Below is a link to a tarpon inlay rear grip handle from fishingphotos.net:

[www.fishingphotos.net]

I was wondering if any of you could tell me how to do this. Do you glue the rear grip cork rings together first, lathe it down to desired shape and size, then trace the tarpon onto the cork handle, then cut out the tarpon with a razor blade, then cut out burnt brown corks and glue it onto the cork handle? I would like to do a similar handle for a St. Croix SCV steelhead drift rod that I am building as a gift for a good fishing buddy's wedding present, so any help is much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

yes that is how i did it. i also turned the cork before i glued the rings so i could keep as many imperfections away from the inlay as possible, and i made a stencil to trace the picture on with and then used it to cut out the pieces. i used an exacto type blade holder, easier to work with than a razor blade. hope this helps.

leigh englehart
deltona, Fl

Yes it did! That is one heck of a piece of artwork, Leigh! It's gonna be a lot of work but my friend's gonna enjoy it tremendously. I have some superfine grade corks with very little imperfections. Gonna glue it on to the blank tonight then lathe it down using my power wrapper since I don't have an actual lathe. Then will take your advice regarding the stencil and exacto blader holder. It's going to be a lot of work but he's gonna enjoy the steelhead that I will put on there for him. Thanks again Leigh!!!!!!

Gonna take it really slow on the cuts...............................'measure twice, cut once' is the motto I will use for this project ;-).

I see your point about turning the cork pieces before gluing. Will definitely give that a try tonight. Thank you!

i worked those grips off of the blank. it was nice to be able to move it around a lot while i was digging out the cork and the tarpon goes all the way around the blank. i think it would be a lot harder to do on the blank. maybe you could shape it with the power wrapper and some all thread. i've been using 1/4" in the past but just learned from others that this is kinda dangerous. if it pops out someones gonna get hurt.they suggested 3/8 min. maybe a cork ring sandwitched between washers and nuts and put that part in the chuck, some space, the grip between washers and nuts and held on the other end by a rod support. i put the image on with pencil first using the stencil. you can erase or clean it off if it gets messed up.when i was satisfied with the image i started cutting and digging. i ended up with a cup full of reject inlay pieces, if it wasnt tight i wouldnt glue it in. post a picture when your done, i would like to see it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2012 03:41PM by Leigh Englehart.

one more tip. i found it easier to not worry about the inlay pieces sticking up and when they dried i would use the exacto to trim it closer to flush before i sanded it down.

Leigh, I must commend you for your patience. Somehow I feel that this project is going to be tough. Just glued the cork pieces to the SCV blank. Will lathe it down over the next day or two to slightly bigger than desired shape, then gonna start digging. I will post a picture of the handle if it turns out okay ;-). But if I don't post any pictures then I am sure you know why. LOL.

Leigh,
That is really neat!
Do you have anymore photos of that inlay that you could share?
Did you create the graphic for the inlay?
I would like to try this with a bass or panfish graphic when I get far enough along in the rodbuilding craft to feel comfy doing it.
Any info you can share is most appreciated.

thanks Mark
there are some other inlays i did in the photo section. sort of copied tatoos or with the fish, found a pic of a fish i liked and laid some tracing paper over it and made a tribal effect out of it. not much more to say about doing other than what i said above, i didn't seem that hard to do. do an easy couple of piece one first, maybe some initials or something. try it on a scrap piece of cork. the more i do the easier it gets. i don't have the tarpon one anymore so i can't post more pictures, sorry. hopefully he is catching fish with it.

Leigh, did you ever try using a dremmel to cut out the fish design? I am thinking of using one but thought I would ask to see if you had input on this. Thanks again and wish me luck!

never used a dremel, thought about it, tried one cut on a scap piece, but decided it was too hard to control and wouldn't give good crisp lines.

The good thing about doing inlays is you can practice on scrap pieces of cork until you figure it out. It really isn't that hard to do, just time consuming and it takes a great deal of patience. I was lucky to see a couple of eighh's grips this past weeken, they are amazing works of art. THe 1/4" mandrel "problem" is with a longer piece, my mandrels are 18", if you are using a shorter mandrel it probably will not be a problem because a lot of people use them.

Thank you for all the suggestions! I am excited and scared of this project at the same time. I have put the handle on the St Croix SCV 9'6" 6-10lb line weight steelhead rod. I know that this might sound crazy to some, but I extended this rod to 10', reargrip handle is 15" in length, Fuji dual-trigger reel seat and 2.5" cork foregrip. Guides are Fuji SiC micros.

I am trying to trace a picture of a steelhead right now. The fish will wrap around the reargrip. The foregrip will have H & S for the first letter of the bride's and groom's first name.