Shaping cork grip on a lathe is one of the more enjoyable aspects of rod building for me.

However, I don't really enjoying having to square up cork rings as I do it by hand on sand paper currently. A bit tedious. Good thing cork is soft.

Cork rings are sometimes not squared, or have a rough torn up face that won't glue smoothly so these have to be squared. How do you guys do this? Is there a small tool - power or otherwise that will do this quickly and by taking the minimum amount off?

I'm wondering of a mini disc sander would work best such as this little 4" disc sander?

[jarmactools.com]

That one cost more than I care to but I assume there are other similar units on the market that cost less? All suggestions welcome.

Thanks,
Mo

Mo:
You might want to make one. go to the photo page and click onto equipment and tools.Go to page ( 27 ) scrool down to cool tool by Michael Joyce. Sewing machine motor with a 3m sandind disc.
You can use free hand or mound it to a base.Maybe some scrounging around could end up real cheap.
Probably could find many uses for it in the work shop.

Hope this might help you out,good luck! <<<< DON >>>>

Mo-
I use a disk sander about this size, with two main differences:

1. It also has a 1" vertical belt sander incorporated into the tool, and 2. It cost under $40. Harbor Freight. I have used it for years, and it works like a dream for squaring cork rings, grinding guide feet, etc. Before I got my lathe, I used it to shape cork grips (on the rod) with good results.

POOF ... [www.mudhole.com]

Gary, thanks. I'll have to check with Harbor Freight. Thanks for the suggestion.

OK, there's a Harbor Freight unit for $29.99. Cheap enough. It is 11,000 rpm! Does anyone know if this is too fast for cork is that OK? I read of very fast disc sanders scorching wood.

Jim, I see the mudhold rig and the other pics that I missed the first time through. Thanks. Makes sense.

Mo



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2009 10:33AM by Mo Yang.

Mo Yang Wrote:
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> It is 11,000 rpm! Does anyone know if this is too fast for cork is that OK?
>
> Mo


Cutting = faster
Drilling and sanding = slower

I use 3,000 to 4,000 for cutting and 500 to 1,000 for everything else. Of course, everyone has their own methods.

I square both cork and foam after it's been installed on the blank. The reason why.....in case the center hole is not perfectly centered to the OD of grip material. I've squared it up on a mandrel using a rasp, then installed and found that the end is perfectly straight, but it's on a bit of an angle so where it meets a reel seat or butt cap there is a tiny gap and I had to resquare it up again. I ran into the same exact problem when I would "Free square" teh end of the cork on the disk sander. TEH slightest mistake (aka: not keeping the grip 100% perpendicular to teh abrasive) resulted in a tiny gap between materials when glued up.

I'm not saying you can't do it, but if you find yourself running into the problem I outlined, at least you'll know why.

Thanks everyone!

Billy, I hear you on the center not being aligned. That one, I just push a bit harder when gluing and it works as there's flex. Of course, I've not had any that is grossly misaligned in the center.

Mo



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2009 10:34AM by Mo Yang.