What is everyone doing for cork handles…do you buy your handles already made or are you using the cork rings and shaping your own? I don’t do a lot of builds but am getting tired of suppliers not having stock available so was looking at mini lathes and cork rings. Also, for those of you doing your own handles, what grade cork are you using? This is a hobby and when I do build a rod, I am generally in no rush to get it done.

I buy pre made. I do not make enough rods to warrant the tools to make cork handles.

David,

I think you would find many advantages to making your own. You won't save money, but you can make a better grip as well as customizing it to your customers' wishes. And, you may find that you enjoy doing it. That last part might be a good enough reason to try it.

CG2 cork is relatively affordable and makes a very nice grip.

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I use a lot of premade that I cut to useable lengths and reshape as needed.

David,
The quality of cork, whether individual rings or pre-made grips, will continue to diminish unless willing to pay astronomical prices. Once you find a suitable vendor for either, stay with it! I recently tried a Baston half-wells and was quite pleased, however who knows what the next one might be. All I can say is trial-and-error, good luck and inform the rest of us if you find “the source”!!!

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

David,
In these days with the increasing prices of cork you might just consider going with carbon handles and leaving cork behind.
But, if you are wiling to pay the price- no question that Cork makes a very nice handle.

However, with cork of a lesser quality more the norm than the exception, I generally always go over the finished handle with cork filler.

For all of my cork work I only use one product.

Elmers Pro cork filler in the light Oak color. It is reasonable in price, easy to work with and with the new Pro version water proof for outside rod use.

[www.menards.com]

After shaping the grip on the lathe, I leave the grip on the lathe.
Then, I go over the entire grip with the elmers wood filler, taking extra time to fill any blems or faults in the cork.

After letting the filler dry for an hour, I start with 150 grit paper with a backing board to knock off the high spots and quickly go down to 220, 320, 400 grit paper. Then, I do the final finish by reversing the 400 grit paper and use the back side of the 400 grit to get the nice smooth finish on the grip. By doing the work on the lathe, the finish work for the filler only takes a few minutes to have the perfect grip. By using the exterior Elmers wood filler, it is a long lasting finish on the grip that will last many seasons. But if necessary, at any time it is easy to use simple green cleaner and a tooth brush to do a nice deep clean of the cork and then after the grip is completely dry on the completed rod, do a spot touch up with the wood filler to take care of any blems that might have shown up over seasons of use with the rod.

[www.menards.com]

or

[www.menards.com]

p.s.
I use simply green cleaner and a tooth brush to clean all of my full rods and grips at the end of each season to keep the rods and grips looking like new.

Best wishes

Most of the time I machine my own grips from glued-up rings. I use both exotic burl and regular cork, making sure in both cases that I get what I want in quality and character. Yes, good quality regular cork is getting hard to find, and is pricey. Most grips that are pre-made are quite heavily pit-filled, and some times the filler comes out. Some burls have such uniform chips that it looks like "partical board," which I don't like. I choose the kind with bigger, irregular, chips so it has more character. I use so little on my spin rods that the burl adds almost no weight compared with regular cork, but yes, it is significantly heavier if you use a lot of it.

One does not need a lathe to work with cork. If one has a drill press it is easy and inexpensive to set it up to machine cork grips safely and accurately. Then starting witih 60 grit and progressively moving to much finer grit the parts are easily machined. If anyone wants instructions on how to set up the drill press, email me.

[www.rodbuilding.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2021 07:13AM by Michael Danek.

Thanks for all the replies. I still think I want to dabble with it. I now need to find a place to buy the cork at a reasonable price.

You can always practice with the less expensive cork.

Check the sponsors to the left for cork in all grades. Several of them there.

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Cork oaks must be a couple-hundred years old before they yield good cork. They were not replanted as fast as they expired, so the future of a supply of good cork does not look good. If you have a cork grip with holes and crevices in it (and who doesn't?) you can re-create a durable and pleasing-to-the-eye cork grip by taking corks from white wine bottles and sanding them with #120 sandpaper, catching the cork powder on large sheet of paper. Using a small rat-tail file gently ream out the hole in the cork grip, making the cavity wider at the bottom than at the top. You will need enough cork powder to fill this cavity. Put a glob of flexible clear epoxy in a mixing cup and stir in the cork powder to make a thick paste. Use a putty knife to press this paste into the cavity in you created, taking care to completely fill the hole. Leave the top of your patch a bit higher than the surface of the grip. A day or so later when the cork/epoxy paste has hardened sand it down until it is even with the cork on the grip. I have found such patches blend in nicely, and some have endured for decades and still look good.

