I'm thinking of putting a foam insert in a cork grip I will be turning as an accent trim.

Do you have to use EVA foam or will the craft foam that you find at Michael's or A.C. Moore's work just as well? The foam I have is about 2mm in thickness and goes for about .50 cents a sheet. It doesn't say what kind of foam it is on the label.

Has anyone used that for an insert?

Thanks for the help.

-john

John, yes the craft foam will work with cork grips. Have used it many times myself.

Regards......Doug@
TCRds

John,
I have used the foam that I buy at Michael's with good results. As long as the foam is placed in between rings of cork, it holds up quite well. The problem that I did have was trying to glue the foam rings together using epoxy. Example: One black ring, one white ring, and one black ring. I then used Pliobond to glue the rings first. After a day or so I placed them together with the cork to make the handle. I don't use epoxy to make my handles. It is easier for me to use Weldbond's Universal Adhesive...water cleanup.

I use 2mm craft foam all the time...look at the few pix in my gallery and you will see them. The first time or two you use them stick with single layers until you get used to how they lathe and sand. They are kind of squishy withy a lathe tool...they bulge around and you really have to keep your tool sharp. When you sand it it disappears quick so use med to fine grit paper as 100 grit or coarser will almost rip it apart. Also, when you have a few rings in your cork and its on the cork clamp...be careful how much compression you apply....when you notice that all your foam inserts are starting to compress...thats enough. If you clamp it down too tight....when it dries, you will have different thicknesses of foam inserts. Good luck
Jeff

Use a LOT of craft foam in my grips! One thing, like Ellis said, epoxy won't work on foam to foam. You need to use contact cement, which works great. Cork or wood to foam, I use Rod Bond. Foam to foam, I use contact cement. This method works problem free for me. A recent issur of Rodmaker had an excellant article on this

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Thanks for the advice. I went back and checked your photo galleries. Nice work!

Jeff, I think I saw your DAV glued up grip which is what led to my questions.

-John

John, I have been using eva strips that I get from Merricks, they come in 1/4" , 1/2" widths and strips about 24" long by 2" wide. I have a wholesale permit so I can get them cheaper and Merricks only sells wholesale. But there are a lot of sponsors on this board that can get them for you also. They come in a large selection of colors, black, yellow, orange, gray, red, and more. I cut them with a hole saw 1 1/4" size and it works well, and the center hole is always centered and 1/4 inch in diameter. I too have also used foam sheets that I have purchased from Micheals craft store, they come in a packet in a large assortment of colors, but thin sheets. These I use an arbor press with a sharpened brass pipe coupler to press cut them. Another thing mentioned is that you will have to deal with compression factors , meaning the rings cut from the thicker inserts can vary in width depending on how much pressure you put on the cork setup during the drying process. I use titebond III glue for the cork rings and use either contact cement on the foam or rod bond, as mentioned in previous posts. The eva also is troublesome at times to sand to the same diamentions as the cork. But it is well worth the effort. The accent rings really add class to the handles. I also use plastic poker chips as well. But that is another story all by itself.