Guys-
What process do you use when turning cork and wood for eventual combination into a finished grip.

Do you turn them as one on a mandrel? Does this cause a issue with the cork reducing in size quicker than the wood leaving you with a bumpy profile?

Do you turn them seperately? How do you get the cork and wood to match so perfectly and in alignment when the final assembly is made?

What tricks have you picked up that make it go smoother for you?

Thanks again,

Domenic Federico

I glue the whole thing up using a clamp and turn it as one unit using a mandrel. I shape the cork with a rasp and the wood with a skew. Contrary to most recommendations you'll see here, I would urge you not to use a spindle gouge on the wood. A skew leaves a vastly superior finish on the wood. It takes a bit of practice, but it is really worth it. When I did the first one, I was worried about the cork and wood combination but it turned out to be no big deal, just take your time and be careful.

I turn the wood down to where I want it first. I use a small gouge I use for pen turning and seem to get a good finish. I rouge sand it with 100 then 220. I mount the wood on the mandrel and glue it up when I glue up my cork. I use 100 grit sand paper to bring the cork down close to where I want it but still larger in diameter than the wood. I then switch to lighter paper 220/320/400/600 and 1200. I sand both the cork and wood down to 400...then use the 600 & 1200 on the wood to polish it up. I carefully apply finish to the wood while on the lathe...sometimes depending on what type of finish I use i will mask the cork off with masking tape.

I don't ever use anything but sand paper to bring down the cork....it comes off too quick IMO and once it is gone you can't put it back.

Joe, are you using regular cork or burl cork? I only use Andy's exotic cork which is definitely tougher than ordinary cork. Trying to do that cork with just sandpaper would take hours. Using a skew on the wood, I typically start sanding at 320. The exception to using a skew is when I'm turning burl or plastic, then I use a round nose scraper.

I glue the prebored cork and wood together as one unit as Gerry does and turn it down with with lathe tools within about three or four mm's of the final size. I then take a strip of 80 or 100 grit dry wall sanding mesh approximately two inches wide an remove enough material to eliminate torn areas in the cork or tool marks in the wood. From there I sand from 150 grit all of the way to 2000 grit. I will use a sanding block at times to assure even removal from the wood and cork but once you get a feel for it you can bring the surface down even with a two inch strip of sand paper. Depending on the wood you usually need to sand with the grain as part of the process from 220 grit to 600 grit to eliminate sanding marks. This will be a judgement call. I recently turned a reel seat out of a wood that could be completely sanded while turning on the lathe and had no sanding marks showing.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2006 03:19PM by Stan Grace.

I clamp all pieces together on all thread. When dry, I remount to one of Andy's mandrels. I take the whole piece to an equal circumference using 60 grit on a sanding block. Then I rough shape using 80 grit on a sanding block or wood dowel for the concave sections depending on the grip shape. When it is rough shaped, I switch over to free handing with progressively finer grit. I've found that if I go slow and carefull, letting the paper do the work and checking often, I don't get scalloping.

Jerry....I'm just using regular cork..I understand Andy's cork is nice and will probably try some...from what I hear it is much more dense than natural cork.

Stan...Is your wood already round when you glue it up? I am turning square wood to round then gluing it up.

I have my wood rounded to approximately 1 1/4 " prior to glueing to approximately match the cork diameter.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"

Thanks guys! You're a valuable resource that I depend on!

Domenic Federico