I buy flor grade cork and make my own. I only use 15 minute low viscosity clear epoxy to glue the rings together then shape them on a lathe. I use a course bastard file to rough shape the cork then finish it off with 100 grit to 250 grit and a final with 320 grit. A 7" grip made this way will cost about $35 because the high grade cork is $3 to $4.75 a ring. Cheap cork looks cheap and has voids in it. Natural cork is the lightest material a grip can made with. It is lighter than graphite and foam. The best hole filler I have found is Dap Plastic Wood. I make wade fishing rods and fly rods and it can take dunking better than any other filler.


[www.lowes.com]

Cork is not lighter than foam core carbon skinned grips made as instructed by the inventors. We have the data to prove that.

And, the more voids and pits a cork ring has in it, the lighter it will be.

The other thing to keep in mind when buying cork, is that there is no written nor photographic standard behind any cork grade other than the one RodMaker produced some time back. There is no percent clear standard for what constitutes "flor grade" cork. Gene Bullard coined that term and never stated what percent clear a cork ring had to be in order to be "flor grade." As it stands, the worst looking cork rings in the world can be graded "flor" and the seller won't be wrong. There is simply no written nor photographic standard for cork "grades" such as flor, AA, AAA, Super, etc.

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Build my first cork (well, “burl”) grips recently and enjoyed the process.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

I’ve used “prefab” cork grips up to now. The Batson super grade grips have been very nice quality…

Is cork shaped with traditional wood cutting tools or just sandpaper or both?

Cork doesn't respond to regular lathe cutting tools the way wood does. You can use a round nose scraper to get the cork cylinder concentric to the bore, then do your shaping with coarse 80 grit paper. One the desired size and shape have been attained, move to and through 150 - 220 - 320 and even 400 to establish a very smooth surface.

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Cork is to fishing rod handles as leather is to cowboy boots.

We like quality cork rings for custom grips. There are many places to get good cork, stay away from the bargain cork. You get what you pay for. Sand paper it the best, quickest way to shape a custom cork ring handle on a lathe. Start with a 60 grit and work your way up to 400 for a nice smooth finish. Cork cleans easily with soap and water but if you need a deeper clean then hit it with some 220 sand paper and them the 400 again to bring it back to life. Here is our video featuring our technique and cork lathe setup that uses a drill you probably already have.

[www.youtube.com]

Flex Coat Company
Professional Rod Building Supplies
www.flexcoat.com

Tom Kirkman Wrote:
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> Cork is not lighter than foam core carbon skinned
> grips made as instructed by the inventors. We have
> the data to prove that.
>
> And, the more voids and pits a cork ring has in
> it, the lighter it will be.
>
> The other thing to keep in mind when buying cork,
> is that there is no written nor photographic
> standard behind any cork grade other than the one
> RodMaker produced some time back. There is no
> percent clear standard for what constitutes "flor
> grade" cork. Gene Bullard coined that term and
> never stated what percent clear a cork ring had to
> be in order to be "flor grade." As it stands, the
> worst looking cork rings in the world can be
> graded "flor" and the seller won't be wrong. There
> is simply no written nor photographic standard for
> cork "grades" such as flor, AA, AAA, Super, etc.
>
> ..............
"Flor" is just an example of a word for high quality cork. There is no standard definition for it. Large voids in cork are detrimental to shaping it and of course, do make it lighter. Cheap cork has a lot of small holes that will eventually become bigger holes, as it ages. The volumetric equivalent of grips that I have weighed of cork and foam core carbon skinned grips has always had natural high grade cork being lighter. Maybe those carbon grips were made differently than the ones you have weighed. Does a light grip benefit the build? Sometimes, but not always. I also prefer cork over carbon, for now.

I shape my cork grips and never use fillers. It is possible to find good cork - or at least I've been blessed. There's nothing quite like the feel of cork.

Mo,
Without a doubt, it is possible to find good cork --- if you are willing to pay for it.

IN today's world, really blem free cork rings are approaching $10 each. So, if you make a 20 ring full cork grip you are talking $200 for the grip alone.

But, perhaps you have a 75 year old really excellent cork squirreled away when one could buy really great cork for 50 cents a ring.

Glad that you can find or have really nice cork.

Best wishes.

> "Flor" is just an example of a word for high
> quality cork. There is no standard definition for
> it. Large voids in cork are detrimental to
> shaping it and of course, do make it lighter.
> Cheap cork has a lot of small holes that will
> eventually become bigger holes, as it ages. The
> volumetric equivalent of grips that I have weighed
> of cork and foam core carbon skinned grips has
> always had natural high grade cork being lighter.
> Maybe those carbon grips were made differently
> than the ones you have weighed. Does a light grip
> benefit the build? Sometimes, but not always. I
> also prefer cork over carbon, for now.


What constitutes "high quality" cork? What percent clear is "high quality?" Is it 90 percent? 80 percent? 65 percent?


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