I make up my cork handle parts on a 1/4" stainless steel mandrel and turn them before removing the part for reaming and fitting to the blank. I have all kinds of problems getting the bore to stay perfectly central as I remove quite a bit of material to get some of the parts to fit my blanks. I am tempted to think the residual epoxy in the 1/4" bore is deflecting the reamers &/or drill bits or my natural unskilledness is contributing.

I have a wood lathe, a 3 jaw chuck and a drill chuck. To try to make boring 'idiot-proof' I have have thought it would be better to use the following process:

- Glue the rings onto the mandrel
- When cured, turn the piece to a nominal outside diameter
- Remove from the mandrel
- On the lathe, bore with drill bits until the drill bit is slightly smaller than the blank
- Turn to the finished shape/size and finish
- Final light reaming to fit the blank

I have come up with an idea for using a length of PVC pipe with a slit cut into it and a pipe clamp (or two) to grip and support the cork piece so it can be held securely in the 3-jaw chuck. The drill chuck. mounted into the lathe tail piece, can be used to bore the holes.

I have a couple questions:

- Does this seem reasonable? I will be trying it ...
- What type of drill bits would be best suited to this task?
- What lathe turning speed would create the cleanest bore with the least tearout?

-Steve

There is a much easier way. Bore your rings before gluing them up on the mandrel. If you have a self-centering chuck, or one of the cork boring jigs I outlined in the Sept/Oct '98 issue of RodMaker, it is a snap to bore them to whatever bore you wish.

If you will bore the cork rings to an inside diameter just slightly smaller than the smallest OD of the blank where the grip will reside, you can then turn them to whatever size and shape suits you and then just a few seconds with a hand reamer will yield the proper fit.

You will have to have a few larger mandrels in your quill other than the single 1/4 inch unit you have now. Lamar Reel Seats sells these in just about any size you could want.

...............

Steve and Tom ...
I may have really missed something here. I f you are discussing .25" cork slices that you are mouting on a mandrel then trying to remove ... why not ream each slice to the required outside diameter of the blank, mount them on the blank (epoxy under and contact cement between) put the rod with corks in a compression device (widely available or easy to make out of .25 inch threaded metal rods and wing nuts) allow to cure then finish the grip on the rod. PacBay has a fairly inexpensive rod lathe / dryer combination that works well for shaping hypalon and EVA as well as cork. I've been doing this for years this way - works for me and ensures that there are no cracked cork sections.
Ken

Lots of people either don't have a lathe that can handle an entire rod or just don't want to do it that way. I like the ability to make my grips on mandrels in case I make a boo-boo or something or just don't like the way the grip comes out. It also lets me use a small wood lathe that has plenty of power for turning.

I can also make up grips in advance for rods I know I will be building soon, even though I am waiting on the blanks. I'll be outside tomorrow weather permitting and probably will turn about 4 or 5 fly rod grips. I know the specs I need on them and will knock them all out in the same afternoon. Why make a mess 4 or 5 times when you can just make one big mess and do the clean up just one time!

You can make your grips on the blank or on a mandrel. I like the mandrel after having tried it both ways. Just gives me more flexibility.

I use the mandrels and also the cork reamers that John Knight helped me with on a visit that are suggested by Tom. Just E mail Andy and he can fix you right up. The cork reamers that Tom talked about are the quickest way for me. You can ream a cork handle in seconds.
Also, some of us are cautious and will not turn cork on the rod. One slip and you have damaged a rod.

Thanks. I understand where you all are coming from now. And I admit that I too use a small wood lathe (modified with a metal lathe three jaw
chuck) to turn rough "sticks" of hypalon. As you've pointed out it is much better to make one mess and clean up several grips' worth of "dust and disaster" rather than make one grip at a time.
Ken

Ken,

Fitting the rings to the blank and turning them on the rod is an equally good way to do things. It's just different. As with most things, it has its pros and cons. You do get a perfect fit and therefore a good bond between the blank and each ring, but you also run the risk of some extra work if you should happen to botch the turning job.

I'd say rod builders are split 50/50 on whether they turn their grips on the blank or on a mandrel. For most it comes down to the equipment they have or prefer to work with.

.................

One could say it's whatever one gets used to....the bugaboos of concentricity and positive bonding to the blank were the two big reason I still prefer to laminate direct to the blank. Especially concentricity. My eye did not like offset handles.

I had the local machine shop fabricate my rod lathe for less than the price of 2 Unimat 3 jaw chucks. It's 8 feet long, and will swing 6 inches, but uses a Unimat chuck. I wanted the high swing to be able to get me and the sandpaper close to and under the the chuck. Cork is 1.5" inch swing max. During lathe's lifespan, the rod building industry has made dramatic steps forward...so to start now, with today's mandrels, tools, and knowledge base, it would be a harder call. If the lathe ever wears out........

Most of the rods I do have a total of 26-27 inches of cork, which I found difficult to do on a mandrel. The grip is one long bit of cork, using a sliding reel seat, so the rodster can use the same rod for mooching, float fishing, and spoon casting, by repositioning the seat to suit the fishing style of the day.

Thanks for your feedback ... I choose to go the mandrel route because I want my grips to be 'perfect' before I mount them to very expensive blanks. I have tried directly bonding the rings to the blank, but I've messed up once or twice and hate to have to turn the handles down to a size just bigger than the blank and then adhere rings over them. I invariably mark up the reelseat.

Another reason is that I install inlays of composite cork (ala Meiser) into my handles and I use composite cork disks turned down to make buttcaps (I find black rubber buttcaps very ugly). This, for me, makes the use of mandrels more idiot proof. One final reason, is that I like to mount the parts to the rod, tape on the guides and shuffle the reelseat back and forth to ensure a really nice compromise between balance and ergonomics. I suppose this can be done with the direct method ... just personal preference I suppose.

-Steve