Does anyone know how much heavier regular burl is as compared to natural cork. I don't have any scales or natural cork on hand and I haven't found what I'm looking for in the archives. I just finished a 13" grip using regular burl and it seems quite heavy, although it looks rather nice. I am building on a Rainshadow RX7 flipping blank rated for up to 2.5oz. and is 7' long. I am a little disapointed in the weight of this blank. I ordered the blank after seeing on Batson's website that the blank weighed in at 3.05 oz., but after recieving a hard copy of the catalog, it shows the blank weighing in at 3.8oz which I was told was more current. Right now I'm torn between using natural cork and keeping the overall weight down, or using the heavier burl to help balance out the rod. I know I can go to a split grip, but the guy I'm building for doesn't want it. However, I plan to build one for myself in the future and it will have a split grip. What do you guys think would be my best bet weight wise for the full grip. Less overall weight, or a little heavier in the butt to help balance out the tip? I am I'm no way talking down Batson Ent. or the blank 'cause I think the blank is great. Really good value. Just wished I had known the true weight of the blank before purchase. Thanks guys.

TJ

The burl is heavier and by quite a bit. Weigh 10 rings of each and then average to get a good idea of the weight per ring of each type.

You can always bore out the center of the burl grip and use an arbor or bushing of lightweight brick or urethane foam if weight is a major concern. Rod builders often do this with burl, exotic cork or wood grips.

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It would be difficult to say with accuracy how much heavier burl cork is than natural cork. The range in weight difference is wide as burl cork varies considerably depending on the binding agent and natural cork also varies somewhat. Some burl cork can be considerably heavier than natural however. If you are interested in component weight you may need to look for a set of postal scales in an office supply store or a set of powder scales designed for reloading. They both are relatively inexpensive and will reveal interesting information when comparing components. Some weight comparisons are surprising.

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

This past weekend, we pulled out a scale so accurate that the numbers jump up and down when you blow on it. The composite burl rings that we used weighed in at slightly more than 3X natural cork.

Tim,
The weight of burl cork varies considerably from supplier to supplier. The reason being that composite materials like we call "Burl" are available in a multitude of different densities and configurations. The problem is that most suppliers accept whatever density the manf. sends them, even though the quality may be less than perfect, many aren't even aware that there is a choice when having these materials manufactured. A denser material while heavier is less prone to chipping and flaking and quite simply looks A LOT better than lower density materials. Lower density materials have the same problem natural cork does, hich are seen as small holes and fissures, that sometimes are large enough they actually need to be filled.

While one person may come up with a weight 3x heavier, another may come up with one 5x heavier and so on, your best bet is to find a supplier that can reccomend a specific product for your application and what you're tryin to achieve....and in addition tell you what density you're getting and if possible give you some weights as well.

Andy Dear
Lamar Fishing Products

Angler's Workshop Superfine cork - 25
C&D Trading Green Burl - 71
Lamar Burnt Burl - 95
C&D Trading Rubberized ring - 96


Just randomly grabbed a 1/2" thick ring out of each of those bins. Weight is in grains.


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Better to have and not need than to need and not have.

Piggybacking on this thread: Assuming one uses regular cork, any guess or actual measurment how much weight flocking adds to the grip?

Thanks,
Mo

One thing you guys need to keep in mind when weighing my exotic burl. My rings are BIGGER than 1.25" in diameter. They are more like 1.35" dia, so when weighing for accuracy be sure you somehow account for the lager size of my rings....perhaps stick them on a lathe and shave them down to exactly the same dia. as the other ring being compared.


Andy Dear
Lamar Fishing

Thanks again guys for the expert insight. I'm still torn between a more balanced rod with a heavier butt, and a overall lighter rod. I guess the next one I'll try natural cork and see how I like that. Thanks again guys.
TJ

Really like Andy's stuff, just upgraded an old glass Fenwick Flippin' Stick. Customer is very pleased.

Personally, the minuscule weight gain in the butt area is not enough to prevent me from exclusively using Burl or wood. Andy's stuff is worth the extra weight. I primarily use split grips anyway. If weight is a real concern, overbore the cork and use Flexcoat arbors inside your Burl or wood. You can get some amazingly light grips this way

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!!

Simple Spiral wrap the rod and that will help also-if you haven't already planning on doing that.

DR

I would not worry about the weight of the handle on a stout flipping stick like that... a balenced rod will wear you out less at the end of the day than a lighter one with the regular cork that is not as balenced.

Gary - that is an excellent point!