I'm building a new surf rod, which will be a moderate-to-heavy (3-8 oz) bait stick and will be used with an Alvey reel. My surf rods go through some relatively rough handling (nothing extreme, but they get used a lot in some rough condidtions), so when I was putting together the rod's componets, instead of regular cork tape (1/16"), I went with heavy duty (1/8").

Now that I've begun rod assembly, I've been surprised at how much extra heft the cork tape has given the rod. I guess that I should have realized that an eighth of an inch all the way around would make the diameter of the rod a quarter-inch larger, but in staying true to my character, I didn't think that far ahead.

I suppose the extra width is good from a durability standpoint, and I'm not concerned about the extra weight. But I'm nonetheless hesitant about it, and I'm wondering if anyone here has any experiences/thoughts/opinons about cork tape. Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks.

Oh, and a happy holiday season to all!

I built quite a few live bait peer and boat rods back in the days and used cork tape on every one. Single, double, and triple tape wraps.
After 20 years by brother still has a couple of those rods and the handles are not in to bad of shape. Not great mined you but not bad.
So if you don't abuse it I think the durability factor is good. I think if it is flocked it would be about bullet proof but I have not done that yet
myself.

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

Chris is asking for an experienced surf rod builder to compare the relative merits of the 1/8" thick Cork Tape with that of the
1/16" version. How well does the thinner Cork Tape hold up over time? Is the 1/8" thickness really necessary? Is it better to do a double wrap of 1/16" cork tape (covering over the edges of the first wrap) rather than using one layer of 1/8" cork tape? The increase in diameter of the thicker tape will obviously change the feel of the grip. How much thickness will flocking add to the diameter of a grip? Does the flocking compress when it is squeezed, thus reducing it's measured thickness? I'm very interested in the answers as well.
Dave

i like 1/16" cord tape.. i use a double face golf tape [$6.00] before putting on the cork tape.

golf tape to the left at 45 deg. then cork tape to the right.at deg.

the use of the double face tape is some time the cork dry out .

and if you have to add one more layer of cork tape do the same as above.

it's keep the tape tighter to the blank.

Eddie

. I use 1/16 in thick cork tape, wrap two layers, and wrap the layers in opposite directions. I do not feeel that the 1/8 thick material lend it;s self to a quality end product and does not conforms as well to smaller dia. rod blanks IMO.

Scott Mumford

have used both and really do not find much Difference. depending on the Blank Diameter to which tape I use

I have used only the 1/16" tape and I think it gives adequate protection. I used two layers of tape the first time I ever tried it but later realized it was unnecessary. I recently rebuilt this rod and used just a single layer of tape. I build only fiberglass surf rods with generally have a larger blank diameter than graphite. If you're using graphite, you might actually prefer the 1/8" tape just to make the resulting diameter larger to compensate for the smaller diameter blank. I wouldn't worry too much about the weight factor or the durability.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2005 04:57PM by Rob Matarazzo.