Client's asking about using burnt burl cork for an entire grip (likes the color) including a cover for a KDPS hood.

I haven't used it before....how does it compare to regular cork or composite cork in the hand?

Any tips or tricks to using it, particularly the hood cover? Will it hold up like the other types of rings or block cork?

Thanks in advance!

Scott,
Yes, burl cork will work just fine for an entire handle.
There are quite a few variations of burl cork. Some fine grind, some coarse grind, and some large chunks, all pressed and glued together.

One of the things to consider is the weight of the particular material that you are using.

Since any of the burl or rubberized cork, is made from pieces of cork that are glued together with some sort of adhesive, you will normally have a heavier burl or rubberized cork material than natural cork. i.e. natural cord does not contain any adhesive which is normally heavier than the natural cork product.

The one important thing to consider when making a handle entirely of a burl or rubberized cork product is the machinging of the material.
Since the burl and or rubberized cork products are much harder than natural cork, you have to be careful if you mix the materials.
i.e. if you have all burl, all rubberized, or all natural cork, you will find that the materials in each handle - composed entirely of one product will have a constant machining or sanding rate.

However, if you have a piece of natural cork next to a piece of burl or a piece of rubberized cork, you will need to use a backing board when sanding and be very careful, if you are using lathe tools when machiing the hadle. i.e. b e aware of the different hardness levels of the different cork materials.

Having said all of that, if you make a handle entirely of a single material - like burl cork, you will find that it will make a great appearing and a very long wearing cork handle.
The thing that you want to do when machining or sanding this burl or rubberized material that you want to normally start with a much coarser grit sand paper and always use a backing board during the sanding process. The coarser paper or the use of a stanly surform file will nicely quickly shape the harder cork. Then, just use your normal finer grits of paper until you get the effect that you desire.


One of the very big advantages of any of the man made cork - burl, rubberized, or chunk cork, is that the finished product will have 0 flaws. Since all of the cork pieces are gound up and glued together with adhesive, there will be 0 voids anywhere in the material. As a result, there will be 0 voids in the handle and you will need 0 filler for the final handle.

As long as you can live with the weight difference, you will have a great long wearing handle if you use all burl, all rubberized, or all chunk cork for your handle material.

Take care
Roger

I use burl cork as my handle of choice whenever weight is not critical. In place of a butt cap, I use a rubberized cork disk glued to the bottom position in the rear grip.
Burl cork is beautiful, wears very well, accepts U-40 Cork Seal and feels good in the hand. I use brown burl rather than burnt (personal preference), but it is also available in red, blue, etc.
I also have a few "plugs" made of burl cork that can be used to plug the center hole of the bottom ring of the rear grip should the rubberized disk not be desired by the client. (I also make disks of exotic hard wood to use in place of the rubberized cork...a nice touch.
Best of all, the cork is cost effective. At $0.55/ring average for 1/2" thick rings, I can easily sell a burl cork handle at $1.10/inch...about $20 on a spinning rod for material. With top grade "flor" rings selling most places for around $4.00/ring, that translates into $80 in material for the same handle.
In short: I LOVE burl cork.

I learned my lesson early with the composite corks. I now always drill out my handles and glue in brick foam arbors to cut down on weight.

Regards
Dave

Fishing is Life the rest is just Details

I use the burnt cork all the time, and mix with natural cork and burl, with trim rings and such, but as Roger said it does make the shaping rather tricky. Also it can be a pure devil to try and ream. I burned out the sandpaper on my reamer twice on a set of 3 grips for fly rods I made recently. If you are going to make a grip out of all burnt cork I think I would ream each ring individually and then glue up the rings. Otherwise it does make nice grips.

Matt Smith
Greensboro, NC

Composite cork works VERY well for grips. IMO, it is much more durable AND more comfortable, since it is very firm. You can do more in respect to design, color, etc. as well. The downside is weight ... about three times the weight of natural cork. Mixing natural and composite is one possible answer to the weight issue. I don't have any issue with keeping mixed grips concentric using a lathe and proper cutting tools. Reaming doesn't create an issue either via the selection of a mandrel sized just under the necessary diameter. Admittedly, I do have a wide range of sizes to choose from. At this point, my total shop usage is 50/50 ... natural/composite.