I'm wondering how many of you out there are making cork handles the old school way. i.e. reaming each ring and fitting them to the blank before gluing up and turning on a mandrel.
My buddy was telling me that several of the builders he knows are still doing it this way. While I glue up my rings, turn and finally ream and install.
He says doing it the old way results in a better fit than reaming after the handle has been turned. I can see his point to some extent but I can also see problems with turning a handle that has been already reamed. Especially having to build up tape on the mandrel to center the handle properly.

So what do you think Old School or New?
Inquiring minds want to know!!!!

Regards
Dave

Fishing is Life the rest is just Details

Myself I use different size mandrels to match as close as I can to the blank diameter so I have very little reaming to do to make it fit the blank. The way your buddy is doing it, I could see a bit of a problem unless he is using a tapered mandrel.

If he is reaming and gluing rings on the blank, then he is not using a mandrel. The blank is his mandrel.

The idea is that because he is reaming each ring individually, the fit should be more precise than reaming an entire cork cylinder which could possibly contain areas that aren't perfectly fitted to the rod blank.

The key to doing a good job with the latter, is to bore each ring to fit a mandrel that is very close in size to the area on the blank where the grip is going to reside. This leaves you very little actual reaming to do which results in less chance of mis-fitting the taper anywhere along the inside of the grip.

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

I had rather ream the the whole grip than have to build up tape on the mandrel, too much trouble and too time consuming. With the advent of the Dream Reamers, it's a snap to get a perfect fit of grip and blank. I start with a 6 fluted tapered steel reamer of the proper size, in a cordless drill, then finish off with the Dream Reamer to get a perfect glue up fit.

J.B.Hunt
Bowling Green, KY

Again, if he's reaming each individual ring and fitting them to the blank, he isn't having to use tape. That's the point of doing them that way - so that you won't have an imperfect taper inside the grip which would otherwise some type of shimming.

...........

Of all the returns I have seen over the years ... NONE for loose grips. Proper mandrel selection cuts down on the reaming AND keeps things concentric. Proper reaming to a final fit, paired with adequate blank preparation (water-break free) and proper mixing and application of Rod Bond will go a LONG way to getting the same results, IMO.

Mandrels are my preferred method of operation. I have formed grips on the blank and noticed ZERO improvement in quality, but a serious upswing in needed medications. Nothing makes me more nervous than a high-dollar blank at 2,000rpm.

Tom it's not my buddy doing this it's several builders he knows.
They are not gluing and turning on the blank.
First they prefit the rings to the blank. Next they remove the rings and place on a mandrel (using tape to build up the mandrel taper).
They then glue up and turn the handle blank before installing on the blank.
Seems like a lot of work to me to get that perfect cork to blank fit.
Just my .02

Regards
Dave

Fishing is Life the rest is just Details

If that's what they're doing, it is indeed a lot of unnecessary work.

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

Dave,
I do each composite (burl) ring individually then finish the handle on the blank (ream, glue, turn). Cork I turn on a mandrel to size/shape rather than directly on the blank. then ream the finished handle. I feel comfortable that I will not have deep pits or significant irregularities in the composites - but cork can have serious imperfections that I don't want on a finished rod.
Ken

I still like the threaded rod to glue the rings. Then ream to fit under sized mandrel. Shape. Finish out side as to any finish to apply. Then final ream to fit blank. If I make a mistack, I can cut, replace any rings. Re-glue and re-turn.

Bill - willierods.com

That's the way I do it Bill.

Ken
I don't use low grade cork and as such have now worries about chunks falling out when reaming.
I only use CG2 or better and will use composite on most builds. I also use a 5/8" pilot bit to bore out the composite cork handle to accept a #16 brick foam arbor to reduce weight.

Regards
Dave

Fishing is Life the rest is just Details

Dave,
I don't use "bottom of the barrel" cork either but I've had issues with veining on some pieces - where it isn't apparent until you start shaping so I just got into a habit of turning all cork off the rod then doing final fitting later. I really like your approach with the brick foam - single bore; brick foam then ream. Reaming brick foam is a whole lot faster and probably easier to get to tolerance than quicker than composite! Great approach - faster and lighter too
Ken

Ken
The brick foam thing I find is the only way to go with composite or wood grips as you cut out over 50% of the weight.
The only thing to remember is to not go too far as you don't want to see brick foam where the rear handle and seat join or at the area where the front handle ends.
A no brainer but one brain fart and you have just ruined the handle. :)

Regards
Dave

Fishing is Life the rest is just Details

I fit each ring to the black, glue it up, and turn the grip on the rod....perfect fit everytime. Didn't know it was old school.

