do any of you have a trick to sanding cork grips without a lathe? I'm building my first rods and want a smooth transition from grip to reel seat and i don't have a lathe.

Thanks Rick

You can mount a hand drill upside down and spin it down that way. Be sure to secure the drill very securely.

Dave
East Bay Custom Fly Rods

Is there a good way to secure the cork ? Old piece of blank? or something else ? I thought about the drill just not sure how or what to secure the blank to?

Thanks Rick

You can do it on a drill press, but depending on the ID of the grip, it could be pretty straightforward, or pretty difficult. The issue is a mandrel that both fits the drill press and the grip. I use 5/16 threaded drill rod and a lower 5/16 bore ball bearing for stability - the bearing countersunk into a wooden block whichis then C clamped to the base of the driill press. This is quite accurate, very stable, and works well with cork. Start with coarse sandpaper and progress to fine. Be careful - cork comes off pretty fast and it's easy to get undersize.

Rick,
Just take a piece of either 3/8th or 1/2 inch threaded rod and put it in the appropriate sized drill. The 3/8th works better generally because it typically spins faster at 2500 rpm.

Then, just take a roll of masking tape and build up the threaded rod as needed so that the grip fits nicely on the threaded rod. Then, put a washer and nut at each end of the grip to secure the handle to the threaded rod.

Sit down, put the drill in your lap with a handful of various grit sand paper and sand away. It works well if you have a nice big fan behind you so that all of the sanding dust is blown away from you when you sand. If you do the sanding outside, or do the sanding outside in a wind, you keep the dust off of you and you are good to go.

Take care
Roger

this setup works well for cork eva and light woods I use thick walled blanks for mandrils and a hose clamp to hold the drill [www.rodbuilding.org]

Bill - willierods.com

Thanks guys alot of good pointers I like the all thread idea because i can get it at work.

Thanks again Rick.

I have the exact same setup as bill boettcher and serves me well for what I need.

I've made threaded mandels using 3/8" stainless all thread. Get a threaded collar from your favorite hardware store which is just a nut about an inch long. Cut the allthread to a couple of different lengths to fit different sized handles you might want to build. Use epoxy to glue the collar to one end of the allthread. The nice thing about the collar is that it is six sided and will fit firmly into a three sided lathe or drill chuck. I've got a photo but don'e see how to upload it.

Steve Hartzell
Lake Conroe - Willis, Texas

Thanks Steve

I took the all thread to the grinder on one end and made it three sided it fits nicely in my drill.

Thanks to everyone for the tips i appreciate all the responses!!!!!!

Rick