In other threads I have been mentioning and asking questions about building cork grips, and as usual, the membership of this site came through in flying colors, with many great answers, and suggestions. I just want to thank each one of you that have given suggestions and tips for making grips. I had already built one foam core carbon sleeved grip, and it was a lot of fun, so I knew building cork grips was going to be fun as well. Well it is more than fun. It is a blast !!

While I am sure that some cool things can be done with carbon fiber grips (I have see some very cool ones in the photo section) I can't help but think that the possibilities with cork are even more numerous. Well I finally have a picture of my first two grips,

[www.rodbuilding.org]

I'm going to be contouring the full grip. I didn't want to do it until I got it reamed to fit the blank. I had gotten one of the Flex Coat bits that are modified to cut as it's being pulled into the stock you're boring, and as it was my first time using one, I wasn't sure how stable it would be. So I'll just build up some making tape arbors and remount the grip on my mandrel, to contour it. BTW, if anyone is thinking about getting one of those bits, I think it is well worth the money. I bored .375" holes in my cork rings, and the blank I am using in this build has a butt diameter of .573", so I used one of the .500" Flex coat bits to get it closer to the butt diameter. The bits work great, and they save a lot of time that would be spent reaming.

I turned down a small tenon on the end of the full length grip to accept the ID of the trim ring between the grip and the reel seat. I did it after I had the grip turned down to the proper diameter. Super simple to do with lathe tools and a tool rest for my power wrapper. The split grip set is also for the same rod, (I have a choice to make) and as of yet, I have not turned the small tenon on the end. Reason being, before I turned down these grips, I hadn't used lathe tools on rubberized cork as of yet. Now that I see that it doesn't cut all that much different than regular cork, I will be turning a tenon on the one end. I'll just add a .250" thick ring to the end to extend it a bit. Kind of an insurance thing if it doesn't turn out as expected. If it doesn't I'll just cut it back to how they are in the picture.

Anyhow, other than wishing I would have went with better cork from the start on the full grip, I am pretty happy with the outcome. I am very happy with the outcome of the split grips. Earlier I said I had a decision to make as to which grip(s) will go on the rod. I am leaning heavily towards the split grips. I really like them !!!

And finally, thank you again to all that have given me tips and suggestions during this process. They are more appreciated than you know.

And Tom ? I attribute my success to your Youtube video, the basics of turning cork. Seeing it done, and the way you made it look so easy, is what really got me convinced of doing this. I can't tell you how much your videos have helped me with my rod building.

I love this place !!!

Very nice work for your early attempts!

You did a great job!
Norm

Phil, thanks for the compliment. It is very much appreciated. I had no idea this would be so much fun. The bad thing is that it is so fun, that I am going to need to build more rods that I definitely don't need, just so I can build some more grips. lol

For now, I have a couple of my early builds that have full length grips that I used EVA for the grip material. And while I don't have a problem with EVA, I'll be at the very least, taking off the rear grips and replacing them with my own cork grips. Most likely I will be tearing two of them down to the bare blanks so I can put different reel seats on them, and change the color of the thread wraps. Cork grips, for me anyhow, opens up some different possibilities in thread colors as well.

I've learned a couple of things, or at least I think I have, that I hope you or others can confirm. In judging cork rings, it seems that looking at the top and bottom of the ring is going to give you a better idea of how many imperfections will be in the surface of the grip once you've turned it down. Of course some of the little spots you see on the flat surface of the ring may not go all the way through, but at least you can get an idea of what might be there once you turn it down. Would you say that's true?

Also, when I was putting together my sliced two color rings, thinking I needed to keep the center bore at 1/4", I put pieces of 1/4" aluminum dowel in the center before I clamped them up, I think it led some small gaps I had between the individual pieces. Not as much on the curved surface of the ring, as it did towards the center. It's logical that that would happen as cutting the wedges is taking out material. Do you or others not bother with trying to keep the center hole at the diameter it was before cutting?

And one question I have concerning clamping up the cork cylinder. I made one of the cork clamps like those you see using threaded rod, wing nuts, and wood. It works really well and like Tom shows in his Youtube video, I make sure I have the same measurement at each threaded rod so I am getting equal pressure. The question is, how much do you tighten it. For instance .... the split grips I made are both 2.625" in length. That is what the dimension of the cork rings I used, added up to as well. So it came out the length I expected. When I tightened the clamps on them and the full length grip, I made the dimension between the boards, 1/2" shorter than what the finished dimensions of the grips were going to be. Is that too tight? Or would you got even tighter?

I had good flow of the Tite Bond 3 coming out from between the rings, and the grips are definitely sound. I'm just wondering if I am over doing it, or not doing it enough, as tightness goes?

