As someone who has gone through the decision making process recently, I went the Flexcoat lathe. Considered a wood lathe. Expense was not the issue, it is space. The Flexcoat was I thought a compromise, and it is, but the results are great and being able to pack it down and store it is a plus. Glad I did not spring for a wood lathe

Maybe it's my OCD or something, but I can't imagine using a rod lathe to turn cork. the MESS in close proximity to where the thread and finish work takes place has my left eye twitching :-) I have a small Wen lathe that I turn my cork on. It can't do anything longer than about 8 inches, but that's plenty for my needs right now. It's light enough to carry outside on nice days and reduce shop cleanup even more, yet heavy enough to be a very stable platform to turn cork and other handle materials on.

I've never worked with wood, don't know anybody who works with wood, don't have a place to do this, and have barely got 2 rods under my belt. I want to do this haha.

Is the only benefit to shaping the cork yourself that you get to make the shape yourself? Is there a cost difference? The Flex Coat video looked like he made pretty typical shape cork - wouldn't it be quicker,cleaner, easier, and eliminate accidental over sanding to buy the cork in the shape you are going to make it?

The advantages of turning your own cork is 1. Custom shapes. I do spin rods with shapes I cannot buy. 2. Many options for differenet cork patterns with burl cork rings, almost endless. 3. You can get better quality natural cork if you are willing to pay for it. 4. You can buy thin rings that work nicely for contrast with either natural cork or different colors/patterns of burl cork.

I have not considered cost to be an issue, so cannot answer that question. I think it depends on what you're buying, so many options on rings and also on pre-shaped cork products.

Here is just about everything you need to know about quick, easy and affordable custom cork grips.

[www.youtube.com]

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

@MICHAEL - could you share an example of a shape that you make that isn't available? Is it just for the ergonomics of it?

Can you buy cork that has no bore holes? What impact does the cork quality have aside from aesthetics or comfort? Would an actual piece of wood be more sensitive and able to be shaped like this?

@JOHN I love the design and ease/convenience, but definitely a bit out of my price range.

Could you make the cork/foam OD/ID ratio thinner than what is available - which would seem to increase sensitivity with less material for vibrations to travel through. My main consideration would be the ability to create offset grips. I'm sure there's a certain amount of material needed to maintain integrity, but I'm sure it could be thinner than the present offerings.

Yes, ergonomics and style.

Yes, cork rings with no holes can be purchased. I buy 1/4 inch holes and enlarge to 5/16 to fit a 5/16 mandrel for turning.

With spin the hand is mostly in contact with the seat, so the diameter of the seat is most important, and many think size 16 is too small for all day ergonomics. I use 17's. Depends on hand sizes.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Thanks! Could I just not use a grip and instead build epoxy ramps to the spinning seat?

What's the thinnest you think a grip could be and still hold up well enough?

You can build epoxy ramps, cork ramps, ramps from thread, and ramps from any other material including easily shaped, light, righid polyurethane reel seat arbor material.

The features I like about the design shown is that the up-loaded seat orientation puts the hood at the front where my fingers feel smooth hood and not threads and the diameter of the ramps are very close to the diameter of the mating surfaces, so it all feels continuously "smooth."

You don't even have to have a grip if you don't want one. Look at skeleton seats. But the problem with small diameter grips and seats is that they are not good ergonomically.

Mark - Et al.
Living in a FL Condo - I too, am short of space. I bought the FlexCoat Cork Lathe about 20years ago and never regreted it, or felt that I needed something else.
I clamp all parts to a work bench in my Condo's common work room with a shop vac to collect the dust.

It does everything i need - I epoxy my cork rings directly on my fly rod blanks - and turn them down on the FC Lathe.
The power is a $35 Rigid 2500 rpm corded drill.
I am able to create grips of various lengths and diameters as needed. My all time favorite is the Ritz grip that I am able to modify as I wish - to have a flair at both ends.
You can't do that with pre-made grips.
One can also buy much better cork than offerred on premade grips.

Rick - one does not use this to wrap blanks - it is strictly to shape cork.

Herb
CTS Rep

El Bolinger Wrote:
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> Thanks! Could I just not use a grip and instead
> build epoxy ramps to the spinning seat?
>
> What's the thinnest you think a grip could be and
> still hold up well enough?

Absolutely, that’s the beauty of custom rod building. Take a look at custom fly grips to the left for examples of some of the cork rings are available. Let’s ya get creative with aesthetics and shapes.

I’m 100% with Michael on size 17 (and sometimes 18) spin seats with grips turned to flush out with the hoods. I don’t like size 16 seats, just to small. I use a lot of skeleton seats and turn my insert between hoods to flush out as well ( requires a trough cut in for the reel foot). Ya don’t see many premade grips to do that. Plus I like to use medium and dark burnt burl cork a lot. Premade grips usually have a ton of filler in em too.

You couldn't use the drill set up to wrap?

How can I tell what size seats the spinning rods I already have are?

I really wish I had more time and resources to to a total deep dive into all this, I want to make a hundred rods and experiment with all this different stuff.

Maybe I'll strip some rods I have just to play around a bit, it's certainly not a hundred, but it's certainly a start.

El
What type of seats. Talking spinning....Pipe style like Fuji dpsm and similar from other brands, ya can tell by the pipe O.D. with a set of calipers if it’s on a rod. If ya don’t have calipers , I recommend getting em. O.D. Should be listed on mud hole for Fuji dpsm. After a bit ya can tell at a glance.