I have a new lathe and have been starting to make my own cork grips from gluing up the rings.
I bought some (estimated) grade CG3 rings (about $.60 ea) and some CG2 grade (about $1.20 ea.)

I started with the CG3 and turned my grip to size...wow, a lot of imperfections (pits, "lines", etc.) not real deep but doesn't look anywhere near as nice as finished grips I've bought for $6 -$8 ea.(rear grip).

So I turned a grip out of the CG2, it's better, but still many imperfections (mostly "lines" not deep just there)

I tried filling the voids and "lines" but many are not really deep enough to hold the filler. and make the imperfection look good.
What am I missing? should I dig out these areas a bit then fill?
What do they do on the purchased grips to make them look better?
I'm sure they're not using CG1 rings on a $6 grip.

Cork is a natural material. The "lines" are not imperfections and do not harm the cork at all. In fact, they tend to give it character in the same way that grain and figure give wood character.

If it won't hold paste, then there is no need to fill it.

The $6 grips are filled and bleached. Take one and scrub it with a brillo or Scotchbrite pad under water and then see what it looks like after it dries.

..........

Try Fishstix, Scott had some real nice cork. You shoul contact him buy phone
Paul

Paul@soonercustomrod.com

Steven,
Welcome to the world of handle making.
Also welcome to the world of current cork quality of 2010. Unfortunately with the demand world wide for cork products. the overall quality of cork rings available for rod building has been reduced from a few years ago.

Today, to get flawless cork that does not require any fillers generally require spending more for cork. Once in a while you can run across a batch of rings that are being sold by someone who has had them for a long time which will be exceptional.

Otherwise, shop well, buy right and enjoy the industry of making rods and handles.

To fill cork, one of the current ways that work quite well is to use Elmer's Golden Oak wood filler. It is easy to apply fills nicely and finishes well. Unfortunately, many of the cork products of today require a bit of filler to give a nice surface.

One thing that often helps in the world of todays cork is to purchase rings that are only 1/4 inch thick rather than 1/2 inch thick. It is easier to get cork with fewer voids in thinner cork as opposed to thicker cork.

Another option is to use a cork product rather than natural cork. i.e. rubberized cork, burled cork, or Laguna cork. These are all man made products with crushed, ground, or chopped cork that is pressed into a solid product with some sort of adhesive.
The up side of using such products is that there are 0 voids and 0 cracks. The down side is that the man made products will always be heavier than the natural cork due to the weight of the adhesive that holds the cork products together.

It sounds like you have a great start. Continue and you will be well pleased with your final products.

Take care
Roger

To me, all those natural aspects of the cork make the handle look nice, in my opinion. They do not affect the functionality of the handle at all, so I don't bother with filling them in at all. To me it gives the handle some character.

I have gotten to the point that I thin out my filler and just wipe it on the whole handle , if I see spots that settle I put on another coat on them. Let dry then put on a lath and fine sand. Clean and then seal.

Bill - willierods.com

I'm with Mike. I don't like filler at all. When I buy cork, I try to buy the highest grade or the next to highest grade of cork rings. Then, when I'm finished with my grip, I simply wipe on a couple coats of Tru-Oil. Initially, the Tru-Oil will darken the pits. However, as the oil gives the rest of the cork an amber tint, the darkness of the pits seems to lighten a little. You end up with a more "antique" cork look, but I really like it.

Filler makes the cork look really nice, white and pretty. But, as soon as rod is used, the filler begins to fall out, and that clean whitish look goes away. The cork with the Tru-Oil on it, however, looks the same years down the road.

Bill,
I do the same thing with one exception.
After putting on the filler and letting it almost dry, I go over the handle with a towel soaked in acetone. The idea is to remove any of the bulk filler that isn't filling any cracks without sanding the entire handle.
Then, I put it on the lathe for a fine sand. As a result of using the acetone first, it only takes me a few seconds of sanding to clean up the grip - as opposed to a minute or two with the possible removal of handle material that you really don't want to be off.

Take care
Roger

I don't fill mine at all either. I do sand it all the way down to 600 grit, however. Some people will think I am nuts, but I can tell a difference after I have fine sanded it. Then I use U40 cork seal on it and I am done. I guess the point is, all of this is a matter of personal preference.

Andrew,
It is fine for you to say that you buy the highest grade or next to highest grade cork that you can buy.
That is fine.
But it is quickly coming to the point where - what I would consider to be really decent cork - will be costing $5 per ring.
Now, if you have a standard full length grip rod with an 8 inch back grip and a 3 inch fore grip you are looking at 22 1/2 inch rings.
Now multiply 22X5 and you have $110 for really top grad cork for a handle.

