I just got a power wrapper /cork lathe. Now I have glued up cork rings and sanded them just fine. Now I tried Burled cork rings and when I sand them down I get ring marks. did I just not clamp them tight enough or is this common?

I haven't noticed any glue rings with burl cork and I have been using burl more and more. I use rodbuilders epoxy glue. Sometimes the hole is a tight fit on the mandrel and it may take a little more pressure to get the middle ones tightened up.

Because of the "grain" involved, the line will be more noticeable.

You'll always have lines between each ring. Stack some up with no glue whatsoever and you'll still have visible lines.

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

If they are not acceptable to you and the joints are strong you can always flock them. It is very easy to do. and makes a nice looking handle

you can e-mail me for details.

bill.eshelman@yahoo.com

Ohio Rod Builders

Canton, Ohio

Jeff,
I have used a lot of bulred cork and have not noticed any glue lines at all with either burled or rubberized cork.

The times that I have noticed quite visible glue lines were the times that I used bleached natural cork. For that cork, the glue line was very pronounced.

My guess is that, as you suggested, you did not use enough pressure on the cork, and or you simply put too much glue on the cork themselves.

You need a film of glue on the cork, and not much more. Or, if you put more glue than a film, you need enough pressure on the clamp to squeeze out the excess glue.

Both burled as well as rubberized cork are much harder than natural cork so they can stand up to more pressure. Also, it is pretty important when sanding either burled or rubberized cork, that you use a backing board on your sanpaper. If you don't, there will be a ridge formed from the harder material. It may be possible that you are seeing a glue line, because you are not using a backing board when sanding.

P.S.,
Another trick that I have found works, is that for some cork, you may find it to your advantate to lightly sand the face of each side of each cork ring before beginning to glue the cork. It seems that some rings seem to have a finish of some sort on the rings which can end up causing a glue line. I have only found this in a couple batches of cork, but you might have run into one of these batches.

Roger

They may look better if you use less glue and put more pressure when squeezing them together.
I use rod bond and you don't need much.

Bill - willierods.com

Ralph O'Quinn (formulator of Rod Bond) always recommends and demos in his workshops on his method of using it. He uses a Popsicle stick to apply a THIN coat to each piece and then scrapes as much as he can off with a stick, leaving both surface's wet

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

I find when I put three small dabs on a ring then place another on top of it - turn about 8 times then go to the next ring I get them coated well and none have failed me . putting them on a threaded rod and tighten hard - no rings.

Bill - willierods.com

The people who are using my rods have no complaints about lines between the rings. They appreciate the quality of the rods for fishing. I think you may be overreacting to an issue which really is not an issue. If you want no discernible line then you may need to consider using a grip material other than cork. That may lead you to materials that have other problems. I really think if you are going to use a material like cork, you are going to be able to see where on cork ring ends and another begins. That may be part of the beauty of natural materials. I bought some "burl" cork rings and found that while I couldn't see the line between rings, they looked like particle board. So uniform it was unatural.