I am turning my own cork handles now but not doing a great job of the inlet for a recessed up-locking reel seat. What is the best tool and technique for the job?

Well, there is a special tool for doing this particular task and you can buy it from Rodblanks.com (link to the left in the sponsor column). It works extremely well. There are probably several other things you could also make do with, if you only need to do a few.


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Tom,

can you tell us what this tool is called? I did a quick look on their site and couldn't find it.

Thanks,
Joe

Tracy,

I like to use a forsner bit of appropriate size (I bought several sizes). I actually line up a cork ring in a special clamp I got from Lamar Reel Seats. Used in conjunction with a drill press, the forsner bit and the clamp provide clean, straight inlets every time.

Hope this helps.

Torin.

Send and email to BBpontoons@aol.com and tell them you want the tool that inlets cork grips. It has a pilot tube which makes it self centering. It's nice if you need to do a lot of these type grips.

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My only experience is with inletting cork for round hoods. First I center the round hood against the lower end of the grip and press enough to leave an indentation the size of the hood. Then I secure the grip horizontally in my Black & Decker workmate vise. Next I use a dremel tool with a barrel shaped grinding wheel that is smaller in diameter than the hood. The flat end of the barrel shaped grinder is pressed slowly against the butt end of the grip until it reaches slightly deeper than the depth of the hood. Slowly I elongate the hole until I reach the indentations I created by pressing the hood against the cork. At this point I find that the hole is slightly smaller than the hood, requiring that I open the hole just a bit more. Remember to avoid forcing the reel seat hood into grip with a hole that isn't large enough to accommodate it. You may split the grip.

Practice on an old grip, or on a single cork ring secured in a vise before moving on to an expensive cork grip.

Good Luck,
Jeff

If you wish to purchase your own inletting tools from another source, here it is. Go to Rutland tool.com and search for "Aircraft Counterbores". They come in a variety of sizes. For inletting circular, fixed reel seat hoods on uplocking reel seats, they have sizes from 11/16" up to 7/8" by 32nds. The shank is 1/4" and they have four flutes. You will have to purchase a couple of pilots to match the hole size in the cork. Search under "pilots for counterbores". Since I use mandrels, I have pilots in 1/4", 5/16", 3/8" and 7/16". I also purchased two counterbores - 3/4" and 13/16". The cost on these tools from Rutland in the sizes mentioned will vary from $25 to $30. The pilots vary from $3.25 to $7. I like to use these tools, because they are sharp and I can quickly cut a recess that just fits the depth and diameter of the fixed reel seat.

Doug Weber
Weber Rod Works

Thank you too all for the very informative replies.

A spade bit for woodboring works well. Even better if you mount a small piece of tubing over the pilot point.

Harry