This is simply an unreasonable amount to pay for a handle.

Even today, it is tough to find OK 1/2 inch cork rings for $1 each. Even at $1 each, that is $22 just for the rings, before you start to glue them up.

It is also quite likely that if you pay $1 per ring today, you will either end up with some pretty bad pits, or some filler in the worst of the pits.

If, you can share with us, where you can get "high quality" cork that you don't feel compelled to add filler, all of us would appreciate this source.

Take care
Roger

p.s.
When I speak of $5 per ring cork, I am making the case of trying to obtain cork rings today, that were commonly available for flawless quality fly rod cork that was routinely seen on virtually every fly rod of excellent quality being manufactured just 10 years ago or so.
This would be cork that would have a virtual absense of pits and virtually no cracks into which one could lodge a finger nail.

Cork of this quality is very few, far between, and if available - expensive by any measure.

Take care
Roger

For myself, I am not spending a whole lot for my cork, I just have come to the conclusion you are not going to get cork anymore without any pits in it and deal with it. I shape my handles how I want them and then seal with the U40 cork seal. If there are pits showing I don't let it bother me. I have yet to tell the difference in my hands that the pits make being there. It is all a mater of personal preference.

It's not me that I'm most concerned about, it's the customer.
You are building a custom rod and expectations are your overall product will look better than
what they can get in a store. For example if you look at the cork on a factory St. Croix rod in
Dick's or Bass Pro it looks very "clear" minimal pits or cracks.
Chances are as Tom said give it a year and it will look a lot different.
I'm just concerned with the first impression of my customer.

With that said I'm pretty fussy about my work (some call me a perfectionist) and I'm satisfied
with the results of my lathe turning job. I did have to use a bit of filler.

Thanks for everyone's inputs.

At times I am like Bill and put a thine layer of Golden Oak filler the is thinned down, let set a couple of days, sand down and cork seal. Then at times I take my carnauba/Beeswax, Using one of my Wife's nylons I apply the wax, using my lath I burnish the wax in till I see steam. For me I like the process because it leaves the cork with a Retina look some area are dark where other areas are light no one particular pattern. To me it looks cool. I know some guys/gals like the white look of cork. Question how does one bleach cork?

Good Wraps Bob

Roger:

My apologies. I didn't mean to imply that it was as easy (and cheap) as my initial post seemed to indicate. I should make several disclaimers.

1. I use as little cork on my bass rods as I can. My anglers who insist that they "need" a full cork grip just won't get it, unless they're prepared to pay 40 bucks for it. And, they quickly decide they can live with a split grip. My butt grips are 1" of cork and 1" of EVA butt cap. My mid grips are 2.5" or 3" of cork at most. Baitcast rods get no foregrip; spinning rods get a 3/4" or 1" button foregrip. So, I only ever put 5" of cork on any given rod.
2. My fly fishing anglers just know that a 7" fly grip is gonna' be mucho $$$$.
3. I'm not a cork snob at all. I consider a ring perfectly fine, even if it has a lot of striations in it. Lots of narrow pits on a ring is totally fine with me--it's a natural product and the thin "pits" are kinda' cool looking with the Tru-Oil. What I try not to use is the stuff with really wide pits (that require filling). FWIW, I have no expectation to ever see a perfect (or even great) cork ring again.
4. I'm starting to use more EVA (specifically the preformed stuff), and try to talk my customers into that. Folks have seen the big-name BASS pros using rods--even really expensive rods--that have EVA grips. That makes it easier to sell the EVA.

As Steven has pointed out, the problem is that the customer expects something. The customer expects the cork to look nice. It needs to be good quality cork with no filler, or it needs to be filled. I've just decided that I hate the filler falling out SO much, that I'd rather buy insanely pricey cork, OR put EVA on the grip. Just a personal preference. No expectation that any other builders "should" do it that way.

Question!! Are you buying retail? I live Fishing country We almost can and We do fish year around. I would never charge a Customer $40 bucks for a plain Jane cork handle. If my figures are right 3 inch foregrip = 6 cork, 13 inch butt = 23 cork Well known supplier charges 2.20 a ring on a 100 ring purchase. This is their top grade 4 AAAA. So you are charging 40 bucks you are shooting your self in the foot That is retail price. Find for the use of a better word. I buy Flor less than 75 cents a ring. I do searches all the time

Good Wraps Bob