First thanks to all for all the great info I have gained by reading the forum.

I am starting to play with wood grips and have seen what I believe are plexiglass rings that are used to transition between two different materials such as cork and wood. Are they plexiglass or something else and are there other types of material that are used. Plus could you tell me where are some places I might find these types of materials.

Thanks Alan

Alan,
I believe the rings you have seen are probably made from 1" lucite dowel rods. They are the same material bowling balls are made from. the material lathes well and can be fine sanded and polished to a high shine with a buffing wheel. It comes in different lengths but the preferred diameter is 1". It also comes in different colors. However, some color options are a transparent look and are subject to show the blank through the color so stick with the solid colors or darker transparent ones. If you buy 2 60" lengths of black and white....you'll have plenty for trim bands for alot of rods.

A quick google of Lucite rods will return alot of different results for industrial plastics companies. Be careful and do not purchase acrylic rods. These look similar but are very brittle and not as easy to work with.

Another material used for trim bands is Corian countertop material. comes in alot of colors including black and white. It is 1/2 inch thick sheets and can be cut into rings using a holesaw 1 1/4" with a 1/4 inch pilot. This material can be lathed, sanded and polished to a shiny finish as well. You are limited to 1/2" thick rings because of the thickness unless your really good with a belt sander.

Both materials are completely weather proof and perfect for rod building. However without a lathe to turn them, I wouldn't recommend using either as sanding from a raw state to finished product would be almost impossible.

I'm sure some others could post a few links to where the lucite rods are available at. search the site here for lucite and a few links will show up from earlier posts on this topic.

You can use any type of plastics you can find. When you go food shopping, check the colors of the dinner plats that they have, they can also be doubled up for thicker ones if need be. The list is almost endless.
Different types of woods. A little imagination.

Thank you both. Work has been nuts so I have not had time to start my search, maybe sometime this week end but now I at least have an idea of what I am after.