I am building a 7' 6" MHX flippin stick and was wondering if there were any problems with using a handle entirely made of burnt cork or just of the rubberized kind. Also, has anyone had any experience using just the rubberized cork? That is what I'm leaning towards but not sure about weight and comfort.
Thanks,
Ben Eipert

It will be a bit heavier, but any such material can be "cored" and filled underneath with a lighter material such as regular cork or brick foam.

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I really like to use this material since it is man made with ground up, or chopped up cork and glued together. Thus no voids.

But, due to the adhesive in the cork, it is about 30-50% heavier than natural cork.

So, although I have made full grips with this material, I normally use it for trim, butt caps etc.

Great to work with though. If you do use this in conjunction with natural cork, you really need to use a backing board to keep your grip shaping uniform and flat. Natural cork sands much easier than burnt, or rubberized cork, so you need to work and tool the material accordingly.

Good luck

Thanks for quick replies. Tom what did you mean by cored? I haven't heard of that before.
Thanks
Ben Eipert

You bore out the main grip to a larger diameter and mount if over another cylinder that has been mounted to the rod blank.

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As Mr. Kirkman pointed out, many folks will use one of the many foam arbors over the blank. Then, the cork ring is reamed to fit the foam arbor and the grip assembled with these components.

If you remove 1/2 of the heavier material, the grip will be that much lighter.

Be safe

Wouldn't I have to worry about the grip cracking when I mounted it?

Ben,
No, have the grip reamed a bit larger than the foam arbor. Put a nice layer of epoxy on the arbor and inside the grip and simply slip it in place.

You will have previously glued the arbor to the blank.

It is done all of the time.

Be safe

the rubberise cork will wear better than the ""BURNTCORK" , the burnt cork is cork that is glued all together just like any glued together pices of cork it is good but I have found out it is subjected to comming off in small pices, so use the rubberizsd cork on the ends of grip, with the burnt or multi color in the middle of the grip, an it will come out great I think but the rubber will last longer ,

William Sidney
AK

Alright. I think I might end up trying that out. Thanks for all the help.

You can also ream out the handle Glue in reel seat arbors Then ream them to fit the blank

Bill - willierods.com

I built a wacky rod with rubberized rings mixed with natural cork , handle feels great has only .5oz added weight over all cork. flippin rod is a tip up so tail weight helps