I assembled my first cork grip from rings this week.

Everything was going splendidly

until I went to enlarge the reel inset using a CNC router bit on a router table and moved my stop too far


I've ordered a Crafty Cutter to avoid this problem in the future.

In the meantime, is there a wood filler that will bond to the paper thin cut of my cork that I can fill the inset with then bore, using my new Crafty Cutter, the correct size counter bore and end up with a robust, durable grip? I will need to enlarge the diameter of the inset by ~1/16" on diameter from my initial bore diameter.

Thank you in advance for your input.

Craig



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2015 02:57PM by Craig Strong.

I would be more inclined to remove the damaged ring(s) completely , add new material, and try again. I would also consider temporary exterior reinforcement to prevent material deflection leading to failure.

Thanks, John. That does sound like a better way to salvage this grip.

How would you temporarily reinforce the grip before boring?

Well, keeping it simple, a flexible layer to conformingly wrap around the ring to distribute the binding force and something to apply the force. here are a couple ideas that come to mind:

Thin flexible plastic from packaging wrapped then bound with cable ties

Heavy construction paper wrapped then bound with fiber reinforced packaging tape (or duct/masking)

I would shape the ring before gluing it to the existing grip. I do it by hand, with a grinding burr chucked in the lathe, and any final fitting by hand with a Dremel tool.

Do you do this before boring out grips with a similar wall thickness around the counter bore as shown here? Is this more necessary when using a Crafty Cutter than when using a sharp CNC router bit? Deformation was a factor with this failed cut in that I pushed the base of the grip, where I was making the counter bore, against my router stop fixture.


I was lucky not to have cut into my thumb.

If you have a drill press with that router take a scrap 2x4 clamped to the table and drill a hole slightly bigger than grip. Add painters tape to grip to equal hole 1-1/2" down. Slip in "centered hole" from bottom and add correct bit.

Years ago when I have a very cheap boss I bought cheap draw guides and attached to pallet lumber. Clamp down electric drill and draw slides. Think of a drill press on its side and you "raise"/slide the table to the bit. I used it because I stink whenever I have to drill metal with hand drill.

Thanks, Mike. I did change the bit to one more appropriate to the job and, after botching my last cut with it, considered a custom-cut wood fixture for each grip but even then measuring the exact diameter was going to be a pain. Getting the Crafty Cutter, despite my desire to avoid the cost, seemed like the best use of my time and money.

I suppose that wrapping with painters tape to 1 1/2" down would make it less critical to get an exact hole size in the fixture and reduce the number of 2x4 fixtures needed but getting the right tool seemed appropriate after ruining this grip and not wanting to repeat the same mistake.

Oh yea! After boss retired I was able to buy right tools for the job and prove to them production expense is way more long term than equipment expenses. (As long as I did not get Tim Taylor-itis) It also helped that I had someone who could build anything ten time better that I could. I was more the idea and homework guy.

The right tools are great and necessary for most money making concerns.

For personal work I usually jury rig first then, when I fail (as I have here), make the investment.

If you normally can route the end ring to the right concentric diameter, then I think you can simply stick a waxed dowel through the grip to retain the center hole, then fill the whole end with a mix of epoxy and cork shavings. Retract the dowel. Then do it over. It looks to me like the outer surface is undamaged, so why sacrifice it? I might be missing something, but if I'm not, you should be able to do it over.

The outside only has a slight cut in it. Even a contrasting substrate/filler would not look out of place as the cut is so narrow.

Would cork plus wood shavings be flexible? I'm concerned that, when I route this/counterbore with the Crafty Cutter, the difference in material hardness will cause problems. Also, if it is not flexible, having a rock hard substrate below such a thin wall of cork would seem to be asking for trouble in terms of how it wears over time. A filler with a similar amount of give as cork and excellent adhesion qualities are what I am hoping to find.

Craig,
Cut the two or three rings off of the grip.

Glue new rings onto the existing grip.

Bore out the center of the new rings to match the current hole in the rest of the grip.

Put the grip back in the lathe and reshape the grip.

The Crafty cutter is fine if you have the appropriate tooling for it.

When I make cuts like this in the ends of grips, I just trace a circle on the end of the grip where i want the circle, and then bore the hole using a circular rotary rasp in a drill. I start in the center and work to the line that I drew onto the grip - frequently checking the size, so that I do not go too far.

Of course, if you have all of the tooling setup and the grip locked in place so that it can not move, the Crafty tool is potentially the way to go. However, as you indicated, one slip, and time to do it over.

DO NOT try to fill the void caused by the machining. For this instance, cork is cheap, and it is a critical part of the grip.

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If necessary, just start over with the grip and do it again. Experience is not a bad thing.

When things like this happen to me, I just chalk it up to the price of education. Education comes in many forms. In this case, your education lesson of the day, is to avoid making this particular mistake again.

This lesson points out, that there is a defect in your tooling or grip holding fixture. As Randy pointed out, when you get a non circular tapered shape, as you have with your grip, you almost need a matching piece of tooling to properly support 100% of the grip when you are holding the grip for end boring. You might try experimenting, but it might make sense to start with raw cork. Glue up the grip and get the grip turned down uniformly to its circular shape, except for the last 1/8th to 1/16th of an inch. Then, with the grip perfectly circular, clamp the circular grip in your holding fixture. Bore out the end of the grip, using a good holding clamp. Then, go back to put the final shape on the grip - being careful to watch out for the thin walls at the end of the grip.

You might consider the use of a cross vise for clamping your grip as you bore it. I purchased a cross vise and use it when I am sanding the ends of grips square and to sand down the end of the grip, where I glue plugs in the end of the grip for filling the hole that I use when I turn the grip:

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Caution, this cross vise only really works well, if the rear grip is uniformly circular. If the grip is tapered or of a non symmetrical shape, the vise can not get a perfect grip on the "grip" for the final square end cut.

Just be thankful that your education in this instance was so inexpensive.

Be safe

Great information, Roger. Thank you.

I will cut the composite end and one cork ring off and remake the back before reboring the countersink.

I made a second one (below, left) based on the same shape but made it a little slighter than the other and the cork was a lower grade requiring a lot of filler:



Before repairing the first grip, since it feels perfect in my hand, I photocopied and noted the diameters:





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2015 07:39PM by Craig Strong.

I appreciate all the input as I am learning something new.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/2015 01:39PM by Craig Strong.

I didn't read the other replies, so forgive me I I repeat something already said. I'd just remove the damaged rings and redo that end of the grip.