The lathe I use for my cork grips is one of those heavy cast metal affair. It's a bit of a paint to use as I have to drag it outside on a metal cart to avoid dust all over my work space. (Yes, I don't have a good vacuum system.)

All I need is to turn grips up at 5 inches long. So my lathe can be very short - say up to 5.5" is enough. (If I need longer, I can just turn two parts and join together.)

Is there a quality lathe in the market that is lightweight, small, smooth that can turn that length of cork grips? And if it is low cost - even better....:)

Thanks.

If you handy with tools make this for your self
[flexcoat.com]

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.

You could do that on a Taig or find an old Dremel model lathe. The simple Flex Coat cork lathe, powered by a hand drill would do it, as would the similar type offered by Grizzly.

Then you have most any of the rod building lathes, most of which can be modified to function as a lightweight cork lathe. I took some old Renzetti lathe pieces and built a dedicated, lightweight cork turning lathe. I doubt it weighs 10 pounds total, but works fine for cork.

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

Thanks Matthew & Tom.


That Taig sure looks like a quality precision tool and small. I dropped them an inquiry though they do seem $$$. They do look like they will last a lifetime and turn many thousands of handles. A bit of an overkill but beautiful looking.

Will check out all the options. Thanks.

They're generally less than $450 which is a heck of a deal for a precision machine lathe. Might be more than you need, however.

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

Mo,
For your needs, it is tough to beat the Grizzley:

[www.grizzly.com]

In addition, you will need a drill that will clamp securely into the lathe to provide power. Check with Grizzley to be sure that you purchase a drill that will clamp securely and will give you the chuck size and the rpm necessary for you to do your job.

Good luck

The Grizzly LATHE would be tuft to beat for the cost , an it will do up to over 20 inch grip , as I see it

William Sidney
AK

THANKS everyone! Much grateful.

If you use something like the Grizzly lathe with a drill, does it shorten the life span of the drill. Does the drill heat up or is there any additional wear and tear if you run it continuously while turning the grips?

I don't think there is any additional wear and tear a like time of intermittent use wouldn't also produce and you get a variable speed capability with a drill. You can make small stuff like split grips with just a clamped down drill.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/2018 08:52PM by Spencer Phipps.

Robert,
Often, when one buys a lathe that is to be driven by a drill, a specific drill is purchased for the lathe.

Then, if the drill wears out while it is being used on the lathe, another drill is purchased for use on the lathe.

The normal life of a drill is measured in the hundreds of hours. That translates to many many many grips that have been turned.

p.s.
I personally would NOT use a cordless drill for this purpose. With the corded drill there is never any worry about batteries and normally the speed range may be better with a corded drill.

I used a similar set up (Grizzly) with a drill (not cordless) for some year.
Turn a least 100 grip and the drill still alive (inexpensive drill that cost me ten buck).
So ....

The grizzly lathe works very well for turning cork. We did a review of it for the magazine a couple of years back. The only downside to the unit is that fewer and fewer drills have the correct size collar to work with the lathe's drill mount. At one time, Grizzly offered a DeWalt drill that was sized correctly for the lathe. That drill, to my knowledge, is no longer available. So be careful when selecting a drill in order to make sure that it will indeed work with this unit.

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

Back when I was a kid there was a gentleman who built rods in my area with a lathe he built by installing a big, monsterous 1/2 inch Milwaukie drill he turned on with a wall switch permanently attached on his stud wall of his garage and drilled an appropriate hole on the wall further down to run the mandrel through. Had a permanent narrow bench and rest built in between, lots of grips of all kinds got built there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/2018 09:56AM by Spencer Phipps.

The only problem using a drill to power a lathe is fact that ALL drills have a built-in wobble that is transmitted to the blank.
I use one on my Flexcoat cork lathe. First drill lasted 5 yrs - only reason I bought a new one is because the wobble increased over time. I use 2 steadies - one on reel seat and one just in front of the grip. I turn the grip and fighting butt at same time.
Herb

Hi Mo, if you have a drill press, you can turn it into a vertical lathe for cork. I have a grizzly hobby lathe with a ryobi drill mounted to a board with a handle and love it: [www.rodbuilding.org]

With that said, I'm getting a drill press this winter and most likely will get this type of vertical lathe attachment for the dozen or so cork handles I turn each year: [www.grizzly.com]. Just have to figure out which vacuum head attachment to use with a shop vac to handle chips/dust. You probably get Rodmaker Magazine - check out Vertical Cork Lathe by Tom Kirkman - V6 #2

Ladd



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/2018 10:53AM by Ladd Flock.

Make it fit Electrical tape an clamp it down it will hold , what was lost was the cost of the lathe , that was the selling point , of this unit , there a lot of LATHE's out there an it will cost a lot more ,
that unit will do a lot of grips , an the cost is cheep I think

William Sidney
AK

One of the most often overlooked feature of any lathe is the spindle bore diameter. Whatever lathe is chosen, make certain the spindle bore is adequate to allow the largest piece to be encountered will pass through the spindle. Eventually, anyone will discover the spindle bore can never be large enough. For rod building that equates to a bare minimum of 0.50 while 1.0 or larger will ultimately be preferred. The ability to pass the smaller end of the blank through the spindle, using the chuck to clamp the blank just ahead of the grip, and employing a live center to the (previously center-drilled) butt end of the blank, will produce perfectly symmetrical grips and with less time and aggravation each and every time.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

Mark,
If you want a large thru hole, purchase a pool cue lathe.

A Cue Lathe will handle your largest handle with ease. Of course you also need a well endowed credit card to make the purchase of the lathe:

[www.cuesmith.com]


===
If you want to make a full length rod lathe that works perfect every single time is to use a 3600 rpm pump motor with a threaded 1/2 x 20 shaft. Then, simply screw on a Jacobs 1/2 inch chuck and your power source is set. Bolt the pump motor to a board with a slot down the center of the board and place and bolt down rod supports the length of the board to support the fast spinning rod blank.


To hold the rod blank, simply do your building with no butt cap on the blank. Insert a tapered solid core stock - fiberglass, graphite, aluminum, steel to be a nice fit on the inside of the blank and you will have a perfect true turning rod.

Good luck

They sure look great but the $$$$$$$ is a lot more than the $90 for the Grizzly one, that price you can buy a lot of grips I think

William Sidney
AK