I remember reading about using titebond for a cork handle build, which one is best. Thanks in advance.

Titebond 3 is what I use.

# 1 titebond III , #2 titebound II , #3 Titebond , they will all work, BUT water prof, is the breaker, read the label , all water clean up ,

William Sidney
AK



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/2018 10:49PM by Bill Sidney.

Titebond III or Elmer’s wood glue Max both are waterproof, give excellent bonding, and sand with no problems.
Norm

Fernrando,
For glue up - titebond III or similar water proof wood glue.

For gluing the built up handle on the blank - epoxy.

Good luck

I build my handles on a 1/4" mandrel. I started with epoxy but, even coating the mandrel with paraffin, I sometimes had trouble getting the handle off of the mandrel. I build mostly centerpin rods with 10-12" rear grips so they are longer than many others. I now use Titebond III. I also find it is easier to ream the cork when using Titebond III than when I used epoxy.

Again thanks for the input.

Fernando,
In addition to make your reaming job easier, try reaming each piece of cork to the correct size before putting it on your mandrel. i.e. ream each piece of cork to match the diameter of the blank at the location where it is going to be installed.

Then, before putting the cork on the blank build up the mandrel with masking tape to match the diameter of the blank so that each piece of cork fits on the built up mandrel nicely.

Then, go ahead and glue up the cork.

After the glue has dried for 24 hours, slip the grip off of the built up mandrel, and wipe off the wet glue from the built up mandrel. Also, push the mandrel through the inside of the glued up grip to remove any excess still wet adhesive.

Then, set the handle aside off of the mandrel to finish drying out the inside of the grip. Tite bond and similar wood glues cure with air cure. So, if the glue is closed up on the inside of the grip, it doesn't cure completely, very quickly.


By passing the built up mandrel through the center of the inside of the built up handle, the uncured glue will be wiped out and will make it straight forward to put the grip back on the mandrel for shaping.

Also, since each ring is reamed out to match the size of the blank the base mandrel size can be as large as the smallest reamed out hole in the cork ring. i.e. you will likely start with rings with 1/4 inch holes, but you may very well find that with your reaming, you will have the smallest hole reamed to 1/2 inch. That means, that rather than using a mandrel that is 1/4 inch in diameter, you can go up to 1/2 inch in diameter which is a much stiffer mandrel and is nice for stability when shaping some of the larger and or longer handles.

I use mandrels ranging from 1/4 inch, 5/16th inch, 3/8th inch 1/2 inch and 5/8th of an inch. I simply use the largest one that will fit into the smallest hole that i have reamed into any of the cork rings. Then, I use the masking tape to build up the remainder of the mandrel for a nice fit to the ring in question at that spot in the grip.

Good luck

Gents,
I have seen this discussion many times and I would like to over some technical information . . .Not mine, but from the "Titebond" website. Titebond glues are NOT WATERPROOF, none of them - especially the way we builders would like to see WATERPROOF. They state a "WATERPROOF FORMULA" but If they clean up with water, they are not waterproof...they are water resistant ONLY. Here is cut & pasted info:
LIMITATIONS:
Not for continuous submersion or for use below the waterline. Not for structural or load bearing applications. Use when temperature, glue and materials are above 45°F. Store product below 75°F. Storage above this temperature may cause product to thicken and reduce the usable shelf life. If thickened, shake vigorously by firmly tapping bottle on a hard surface until product is restored to original form. Because of variances in the surfaces of treated lumber, it is a good idea to test for adhesion. For best results gluing exterior doors or exotic and oily woods, please contact out Technical Support Team at 1-800-347-4583. Read MSDS before use. KEEP FROM FREEZING. KEEP OUT OF THE REACH OF CHILDREN.
PRODUCT FEATURES:
Passes ANSI/HPVA Type I water-resistance (Read this to fully understand the specification --- Waterproof formula that cleans up with water -

Use two part, 24 hour epoxy and ALL concerns will be no more. How well does cork absorb the water-based adhesive? Is more than one application needed to offer proper adhesion of the mating pieces? Water-based adhesives "cure" by evaporation of the moisture content. How well does the water-based adhesive evaporate the moisture when parts of the grip interior cannot be exposed to an atmosphere that will accept the moisture - EPOXY adhesives have none of these issues.

I have a customer that had his UL Fly rod returned to him by some very thoughtful people (had his name inscribed on it) after being on the bottom of the Shenandoah River here in Virginia for approx 18 months. All items were intact except the finish on the wooden insert in the reel seat. (Not one of mine). Would any of the Titebond glues have lasted that long? I use Titebond II in my wood shop for non fishing endeavors and I use Titebond III for snake skin applications on my custom rods.....beats CP by a mile...

Thanks for reading. Charlie

From what I gather, most builds will be saltwater boat, some surf fishing, my best is to use epoxy, correct?

Fernando,

That is correct. That will remove all doubt. I always build rods so they won't come apart. Which would be bad for business!! I use only the U-40, 24 hour, slow cure type which allows a longer pot life to fit all components together and, in my opinion, may be a bit stronger than the fast-cure epoxies. Some would say the bonding strength of both fast and slow cure epoxy will be the same. Which may be, but to me anything created in haste may be lacking in some quality benefits - so why take the chance. The customer is expecting a rod to last forever, so it is our job to make sure that happens, in all respects - of course, if the customer breaks the rod, we gotta set down and discuss it...!!!

Thanks, Charlie