hello everyone. where do most rod builders buy their cork grips? just curious, I am still fairly new to rod building and recently ordered some grips for a couple spinning rods but when they came in one grip has an obvious bend in it along with what looks like stress cracks possibly from not being glued together properly. these grips were ordered from a well know supplier but the quality of them is horrible and in my opinion should have never left the store. I am not set up right now to make my own grips so I have to buy them. thanks for any suggestion for future purchases.

Call the supplier and explain your concerns. If your supplier is one of our sponsors, they will very likely make good on their products.

Mike Blomme

That is exactly why I glue up cork rings directly on the blank and then shape them as I wish. Never had a bad cork grip in over 40 years.

built handles my self , but I have purchest also from MUD HOLE they were very good I did not get the best so the cork had some small problems but not bad , if I purchest more grips I would
give Mud hole my busness again , in the pass they have always treated me well , an fixer any problem that I had they made me glad I did busness with them , SID

William Sidney
AK

built handles my self , but I have purchest also from MUD HOLE they were very good I did not get the best so the cork had some small problems but not bad , if I purchest more grips I would
give Mud hole my busness again , in the pass they have always treated me well , an fixer any problem that I had they made me glad I did busness with them , SID

William Sidney
AK

thanks everyone, I will be looking into making my own grips in the future but for now I still have to buy premade ones. need to buy a lathe first

A slight curvature won't hurt as installation will straighten that out. If you feel there are other problems you're not comfortable with, I'd call the supplier.

.............

I have been very happy with the Batson Handle Kits. They include reasonable quality cork grips, the reel seat, shim, butt cap and winding checks. They are very good value - they are about half the price of buying each of the components individually.

x10 on Tom's comments.

Cork is flexible and it will easily glue straight on the blank.

If you see some slight crack or similar on the grip, just take tite bond II wood glue, bend the grip slightly to open the crack and fill the crack with glue. Use a damp cloth to wipe off any excess.

If you have any pits in the grip, use Elmers light oak filler. Fill the pits and then use finer and finer grades of sand paper to sand the grip smooth.

There are very few grips that can not be used, even tough they - may initially - appear unsuitable.

Good cork is becoming more and more expensive. As a result much of the cork that arrives today, is not of the quality that we used a few years ago.

Do a bit of work and I expect that the grip will come out just fine.

Be safe

If you have a drill press you can turn your own grips very easily from regular cork, burl cork, or EVA. You do not need a lathe. If you are interested in how to do it, respond and we'll hook up on email. I expect you can use the search on the forum and find out how others do it. Keep in mind that quality cork rings, while available, are pretty expensive, and some of the lesser quality rings are really full of pits. Burl cork makes great looking grips, but weighs almost twice what regular cork does.

You don't need a lathe to turn cork. See

[www.flexcoat.com]

I did my first couple using a similar setup.

Chris Richer
Iroquois ON

yes I do have a drill press and would be very interested in how people set one up for making grips. my email is jbeaudry05@alumni.unity.edu

I have a drill lath Similar to the one in the vidio and have been using it for years On cork - eva - and some light woods

Old picture
[www.rodbuilding.org]

Bill - willierods.com

If you have a drill press, these work great for grip turning, especially if you have a small press that you can lay on its side or back.. [www.pennstateind.com] .. the price is right too, lance at swampland has mandrels that work perfectly with it.

You should definitely contact the supplier!
Our sponsors are good folks and will most likely make thing right.
However...A pot of hot water will cure many cork problems.
I recently over tightened the jaws on my wrapper and marred a small butt grip...
Kicking myself for over doing things, I boiled up a pot of water a submersed the damaged cork...
In a couple of minutes the dents disappeared!

thanks everyone. I did contact the supplier and they are sending me a new grip so I can say the customer service is very good. i will be looking into turning my own grips on my drill press in the near future. i should have thought about using my press along time ago.

James,
By the way, if you want to use your drill press for a lathe, but don't like the vertical orientation, you can always lay the drill press on its side, make a base to support the press properly while lying on its side and ease your turning and shaping work.

This works well if you have a bench top drill press.

But, if you want, you can use a surplus well pump motor that has a 1/2 X threaded shaft on the end.
Screw on a 1/2 inch drill chuck on the end of it and put your shaping mandrel into the chuck.

You can also use a buffer motor that has the same threaded shaft on its end for the same purpose.

Or, you can go out on Craig's list or other ad sites and pick up a used lathe somewhere.


Be safe