i have been Turning grips and reel seats from Andy's exotic burl, but they take a huge amount of time. To get down to the approx. diameter before shaping the grip, reel seat, etc., i've been using a rasp. To shape i have been using 60 grit which works fine, but still takes a lot of time. Does anyone have a more effective method for this cork?

Thanks for the help

Carrington Tate

If you're using a lathe with tool rest, you can do it with a skew gouge. It can take some chunks out so be careful only to turn it down to the point where you can start working it with a rasp and sandpaper. Seems to work for me.

Scott Kinney
The Longest Cast Fly Rods
[www.thelongestcast.com]

I use a belt sander, not the hand held type, but one that is a base mount. I bought one at home depot and it takes a 4" X 36" belt. If needed I have a current picture of one. I can work down a handle that has ivory, wood and cork in about 5 minutes and get it close to the shape. Then place it in the lathe and 10 minutes of shaping and smoothing it is finished.

Good Luck.

Terry

I use Terry's method and it works great. I used to use a skew gouge but sometimes I would knock out a bit too much. Once on the lathe I use a long board with sandpaper on it to get the grip round and procede with the shaping.

Have you tried the dry wall sanding mesh in 60 grit? It works faster than paper as it doesn't load as easy.

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

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Don't shop for a cheap one - buy the Tweezerman.

Thanks for the great ideas, i appreciate the help.

Carrington Tate

Use a Stanley Sur-Form file. That's all it'll take to do the job very quickly.

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Another good one is at home depot a wood rasp. Flat on one side half round on the other. Has fine and very ruff grit. Takes a good amount off and is easy to hold, with two shapes to it About 8" long

I've gone to the Sur-Form; it was a True Value copy of Stanley's and it really does a good job. After that, I drop to the drywall open mesh and finish out the shaping with it.

Putter
Williston, ND

WoodCraft has a tool that also works well. It's similar to a Sur-Form but has a sharper, more precise, cutting surface.

Several interchangable grades of cutting surfaces (coarse to fine) are available. They're a little pricey, but cut all cork/wood better than the Sur-Form, IMO.

Stan

I've used all the above methods and also being an old horseshoer I use a horseshoe rasp. This is a double sided rasp with a corse and an extra corse side. Just be real careful using the extra corse side or you can take off too much or can take off a chunk of your own hide before you even know it. You can find these rasps in a farrier supply web site or if you know of a shoer you can get their old rasps after they are too dull for hooves, they will still be plenty sharp for cork.

Thanks again for all the help. I just went to the hardware store and picked up a Stanley sur-form, definitely looks like it will do the job. After my original post, i recalled the sur form from Tom's book. Thanks for all the replies!

Carrington Tate