What are you using to glue cork rings together?

Don

Titebond III

Titebond III also.

Don

I use contact cement, Pilo bond or Weldwood I stack them on a Teflon rod and clamp it tightly for 24 hrs. After sanding there are no glue lines felt to the touch.

John

anyone using regular wood glue? will it hold up fine? it seems to be strong and no glue lines.

Don,
What is your definition of "regular wood glue?"

Actually titebond III is "regular wood glue".

Take care
Roger

Tightbond III for me also. It is plenty strong, waterproof and if done correctly will leave no glue line. I have also used Rod Bond but prefer the easy water cleanup and no mixing of Tightbbond. Don't know how many rings you could glue with a bottle but it would have to be in the thousands!

Thank you all, the first few grips i made I used epoxy and had awful glue lines so I switched to wood glue. I just wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing

Don,
You indicated that you used epoxy and had awful glue lines.
Can you expand on that?

i.e. did you have awful glue lines that were difficult to clean up.

Did you have awful glue lines that you could not sand or clean up?

Or after getting a velvet smooth finish on the handle, did you have objectionable visible glue lines that were smooth and matched the handle but were simply visible?

The reason that I ask the question is that many many rod builders use epoxy to glue up their cork all of the time. This is especially common if the cork is glued to each other and to the blank at the same time.
Then, the entire rod is spun and the handle is shaped as the entire assembly is spinning.

I have made many many rods this way and generally always use 30 minute epoxy to glue up the cork to each other and to the blank at the same time.
When the glue has set, I simply use a Stanley Surform planer to cut the glue line off of the cork. Then, drop to 100 grit sandpaper for rough shaping and then on down to 400 grit through all of the other grits for the final finish.

Unless there is an issue with the cork itself, I seldom have a visible glue line. The one place that I have had glue lines, is that if I am using some certain types of bleached cork. In those cases, the bleach coloring difference shows up as a glued up line.
But other than that, no issue with the lines.

Certainly, if you are working with the handle material itself, i.e. the cork - and you are not involving the blank, then the use of Titebond III clearly makes a lot of sense. Easy to work with, plenty strong, and water clean up.

Good shaping.

Roger

Roger, I prefer to turn my grips off the rod. When using epoxy I ended up with what looked like a "spacer" of epoxy in between the cork rings. I don't know if it was because I was using too much glue or what the deal was, and found it real hard to sand.

If you apply strong, even pressure, the excess epoxy will be forced out from between the rings.

It's also important to remember that you can't get rid of lines between the rings - just stack up some cork and take a look. Even without any glue involved, the lines between rings will be evident.

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Rod Bond

I put three dabs on a ring, on a threaded rod. Then put a second ring onto it. Turn the ring several times while pressing firmly. When they are all done, a large washer and wing nut on each end and tighten up

You don't need much of it at all But a Tight clamp

Bill - willierods.com

According to Ralph, who formulated RodBond, you want to smear it on the ring face, and then use a spatula to scrape off every bit that you can. That's right - scrape it all off. Then join the rings.

The amount of RodBond that accumulates in the surface of the ring, even though it appears you've removed it all, will provide a strong and long lasting bond without any evidence of glue rings.

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Tom,
I do essentially that.
When doing a glue up, I have the rod mounted in my slow speed, gear driven power wrapper.

I have all of the rings on the rod in the correct position, along with the reel seat and arbors.

I have my foot on the pedal ready to go.
I have a batch of 30 minute epoxy mixed up and I go for it.

I use a craft stick to apply glue to one face of the cork ring, then to the next and next. About every 3rd or 4th ring, I will press the rings tightly together, as the rod is spinning and squeeze out virtually all of the excess glue. (if any).

Finish up with the reel seat, arbor and fore grip if used. Use a tooth brush to brush down the handle and reel seat to remove any excess glue from any location. Take the rod off of the wrapper, and put the handle and reel seat into the cork clamps and let it sit for an hour.

Then, while the glue is still a touch tacky, I will go over the entire handle and reel seat again, with a brush and DNA to be sure that everything has been completely cleaned up. At this time is is still possible to get rid of any excess that might have appeared, without having to resort to a razor blade to chip it off.

But, Tom, absolutely correct. When I am applying the glue, I use a small amount and then the wiping action of the rings together under pressure results in just a film of glue being left on the rings and reel seat.


Thanks again for all of your great advice that I have received from you over the years.

Roger

With RodBond, you want to scrape off the adhesive before pressing the rings together. Nothing should squeeze out under pressure. It's a specific technique used with gel epoxies due to their thickness.

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I do about the same thing with the liquid epoxies that you're doing.

With RodBond, you want to scrape off the adhesive before pressing the rings together. Nothing should squeeze out under pressure. It's a specific technique used with gel epoxies due to their thickness.

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Like others, I use a threaded rod, fender washers and wingnuts. Also like others, I use gel epoxy.
I have used Titebond III in the past but found when I was using decorative rings, particularly plastic, that the epoxy just holds better. Even when I scuffed the surface of the plastic material the wood glue doesn't hold as well.

Apply, scrape as much off as possible, press and twist the rings together...it's that simple.

Walt Natzke
Ripon, CA