I want to make a fly grip with wood trim on both ends. I have used a preformed grip and cut the ends off and turn the wood trim to the shape of the ends I cut off to match them up to the cork part. my problem is when I match things up it needs a little sanding to make a smooth join.
When I sand the wood the cork gets sanded a little and if there is some filler in the cork it comes out. This makes the cork look not so good because it does not look the same as the rest of the cork. I tried wood glue and cork dust but it does not match well and is a pain to sand back down. What can I use to replace the filler?
Cheers Ron.

Use Elmers wood filler glue: Golden Oak

Not much help now but next time, you might want to either tape off the cork part or use a sanding block (wrap sandpaper around a small piece of wood) and carefully avoid the cork.

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!!

Sir:
Follow Calvins advice on using the filler.
Then, rather than sanding, just wipe the cork down with acetone on a clean rag.
The acetone will remove the excess filler, without pulling filler out of the cork, and you will not have any scratches.

Take care
Roger

Another trick is to use Cork Seal on the cork, which will darken it to a softter color a bit and probably match your wood quite nicely, unless the wood is a light shade of blond or something like that. The cork seal will also prevent the filler from coming off like that. You only need one coat and about 3-4hrs to let it dry and cure.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods