i've been doing alot of reading and i've learned that sandpaper is the main tool to use in shaping cork.
well, can i use sharp chisels to shape cork too?
thank you.

please dont be alarmed, my name comes up often asking questions, i'm as green as it gets.

Not really. Cork is just soft enough that it doesn't cut cleanly. However, you do need to use a half-round scraper on the cylinder before shaping to get it concentric to the center bore. Otherwise, the sandpaper will just float on whatever you started with and the outside may be off-center to the inside bore.

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Ridge;
You're welcome to try it, but cork is so soft compared to wood that you run a high risk of tearing it out in chunks rather than taking a nice clean shaving like with wood. I like to use pieces of red aluminum oxide sanding belt, it lasts a lot longer and I get old 6"x5' belts from my old bosses edge sander, they last for ages. 60 or 80 grit takes off cork in a hurry, 120 or 150 smooths it out well and finishing with 400 leaves a real nice surface.
john

In addition to the other comments, the use of backing boards behind the sandpaper may help.
Most of the time, the use of sandpaper looped around the spinning handle worke very well.
However, if you have glue ridges to cut through, or if you have two different kinds of material in the handle - for example a natural cork and a rubberized cork, use the backing board to keep the sanding level.
If you don't use the backing board, you will have the softer material cut faster and gouge out.

Take care
Roger

I do not have a wood lathe. So to "round" stabilized wood from square to rings I chuck in a large drill press running at 2400 RPM and round the squares using a belt sander running counter to the drill press rotation. Works very well. The next time I shape a grip on a blank using the FlexCoat wcork lathe I am going to try the belt sander, gently, with 50 grit to rould the grip. Let the cork "bump" on the sander until round. I think it will work.
Herb

If you want to make the cork concentric around the hole, you need to use a tool and a tool rest, not sandpaper.

Tom mentions a round nose scraper, which will work but it has to be very sharp. An alternative that I know Tom uses as well is a stanley surform tool, or a coarse flat wood rasp. make sure you use the tool rest when removing initial material until all the surfaces have been formed by your chosen tool. If you set the tool on the rest, then present it to the material for a bit, then remove it, you'll see that only part of the surface has been removed (the high side). Just continue until all the surfaces have been touched. You should square the ends with a bastard mill file as well. The bastard file can be used as a parting tool to create shoulders and ridges, just like a parting tool for wood turning.

Once the piece is concentric, then you can move to the sandpaper to get the final shape and finish desired.

Hope this helps. Get Andy's DVD on turning cork and reelseats. You'll find it most helpful.

Terry

thank you very much guys. i'll get the DVD.
anyways, here are the tools that i need

1- half-round scraper
2- stanley surform tool
3- coarse flat wood rasp
4- bastard mill file

to move on, can somebody link me to this tools please, like pictures? i dont know much about tools, i know some screwdrivers and pliers and those things that my dad use to cut pipes and that's it. am not tool savvy. i'm regretting not spending time with my dad in garage, i could've known more about tools. much of my life was wasted on video games.

Ridge,

I'll add one more for you to consider. Bill Stevens introduced something that is perfect for dealing with turning cork. Go to your local pharmacy in the foot care section and get a callous remover. I got one at Wal Mart that has the raspy side on one side, and sandpaper on the other, works great. I also use a surfom sometimes, but you have to be real careful with it, it takes down material VERY quikly and you can ruin a grip in a hurry.

Bill in WV

I glue different grits of sandpaper to paint paddles-I use them resting on their edge on the drill press table I turn cork on. This allows me to maintain a distance from the spinning grip that allows it to only contact the "high spots" as Terry mentioned. The table affords a rest of sorts. Also as he said once you are contacting all of the circumference-then it is concentric. I have found a way to use sandpaper to create a concentric grip, as Herb has. Slightly different paths to the same destination. Designs born of necessity.

Chris

Ridge,

Try this for a file set.
[www.homedepot.com]

It contains both types of files. Make sure that the bastard mill file (the one with the finest cutting surface) has a file surface on the narrow edge as well as the wide edge. You'll need this for parting and cutting shoulders. Some of the inexepensive files don't have this surface machined.

This is all I could find for a surform picture. There are models that are longer that look more like a file. I would stick with the wood rasp as it's more forgiving and easier to learn with.
[www.lowes.com]

Here is a picture of a round nose scraper. [www.woodcraft.com]
I generally don't use lathe turning tools on cork much, unless I'm putting in a sharp feature that I can't get with sandpaper. With some of the composite corks, the lathe tools come in handy as it's much tougher stuff. A spindle gouge is also handy and can be used for lot's of other features as well. Here's a picture of this one.
[www.woodcraft.com]

Hope this helps. Shoot me an email if you have more questions.

Terry

Chris,
Before I tried the belt sander I also glued 80 grit to a piecs of poplar and let the grip "bump" on the now-rigid wood backed sandpaper until round. I think using a sureform tool, which I also use, is the same princple.
You just have to be careful and patient not to "push" the sandpaper into the cork. Let it bump.
Herb

I found that I prefer a flat scraper rather than a round nose scraper for a nice straight or flat surface for the first shaping of the cork. My suggestion is to get some cheap cork and do some practicing. In the long run this is an investment which will pay off.

John
God bless the troops and USA

My tool for forming cork is the flat side of an old horseshoeing rasp, then go to sandpaper for finishing. Do not use the tooth side of the rasp or you'll have no cork left.

I use the Sureform to knock off the epoxy ridges but the round nose scraper to get the cylinder concentric.

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other than woodcrafter, wher else can i get the round nose scraper? does home depot or lowes have it?
thanks.

If you are near Harbor Freight you can probably get a cheap set of turning tools which will likely have what you need.

Right, for this task it doesn't have to be a high quality tool - almost any brand or quality scraper will work.

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I use RED DEVEL DRAGON SKIN if you can find it , It is matalic and shapes cork very easy without gouging.
Joe

As Tom said, nearly any sharp tool will work fine.
I piecked up a set of nice high quality wood chisels that have razor edges on them for much of my turning.
These shorter handled, narrower bladed edges seem to work very well for turning handles.

Take care
Roger