Does anyone know of a good way to fill voids in cork handles??

Joe, I will not be of any help on this but am very interested myself on any info on this topic. I have built for a long time and have yet to be satisfied with my work on filling voids. I buy the best cork I can and have pretty much excepted that this is how cork looks and it is just the way it is. I only fill voids that are significant. It will be interesting to see what you hear. I have found I learn a lot here and have no doubt someone will save us from ourselves.

Doug Webb

Joe if you are referring to a gap under the cork where it meets the blank you can drill a very small hole in the cork, take a syringe filed with liquid adhesive, like flex coat rod building glue, and fill the gap using the syringe a little cork filler to cover the whole and you are done when the adhesive cures. depending on the number of voids it may be necessary to do this in a couple of spots
John

I have never used it, but while looking through the Janns catalog this morning I happened to notice this:

[www.jannsnetcraft.com]

~RO

Joe,
If you want 0 voids, use a material other than natural cork.
Use EVA, wood, burled cork, rubberized cork, plastic, or metal.

If you want to fill small pits, then use Elmer's wood filler in light oak that is available from any of the big box stores or lumber or hardware stores.

In todays world of vanishing cork, it is not economically feasible to buy cork that is near perfect.

Near perfect cork needing no filler at all is now going for $$$$$$$ It is pretty tough to charge as much for a good cork handle as it is for the entire rest of the rod.

This is one of the big reasons that folks are going with split grips. Going with no fore grip, etc. i.e. a very small amount of cork, compared to a full handle made of cork.

Many folks use a combination of regular cork, rubberized, burl and or Eva. It not only gives a different look, but it also saves money and gives an overall better finish.

Take care
REW

If you are talking about imperfections in the surface of the cork, I am to the point of just leaving them alone. I now mix some burl rings in the grip and this tends to draw attention away from the imperfections. I just consider them as part of the character of the grip. I have used cork dust mixed with Elmers glue in the past, as well as, Elmers Golden Oak filler. Both methods work OK, but neither is a permanent sollution.

I have never been able to fill cork voids to my satisfaction. The Elmer's wood filler did not work for me. It dries a lot harder than the cork, making the grip difficult to sand. I ended up sanding down some of the grip.

I have switched to burl cork for those rods that I want a cork grip. It shapes well, and has no voids. I put Tru Oil on to give the grip a sheen.

In my opinion, it looks a lot better than regular cork.

Regards
Bert Nagy

I have done 3 cork handle refinishes in the past year. The worst was on a Fenwick salmon/steelhead rod with a very long rear grip. On all of them I used Elmer's Light Oak from Mudhole, U40 cork sealer and then several coats of Tru-Oil on top. The one I'm doing now really needs a whole new grip but I am going to fill the biggest gaps, put a little spray adhesive on it and apply some x-wrap heat shrink.

David Dosser
Coshocton, OH

I use the Elmer's Golden Oak filler. I wet my finger with water, before I sqeeze some of the filler on it. This thins the filler a little as you are wipeing it on the grip, and seems to do a better job of filling the cork. I try to fill the voids until they are just level with the surrounding cork once it is dry. a little light sanding, or even scuffing with the 3M pad, and it is ready for a coat of U-40 sealer, and a couple of coats of paste wax.

Mike Bradfrod
R.M.B. Fishing Rods
Nampa, Idaho

I like to take an old piece of cork and sand it down to the nub, then take the cork dust and mix it with the glue.

I was at Janns` just yesterday and I was talking to Kevin about this very thing. He claims

Pit Paste 2 is the best he has ever used on the cork. I bought two bottles. I will let you know when I try it.


Bill

Ohio Rod Builders

Canton, Ohio

For those using glue/cork dust, what general ratio do you use if any?

Mike,
When using cork dust and glue, one of the best glues to use is model airplane cement, or duco household cement.
This is a very fast curing cement, so you can not mix up any mix in advance. The idea of using this sort of glue is that it sands with about the same degree of hardness as the cork.

All that you have to do, is to mix enough cork dust into your glue so that it is still wet and will still pack. If it is too dry, it won;t pack. If it is too wet, it will shrink too much.

Roger