I understand that there are two reasons to form a fly rod grip on a threaded rod i/s of the blank. And both would necessitate removing the cork and starting again:

1. A bad piece of cork
2. A mistake in shaping cork.

Is there a reason one could not form an UNGLUED grip on a threaded rod and complete 90% of the shaping. Transfer and glue the partially shaped grip to the blank for the final finishing?
If one ran a pencil line down the length of the grip, the cork could be oriented the same as on the threaded rod. I guess you would have to be pretty accurate re enlarging the holes because you will have less "meat" on the rings.

Has anyone tried this?

Herb

The best way to shape a cork grip is to glue the rings together on one of Andy's mandrels, put it in a lathe and shape it to the final dimensions. Then remove it from the mandrel, ream the hole if needed and mount it on the blank. If what you're suggesting is to shape the grip without the rings being glued together, I think you're only asking for some some major headaches.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2006 11:03AM by Gerry Rhoades.

Theres more than one way to skin a cat, but it sounds like this might be trouble, turning cork with the individual cork rings held together by compression alone.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2006 11:03AM by Chris Karp.

I find that some of the cork I get is not all that good. Since I got a lathe and a set of Andy's mandrels, I aggree with Gary, this is better than going to a Jack Daniel's distillery and finding they have an open Bar. So if you have a bad cork or make a mistake you can junk it and start over and not be ripping stuff off you new blank. No seriously turning the cork and then fitting them to your blank can save you a lot of steps.

Big John
Rio Hondo, Texas
Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting

I guess I would ask is the a valid reason to finish it on the blank? As the others have said finish seperately, be completely happy with it and then mount it.
I have built grips on threaded rods, (drill Press) and on Mandrels (lathe), and would never consider building it on the blank and damaging an expensive blank.
Just my opinion.

Depending on the rod and how much reaming may be in store for me, I will individually ream (or drill then ream) the rings to fit the rod (an inch or two above its final position), and then glue them up on a mandrel that has had a similar taper built into it with something like duct tape. This is especially handy with burl cork which is dense enough to be a pain to ream once formed into a grip. I've had problems before with over-reaming or reaming out of round, and with this method I get a very solid fitting grip. You can turn the grip using the "shaped" mandrel as well. For me the trade-off of a little extra time is worth the fit.

==dave==