Has anyone ever done this? I did last night kind of by accident not design. I filled some holes with elmer's wood putty and it was too light and was showing up bad. Now I think (I've only done this with interior house trim) that you're supposed to mix stain with the putty to get a match before using it, then sanding.

But I had already filled the holes and sanded...so I just rubbed some stain on the holes with the putty in it then immediately wiped with a cotton rag. To my surprise it looked pretty good, so I ended up lightly brushing most of the rear grip then immediately rubbing off the excess with a cotton rag.

And to my suprise it worked well. Is this a common technique? Do others do this with cork, and is it a good idea?

You'll probably want to seal the cork with something otherwise you may likely transfer the stain to your hands while fishing.

Sam,
After the rod has been used for a while, most of the stain will be gone; but for now - enjoy it.

Cork is a non porus surface, so really doesn't accept stain per sa.

Good luck
Roger

Its off in weeks, few months tops of daily use, covered with cork seal maybe a little longer.
It will stay well in the Elmers until that falls out too.
Then you have crumbs of stained elmers.
Stain floats on top of cork.
I use a cork flooring powder type hole filler mixed with cork seal to fill serious pits and at best it makes a year then falls out.
Just look at a wine bottle cork of several years vintage and cut that. If composite, some penetration. Pure cork, its just the outer mil or two that has color.

Hi Sam,
You can get it to stay there if you cover it with permagloss. I tried a few months back to see what would happen and it turned out better than I expected. The grip feels similar to what one coated with cork seal does and I used one coat only. It will wear off quickly if you don't seal it.
[www.rodbuilding.org]

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

As cork is a closed cell structure, the stain will not penetrate beyond just the surface. If you like the look, as others have mentioned you will need to put something over the stain to protect it from rubbing off.

I don't often, if ever, coat cork on an open water rod but love adding the uniqueness of coated handles on ice rods. I've tried different approaches with nothing resulting in a disaster thus far. My favorite is just using flex coat over "non-plain" cork, a combination of burled and burnt makes a unique look.

I don't bother to fill cork any more
I shape it Clean well Then LOAD on finish Check for any holes that need more to level them
Let dry Sand well to even it all out
Clean then a med-thin coat Let dry Then scoff pad to take the shine off Looks nice and when wet has a good grip to it

Bill - willierods.com

bill boettcher Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't bother to fill cork any more
> I shape it Clean well Then LOAD on finish Check
> for any holes that need more to level them
> Let dry Sand well to even it all out
> Clean then a med-thin coat Let dry Then scoff pad
> to take the shine off Looks nice and when wet has
> a good grip to it


When you say "load on finish" are you talking about cork sealer, or wood sealer?

the the "med-think coat" again cork or wood sealer?

Thread finish It works well I may fill some really bad holes But after the first coat is dry I check and fill any that need it
Then sand well And a thin coat

Bill - willierods.com

on all of the colored / stained cork , the color will fade over time if you want to keep the cplor you have to coat it with some thing , this is because cork will not take a color it just coats the out side , an will rub off of faid from the sun I think