Like most everything in rod building, there's more than one way to get there. I prefer to ream my cork one ring at a time. I get a better fit that way. I also prefer to turn the grip before gluing it to the blank so if I run into a defect I can't live with or screw it up, I don't have to deal with getting it off the blank.

I ream and fit the rings to the blank. Strip them off in order and apply glue to one face. The first ring goes on the blank. The next ring has glue applied to the dry face and is slid down to the first one. When all the rings are on the blank and situated, the clamp goes on and gets tightened to get 3/16 to a 1/4 inch of compression. I then slide the blank out of the stack, wipe it off and let the cork cure. When the glue is cured, I release the clamp, slide the grip back on the blank, mount it in the lathe and shape it. My blanks aren't round, but I think it would turn just as well on a round blank. There isn't a lot of torque involved with sanding cork. If I like the shape, fit, and feel of the grip I glue it to the blank, if not a new one gets glued up.

... if you do this, don't drop the clamped stack on the floor before the glue sets - sproing!

Larry Lohkamp

Build it on a brass hardware rod wiped down the paraffin wax, clamp, let cure. Pop off brass rod, slide grip onto mandrel, cut grip on lathe. Use flex coat bits to ream close to blank, finish ream by hand if needed (rarely needed, you can even use two sizes of bits from each end to make the taper), epoxy grip on blank, done. Never had a loose grip, rarely ever use a winding check.

DR

Dave I have recently put something on my blog about your talking about. The only way to go with burl cork and wood

[solwaycustomcomponents.blogspot.com]

Dave & Scott - For burl I use a 3/4" Flex Coat bit and use 20mm foam arbors. It really saves weight and I hate reaming burl.

For regular cork I glue on a threaded rod or a clamp, turn it, ream it...done. Cork has a bit of elasticity. The rings don't need to fit perfectly in my humble opinion. For me, it would flat out stink to glue rings on a blank and have something go wrong during the turning.

Chuck

I individually ream the rings for all my cork handles, but I have, out of necessity, sped up the process in recent years.
When I began building some 35 years ago, I used a chain saw file to ream each ring. I would use a ball-point pen and number each ring from the butt of the rod forward. The fit was great, and it took FOREVER.
Now, with arthritis taking a bit more of my dexterity every day, and using very dense burl cork almost exclusively, I made a small adjustment that has been a godsend.

I purchased a drill press from Harbor Freight for $39.00, and a set of three cone-shaped, stepped bits for around $6.00. I can drill the rings for most rods using a single bit, although some of my Shikari blanks built with extended grips require two different bits. It takes me about 2 minutes to ream the cork for a spinning rod (butt and fore grips), and the fit is better than I could achieve with a hand reamer: perfectly concentric holes

To glue up a handle, here's what I do: As the cork rings are drilled, I simply stack them, largest bore to the smallest. I end up with two stacks: one for the butt grip and one for the fore grip.
I use U-40 Rod Bond because it stays where I apply it with minimum spread, and for the extended working life. Starting with the bottom butt ring, I glue each ring to to the blank and to the next ring above it. A small bit of U-40 is spread on the cork with all excess removed before pushing the rings together. Once the butt is done, I attach the reel seat using either arbors or drywall fiberglass tape, Then the fore grip is attached to the blank the same way as the butt grip.
The whole thing goes into my grip clamp (the threaded rod/hardwood clamp type), and slightly compressed by tightening the clamp nuts. Make sure you measure the distance between the two clamp pieces where the rod passes through on both sides. They need to be even. If the distance is a bit longer on one side than the other, tighten that side down a bit more until it is even.
Once the epoxy has set, I shape the cork on the lathe (I used to do this with a belt/disc sander, but the rod lathe makes the whole thing much easier).
It actually took longer to write this than it does to build a grip this way: I glued up a handle just before writing this post. Total time start to finish: 18 minutes. Time to write this post: about 20.
Is this the best way to do it? Truthfully, I'm not sure there is a "best" way. It works for me, and I know that the cork is perfectly fitted to the blank. In the many, many rods I have built over the years, I have never had a problem with the cork/reel seat coming loose. But try different things and find and refine what works for you. All roads lead to Rome...the difference is the time it takes to get there and the view along the way.

Success is the result of making good choices. Making good choices is the result of experience. Experience is often the result of making bad choices.

Chuck
That's pretty much the same as what I do except for the arbor/drill size.
I use the 5/8" pilot drill so I have more leeway on finished diameter.
Especially with half wells and other non-uniform handles.

Regards
Dave

Fishing is Life the rest is just Details