Norman, thank you very much for the compliment kind sir. I truly appreciate it.

This grip making stuff is fun ......... !!!

Set the tightness on the clamps, such that you just have glue squeezing out between the joints, with on evidence of any space between the rigs.

If, when you tighten the clamp- the cork ring/s become distorted, you have make the clamp too tight.

Take care

David,
Your grips are very nice indeed = good job especially for your first attempt! I am glad you find turning cork so much fun. Inversely, anything to do with grips (shaping, reaming, mounting) is my LEAST favorite rod building operation; I enjoy wrapping the most.
From your photo, I cannot see what you are complaining about; the quality of the cork in the full length grip looks fairly good to me. If you want better quality cork, you will probably have to spend over $4.00 per ring and there still will be no guarantee it will be any better after turning it.

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

David
IMO - 1/2"of compression is too much on that length grip(s)
Herb

Roger and Herb, thank you for your responses in regards to my question about how tight I should be clamping the rings. They are very much appreciated. I will adjust accordingly on future grips.

Herb, as far as what you said about 1/2" being too much compression on that length of grip ... is there a general rule of thumb you follow, or is it more like Roger said about just enough pressure to squeeze glue out between the joints? The full length grip is 9 5/8" long. I figured with that number of rings involved, 1/2" of compression wasn't too much. But clearly I didn't follow the same logic with the split grips. I was concerned with the rubberized rings on the ends getting a good bond, but I shouldn't have tightened them as much as I did. I will definitely tone down the clamp pressure. Thankfully they returned to the length I had designed them to be, with no sign of distortion.

Mark, thank you very much for the compliment. It is much appreciated. It's funny that we are just the opposite in what we do and don't find enjoyable about rod building. Wrapping guides is my least enjoyable part of wrapping a rod, because I am not that good at it. I get better and better at it with each rod I build, but I build so few rods that it takes me a couple of guides to get my rhythm going.

And you are right about not knowing what you'll end up with as far as cork rings go, until you have them turned down close to what will be their finished size. It's one of those Forrest Gump life is like a box of chocolate things, only with cork. It doesn't look horrible, but it doesn't look like the quality of cork used in the Forecast cork grips that I have purchased from Utmost Enterprises, in the past.

I still have about 30 regular extra grade cork rings to use up before I need to buy any more. I picked up some cork filler that I will use on the full length grip after I contour it. If it ends up looking ok, then I will be more happy with it.

Anyhow, thank you all again for your help and compliments. And Roger, a special thanks to you on the help with getting the rubberized cork rings, smoothed. Very much appreciated !!!

They look great! Nothing like cork in my book.

Some of the exotic cork blends are much heavier than plain, natural cork. But they can be cored, of course, to return their weight to no more and sometimes even less than natural cork - [www.rodmakermagazine.com]

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

Tom Kirkman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Some of the exotic cork blends are much heavier
> than plain, natural cork. But they can be cored,
> of course, to return their weight to no more and
> sometimes even less than natural cork -
> [www.rodmakermagazine.com]
> s/2021/12/GripCoring.pdf
>
> .............
<comes out from underneath rock.>
It never occurred to me to bore out the material...thanks.

Lynn, thank you very much for the compliment, much appreciated buddy. And I agree somewhat with the nothing like cork. It does give that warm look, but I'm a fan of the carbon fiber grips as well. I will say that I like cork split grips more than I do carbon fiber ones.

I really like the split grips that I made in the picture. I slid them on the blank and built up a tape arbor so the reel seat side grip would stay put and expose some blank between where the rear grip stopped on the blank, and they look SWEET !!! lol Extremely happy with them.

I think I am going to use the full length grip on the MB 709 IM blank. It's a flipping/ pitching rod and I am liking full length grips on them rather than split grips. I'm going to use the split grips on one of my existing rods that I have built on an MB736 / SJ 736 ? X ray blank. I have EVA split grips on it now. Now I just have to decide do I want to leave the reel seat in place and put the grips on from the butt, which will mean I will have to do something to make up for the extra large hole that will be in the forward grip, or ..... to cut off the MVT reel seat and buy another one to put back on it.

Taking off the guides is no big thing as I will be changing the thread color anyway. I have taken off one reel seat in the past, and it was not fun. And it was a split seat, so it's easier than the full length seat like the MVT is going to be. Not really concerned about the added price of buying another MVT. Not being able to fill the larger hole in the forward grip to my satisfaction is of bigger conern.

And Tom, that is a very interesting article. I personally find weight behind the reel seat to be a plus from a rod and reel balance perspective, there are things in that article that open up some other ideas.

