An excellent article in the most recent issue of Rod Maker on preparation of surfaces to be glued. As I was about to glue some cork rings on a blank I recalled the article and re-read it. After a second reading it seemed to me the article was directed towards gluing with epoxies. I use a weatherproof exterior wood glue on my cork rings because after turning the cork handle on a lathe the glue lines are almost invisible. Do the techniques for surface preparation as outlined in the article apply to other types of glues i.e. the wood glue I've mentiioned?

I can't imagine you would be gluing your rings to the blank with that type of glue. So I wouldn't think it would be the same. I am not aware of anyone who uses a solvent to clean his corks rings and then abrades them. They don't need it.

Sorry if I wasn't clear, but of course I'm not talking about abrading the cork rings. It's the rod blank itself that I'm talking about abrading then applying the glue to as well as the cork rings.

Why not use wood glue? After all, cork is wood. I can't claim I discovered the use of wood glue for my cork rings. Actually, one of our local professional rod builders uses it on all his expensive custom fly rods and recommended it to me several years ago. I quit using epoxy after seeing the results with the wood glue. It bonds the rings to the blank quite well and if the glue is cured with the rings properly clamped the resulting glue lines are virtually non-existent. Since it's exterior wood glue it's weather proof.

Scuff the blank with a gray scoch brie pad then just wipe it off with a clean rag.

Let me see if I have this correct > you are not only bonding your cork rings with the wood glue, but also bonding them to the blank with the wood glue? Don't do it. The question of when a grip is going to pop loose is not if, but when. I had it happen to me and quickly learned that wood glues do not work well on non-porous surfaces. I would guess the grips you have on those rods now are only hanging on by friction and tightness. How long have you been doing this?

I still like the wood glue for bonding my rings so I glue up my rings off the blank. Then I ream the 'stick' and glue it to the blank with epoxy. Then I turn and shape my cork to desired size and shape.

From the article I would infer that you would use a solvent to clean the blank and then scuff it with a grey scotchbrite pad and then just apply your epoxy and glue the cork stick or grip to the blank.

I do the same, but use Plastic Resin glue for gluing the rings up on a steel rod. No glue lines.