I use to make rods on a commercial basis for the tackle shop I ran way back in the late 60s -early 70s here in S E England ! now retired , I have just started making cane rods for for hobby ! as for "corking up" handles if you have a lathe with a large enough bore through the machine , having the corks on the butt section was always my preference ! and I very seldom had to bore any out, I had corks with different bores , so I could, by practice. select ones that pushed down the blank and fitted snug. and all I used to glue them with was some overly thick polyurethane varnish! never had ,to my knowledge one come adrift. happy days !

Craig,
How did it workout for you?
Herb

I've been on a brief vacation away from home, so have not yet tried to build the steady rest. I should be back in Nevada Friday night, so I'll have to start the project then. Since the drive shaft from the drill inserts into the butt end of the first (cork handle) section, obviously the first cork piece will have to have a hole in it. Any suggestions for building a plug for this hole? I've thought I might be able to epoxy a little cork on the end of a piece of steel (like a nail head) and then turn it to size. Then slice it off and insert it. But perhaps there is a better way? Maybe roughly shape, then insert, then sand?

I've been on a brief vacation away from home, so have not yet tried to build the steady rest. I should be back in Nevada Friday night, so I'll have to start the project then. Since the drive shaft from the drill inserts into the butt end of the first (cork handle) section, obviously the first cork piece will have to have a hole in it. Any suggestions for building a plug for this hole? I've thought I might be able to epoxy a little cork on the end of a piece of steel (like a nail head) and then turn it to size. Then slice it off and insert it. But perhaps there is a better way? Maybe roughly shape, then insert, then sand?

Just got home..... And I have cut out the base, and two bars for the horizontal pieces of the steady rest. Will aquire the bearings tomorrow.(I hope). Fortunately, my rod blank is hollow and it will accept the 5/16" "mandrell" inserted to turn it. I am optimistic that when the steady rest is done, the cork turning will go well.

The cork is done. I reamed the cork rings and epoxied the bottom section to the blank and cured. Epoxied the reel seat to the blank and the fore grip (it's a switch rod) to the blank and cured. I built a steady rest with a single bearing set in a wood block, and mounted the butt section of my rod between the steady rest, and a mounted drill motor. Both end supports were screwed to my bench. The butt section skewered onto a drill bit with masking tape used to adjust the OD to fit the blank. The equipment was rather crude, and I had to stop many times to re-skewer the butt on the drill, but the end product is dandy. The only thing I would definately change is I would use an arbor to make certain the reel seat is concentric with the blank. It showed some wobble on my lathe. I can't see how this wobble will impact the fishability of the rod.