has anyone made handle from pine bark? I have rings I cut with a hole saw that seams to be perfect.

Should be easy enough to try. Doesn't sound like an expensive experiment. Only question would be how does it hold up. Maybe somebody will chime in with an answer.

...........

Sam

Made several pine bark grips years ago, love them, and have a pine bark grip on my favorite bamboo rod. I was able at that time to buy the rings already cut to size (1 1/8" X 1/2'") with a 1/4" ID center hole. Got just enough supply remaining for one more grip and it is one of my most cherished supplies.

I treated the pine bark rings as if they were cork - glued them up on a mandrel using TiteBond III and a cork press. Turned to shape on a lathe, tapered reamers to fit to blank, and epoxy adhesive to affix to the blank. Again, all just as if it were cork.

There were, however, there are three minor and one significant differences from cork. Firstly, the bark is just a bit more dense than cork, but any additional weight will be way back on the butt so it's a near non-event. And being more dense the pine bark will not turn to shape as quickly as cork. Just take your time, don't try to force or hurry things along. Finally, if you need to inlet the pine bark for an up locking reel set it can be done with the same tool you use for cork. Again, just take your time.

The significant difference between cork and bark is aesthetic - folks either love or hate the look. I love the look when the bark grip is finished with Tru-Oil, which is whole other topic. Bottom line is my go to 5 weight fly rod has been fished a bunch over the last 7 or 8 year and the pine bark grip is still 98% as new.

Good luck.

I have used pine bark in many grips for fly rods, but not an entire grip, however it should work OK.

thanks all going to give it a try , I guess cork sealer will work for a sealer.

I found the ends of the grip to be a little brittle. I would recommend possibly adding either a cork ring or rubberized cork ring to the ends......I finished mine with multiple coats of tung oil.....