformed ones. I also like cigar grips but not the ones commercially available. You can make every grip unique in shape doing it freehand. Trying to do it all at once with some sort of temple would also put a big load on the mandrel. I actually bent my first one trying to take off too much too fast. A bent mandrel won't let you make a concentric grip. Just get Andy's DVD, it's worth twice what it costs.

You just made me think of an idea. I have not tried this yet so I don't know how well it will work. What I was thinking was to take two rectangular pieces of wood maybe 8" x 3" x 1" thick and cut the profile you wish to have (slightly oversized) on one of the long sides of each piece. Next mount the two profiles on a base 2" apart so that the two profiles are parallel and your unturned cork will fit between them. Finally, add a post to the base that will fit the holder for the tool rest on your lathe. Mount the jig in the tool rest holder so that each profile is on either side of the unturned cork. Rough shape the grip using either a round file or wood dowel covered with some type of abrasive. You would be able to use the profiles as a guide and if they were set right you would have a good rough turned grip every time. This should be cheap and easy to make and easy to use. However, I must agree it would be faster to make them freehand with some practice. Like I said this is just an idea and I have not tried it.

James

I have often thought that something like this would be very helpful. When I make a grip, more often than not I'm copying the dimensions of a grip that I already have. I take my calipers and measure every half inch or so. The constant measuring and checking is very tedious and probably takes up about 75% of the time it takes me to turn a grip. I've always thought there ought to be a better way, but I haven't come up with anything workable myself.

What about "Duplicators"? It seems to me that they would be ideal but I know nothing about them [www.pennstateind.com]

Sounds like they would be ideal. Anyone have any thoughts on them? Would they work for grips, reel seat inserts, etc

Mike