So I haven't had the opportunity to use a Rattan grip, but I'm thinking about playing around with one. Before I do so, I've got a few questions though!

1) Does it take any special care? For instance a lot of Rattan/reed furniture I've seen tends to mold and discolor without some cleaning/maintance. Will this be the case of the grip?

2) Does it stand up well to moisture?

3) Is it durable?

4) Is it comfortable? I'm worried specifically if it's going to splinter, or feel hard under hand?

If anyone has any good feed back on this, I'd be most happy to hear it :)

-- Cheers
-- James

what little experience i have had with ratan is that it splinters and peels easy,collects moisture and is prone to warp. you would have to seal it real good,then the problem would be it would be real slippery.there is lot better material out there than rattan.that is my personal opinion .others may have had different results.thanks joe



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2005 04:41PM by joe lucas.

joe lucas Wrote:
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> what little experience i have had with ratan is
> that it splinters and peels easy,collects moisture
> and is prone to warp. you would have to seal it
> real good,then the problem would be it would be
> real slippery.there is lot better material out
> there than rattan.that is my personal opinion
> .others may have had different results.thanks joe
>
>
>
> Edited 1 times. Last edit at 12/05/05 04:41PM by
> joe lucas.

so I've got the choice of cork, burl cork, and rattan. You mention that Rattan looks good but rubs the hand a bit. Other than wood, can you think of other natural materials that may work better? I really do dig the look of the rattan, but if it's that fragile.... :(

Perhaps anyone from Golden Witch has input (without divulging your trade secrets!)

I suggest to think about it a minute. If there were a better material for grips than cork, wouldn't it be on most rods by now?
just a thought.
john

you're a rod builder. you have a question about rattan grips. i say make one on an inexpensive blank, try it out. and the next time someone asks about them, you can offer your own first hand experience.

i think rattan offers something the other materials don't, and that's a unique feel and look. you may have to redo it every couple of years or take special pains to maintain. or not. it's something i'm going to try out at some point. if the rattan wears out too quickly, can it be rewrapped relatively easily?

eric
fresno, ca.

john channer Wrote:
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> I suggest to think about it a minute. If there
> were a better material for grips than cork,
> wouldn't it be on most rods by now?

Hehehe :) It isn't about being the *best* material, but rather something unique.

Rattan has a look that can't be duplicated and I'm mostly looking for something distinctive to be added to my bag of tricks. If past experience from other builders showed that it was something at least in the ball park, then it would be worth doing. This is especially true of something that can be labor intensive. What it comes down to is that it *appears* to be easy enough, so I'm going to get some from Golden Wtich and give it a shot :)

I guess in sum, unless we are willing to look at new materials, then we'll pretty much get what we already got. Now rattan isn't new, so I'm relying on others for insight and experience to potentially short circuit dead end ideas. Maybe lazy on my part, but last I heard, it's really hard to get an apprenticeship in rod making ;)

> just a thought.
> john


-- Cheers
-- James

PS just to let you know, I think you are totally right, cork is the *bomb* and I think in general, it's going to be the material of choice :)

Having just finished my first rattan grip I would have to say I love it. If you soak it first its easy to work with and it doesnt splinter or peel. Finished with the thread between the wraps and a nice finishing wrap and warnished with spar varnish I think you get a beautifull result which have proved itself over time. Remember spar varnish is used on boats - you walk on it - so I really dont think you will have issues with it being worn out.
Besides it looks different - which I think is the essens of rodbuilding - doing what YOU like :-)

Peter

James,
I'm with Peter on this one. Just finishing Rattan handle number five. This is some tough stuff. After being glued to the cork and varnished, it can take about anything. Great feel, adds almost no weight to the handle. The dog got ahold of one handle for a few minutes and other than having a bunch of new holes, it held up great. I have settled on Rattan for almost every handle from now on. Takes a bit more time to make, but for my taste, worth it.
Lance


Lance Rogge - Colorado

I am playing around with nylon twine I got at home depot. Comes in several colors and sizes.
I will " try " to bond it onto a cork base, then trim the ends, color the yellow a darker color yellow tint with a touch of black, to match the black gold on the tuff butt. After colored clear it for a better feel.

bill boettcher Wrote:
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> I am playing around with nylon twine I got at home
> depot. Comes in several colors and sizes.
> I will " try " to bond it onto a cork base, then
> trim the ends, color the yellow a darker color
> yellow tint with a touch of black, to match the
> black gold on the tuff butt. After colored clear
> it for a better feel.

Just as a heads up. While poking around last night I came upon several other materials that can be used in a similar fashion as rattan. The one in particular I'm looking at is black ash splints. Apparently it's easy to work with, takes a nice stain and is fairly durable. :) I'll get a grip made up with both rattan and ash, and try to post the results. Thanks for the feed back guys!

-- Cheers
-- James

what i would like to know is how do you get a clean start and finish on the winds? do you tuck the ends under a winding check on the front and under some other trim piece on the rear? i am primarily interested in a fly rod handle in a cigar shape with a downlock seat. i have seen the work of some rod builders but it looks like they fabricate their own winding checks and cork checks to accomodate the rattan ends.

there's a brief, one sentence description of installation at the golden witch web site. i thought i had encountered more thorough instructions on the web somewhere but i guess i'm getting old AND ugly.

eric
fresno, ca.

don't say that. you're not old!

Sorry if I sounded like I was knocking the material or those who are using it, that was not my intention. I have a rod with a grip very similar to rattan, only it was more state of the art for it's day. It is a very early Tonkin cane rod made originally with hanging ring guides, brite chrome ferrules, and slide band reel seat, and the grip is made of celluloid lace that looks like a light colored rattan, only more regular as it is man made. If it is abraided it gives off a camphor odor. It is my understanding that making this stuff was toxic to those who worked with it, but not to the end user. It is wound over a wooden undergrip to give it shape and the ends are caught under the reelseat at one end and the winding check at the other. It was my first refinish, I found it in a "junque" shop for fifty bucks, it was in total meltdown so I stripped and redid the whole thing including all 197 intermediate wraps, then fished it for a couple of years until I learned how to make my own bamboo rods. I will say that the grip was just barely useable, hard and slippery when wet. I also had several bamboo bait rods with wooden handles when I was in my teens, they were left to me by my fathers uncle when he died. They were mid grade production rods and the handles were nicely done, but again, just barely useable for the same reasons. I will admit that rattan and wood do look nice, but I know what I'll be using for a long time.
john

Hi friends,

Here's a pretty good primer on making rattan grips.

Harry

Hi friends,

Here's a pretty good primer on making rattan grips.

[www.curro.net]

Harry