I'm looking for various ways to repair the cork grips on rods.

what do you need to repair ??

Bill - willierods.com

Chips gouges, places on one where mice had chewed around the grip. Was just wondering what was being used, I see mudhole sells an Elmers product, I'm sure someone has another item. I'm not looking to take away from the natural look of the cork, I prefer the look of cork anyway, and I actually try to salvage vintage rods from flea mkts,@#$%&, yard sales. Just have seen lots of grips that could use some help----

I always sand down the cork grips to get the top layer of grime off. Then I fill the pits with [www.mudhole.com]. I let it dry, I then sand it down again and repeat until its up to my standards.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2016 12:23AM by Michael Maclean.

There are several ways
Fill and sand If the customer likes it done If not cover with shrink wrap
If he is ruff with the rod suggest sanding it down and use the old handle as an arbor and slide on a smooth butt which will hold up a lot longer If it is a butt handle

Bill - willierods.com

you can also mix cork or saw dust with the elmers product before applying to damaged areas - it seems to help toughen the elmers up

There are several ways to restore an old cork handle. First thing is to scrub it well with soap and water or a cleanser of your choice to clean it. The pits in the cork can be filled with Rod Dancer pit paste, or Elmers exterior wood filler (golden oak) both work well. Also you can also make your own filler by making a paste using cork dust and a good exterior wood cement. I save some of my cork dust when I sand cork, if you do not make your own cork handles you can make cork dust from wine corks. After drying sand down the handle to smooth it out. For really big holes, gouges or chips I have had good luck using cork chips and wood cement by tightly packing cork chips into the void using a metal probe. Fill slightly above the cork surface and sand smooth when dry. Again if you do not make cork handles or do not want to waste cork rings you can make cork chips from wine corks. Sometimes the cork is so damaged you need to replace a ring or two. To do this cut along a seam line in the damaged cork with a very thin fine toothed saw, the small exacto hobby saws are good for this. Chip out the cork and clean up the edges. Ream out new cork rings to fit the blank diameter, cut the ring in half and glue into the gap, the tighter the fit the better. Again, sand smooth. After sanding l like to coat the handle with cork sealer, this gives the cork a nice feel and helps keep the filler in place. Hope this helps.
Norm

If your blank' s butt diameter will let you, you can turn the cork to a diameter where you can just slip a new rear grip. on that is the right diameter, install a new butt cap and go fishing. Schneider has some grips with fairly large bores.