Several of you have expressed interest in my technique of embedding a fly in the cork handle of a fly rod. Presently I am working on embedding a small fish figure or similar article in the handle of a spin or casting rod. Hope these instructions are clear enough to follow. If you need clarification email me direct.

Select a suitable bright colored small trout fly. The smaller the better as a large hole in the cork is harder to work with.

With a Dremel Tool select a small egg shaped boring bit. Bore out an oval hole in the cork about 1 to 1 1/2 long and about 3/4 to 1 inch wide. Making it deep enough to accomodate the fly without any part protruding above the rim. Using finish epoxy ( I use U 40 LS Supreme) put a few drops in the bottom of the hole and position the fly. Add a few drops on the fly to saturate, making sure the fly don't float up past the rim. Let it take a "set" so as to hold the fly in position when you put in on the turning motor. When you are sure the fly won't float add a few drops to fill the hole to the rim. Let this take a "set" so centrifugal force won't dislodge the fly when it turns. By "set" I mean slightly congealed, not hard. In fact up to now it can be pretty runny, as long as the fly don't move around once placed in the desired position. But it needs to be faily stiff before is rotated or the fly will fall out. Motor speed must be fairly slow. I use my 18 rpm finish motor.

Start the motor turning and apply a drop or two on the center as it passes by. This will cause the epoxy to build up to conform to the round shape of the cork if done properly. At this stage I like my epoxy to be a bit thick, just enough to drip off a toothpick. This is the critical part because if the expoxy is too thin it will overflow and if it is too thick it will not spread properly. Strangely enough I found the epoxy will stay on top if applied at the right time and the turning speed is right. Care must be taken to make sure the project is perfectly level or the epoxy will shift towards one end or the other. Keep applying epoxy until the shape conforms to the round cork. Don't overdo it at this point. Too much epoxy and you'll have an overflow mess.

Keep the project rotating until it hardens. After it hardens I sand lightly with a fine sanding block to even out the edges with the cork and apply a drop or two of fresh epoxy on top (while turning) to bring back the clear finish.

This sounds like a long and complicated project but after some practice on a scrap cork you will find it can be done very quickly. I also found a large hole is very difficult to work with. Keep it small and neat. I also found it was better to do after the rod was completed instead of trying to do it on the cork and then construct the rod. As a matter of fact I now do it as the last thing. However it;s a fine way to ruin a good rod project unless you have perfected it on a scrap piece and are confident of your technique. Shaping the hole properlly without eating up a good handle can be difficult. A template would be great, however I freehand it.

My appologies for such a long post but I knew of no other way to explain it.

Good Luck

Capt. Harold
Crystal River, FL

Thank you for sharing it. It gives me some ideas and the benefit of your previous experimentation! Very kind of you to put this here for all of us. Thanks.