David,
It is trivial to put a rear grip on from the butt end of the rod.

Simply use masking tape to build up the rod blank so that the built up arbor is the very same size as the butt of the rod blank. Check for a fit. Then, pull the grip off, apply a generous amount of glue on both the outside of the rod blank, as well as on the inside of the grip, slide it up to the reel seat. Hold it tight, and use DNA or similar solvent to remove any trace of exposed epoxy glue before it sets up. If the arbor is more than an inch or so, build the arbor up in stripes of masking tape with about a 1/16th gap between the stripes of tape. Fill the slits with epoxy and they insures that you have both good adhesion, to the rod blank as well as encapsulating each ribbon of tape with epoxy so you never ever have any issues at all with the masking tape arbor.

Best wishes.

If you like your reel seat and it’s position, then replace the the grip from the rear. Those MVT reel seats are quite expensive. I have retrofitted a bunch of rods with new cork, carbon fiber, and Winn grips done from the rear. It is quite easy to do. Remove the old rear grip and fighting butt. The old glue and Eva residue with slightly enlarge the OD of the blank where the rear grip will go, you don’t have worry about getting down to the bare blank. I usually clean up the area where the fighting butt will go to decrease it’s OD. Once everything is removed from behind the reel seat, drill out your new cork split grip so it just barely fits over the rod butt, slide it up to the reel seat, and adjust the fit with a couple of wraps of dry wall tape. I tack the dry wall tape to the blank with super glue or a five minute epoxy. This prevents the tape from walking when glueing the grip in place with a rod epoxy. If you don’t want to use dry wall tape, masking tape or even a thread wrap will work. I usually use rubber/vinyl winding checks, which will stretch over the butt and still fit snugly against the grip. If you want to use metal winding checks then you have to get a size that will fit over the butt end. The difference in the OD of blank butt and the OD of the blank at the end of the reel seat will be about 1-1.5 mm. This difference is very easy to make up. Once epoxied in place you will never know the grip was retrofitted.
Norm

Roger and Norman, thank you both for your replies and for outlining the process. I knew it wouldn't be hard to do. My main concern was the gap between the blank and the rear of the forward grip. I already had a split grip set up on the blank, they weren't quite the grips I wanted as they were a little shorter, and had more of a taper than the grips I made. So I slid them off and using the fighting butt, I positioned it as if it were the forward grip. But before I did, I slid on a rubber winding check and the winding check's OD was enough to cover the gap that would be there, so I am going to go ahead and leave the reel seat in place.

I was thinking of using the masking tape arbors that Roger mentioned as fiberglass drywall tape doesn't stick all that well and I was concerned being able to get a tight fit without the tape moving. Never thinking about tacking it to the blank with super glue. Thanks for that idea Norman.

Feel kind of stupid that I didn't think about it. Duh me !!! lol

Thanks again for the replies guys. Much appreciated !!!

Just adding a photo. I contoured the full length grip a bit, and did a little filling of some of the larger spots on the grip I wasn't happy with. I also put a coat of U-40 Cork seal on it. I'm happier with it, but not ecstatic. lol As I said earlier, as soon as I go through the natural cork rings I have left, my next order will be for some higher grade rings. And I certainly don't want to make it sound as if I'm not happy with the rings I got. For being extra grade, and comparing them to some supposedly higher grade rings I got from another vendor, the extra grade rings from board sponsor, Custom Fly Grips LLC, are as nice, or nicer than those other more expensive rings.

I also got the split grips fitted on the rod I have built on the MB 736 X ray blank. I don't know what I was worried about, first time putting split grips on from the butt of a rod I guess, but I am very happy with the the outcome. I have the grips cleaned and once I put on a coat of cork seal, it will darken them up a bit, and I will ecstatic with the outcome. Next thing to do is strip guides off and put them back on with a new thread color. I'll be using the same Pro Wrap Chestnut that I used on the spinning rod I built on the RX10 Eternity blank.

Not sure what color thread I will be using on the new build on the MB 709 IM blank as of yet. I picked up a couple of different shades of green. I don't use CP, so once I do a couple of test wraps and coat them with finish, I'll decide if I go with one of them, or the same Chestnut that I mentioned earlier.

Anyhow ..... here's a picture

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Oh and despite the grips looking a lot different in length. There is only 1/2" difference from the back of the reel seat, to the butt of the grips. Sure looks more than that though. Things that make you go hmmm .... lol



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2022 09:10PM by David Baylor.

Wet or dry, cork has a high coefficient of friction and is very durable. This is why cork is used for flooring, particularly for floors which are apt to get wet. Other than tort lawyers, few recommend coating a cork floor with a smooth finish.