I've heard of many different options for glueing cork rings. After reading an earlier post, I went out and bought some plain ol' Elmers waterproof wood glue and tried it. It seems to work as well as anything I've tried. Does it last as well as other, more expensive alternatives?

Also, Home Depot is full of new plastic wood sealants, fillers, varnishes, etc. Anyone have any neat tips to preserve, fill, or stain cork for cosmetic and functional purposes?

To be honest, I have not experimented with many different types of adhesive for gluing cork rings. I have always used regular 2-part epoxy for this task and have always gotten excellent results. Glue lines are very faint, if visible at all, and not a single failure that I can recall.

I have heard of people using TiteBond II wood glue with good results. Others have used one of the urethane wood glues with good results as well (be careful here, though, as some of these dry dark, leaving a visible glue line). There is no reason to believe that regular Elmer's won't work and I am sure that others who have tried it will add their comments here.

As far as all the various products you mention, I have had the good fortune to always have good quality cork so filling has never been necessary. I know that Ralph has his own ideas on filling and staining and will let him add that information if he wishes.

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Rob, Tom gave you some good advice. I will add one thing, use the slow curing epoxy as it is a little more flexible and as Tom I, have never had a failure with It. The other might work but why take a chance.

By epoxy, are you referring to the U40 Rod Bond type, Flex Coat five minute epoxy, or an actual finish like LS Supreme? Seems everyone has their own favorite. Actually, the glue I tried last night was the Titebond II you mentioned--I couldn't think of the brand but knew it was similar to Elmer's wood glue. I reckon then I can trust it will hold well through the years unless I hear otherwise.

Per the stain and filler, I generally use flor and burl and don't do much filling either. I am more curious about stains for cosmetics or sealants to prolong life if anyone has experience in those areas.

Rob, you want regular 2-part slow cure epoxy. It is offered by Flex Coat, Epoxy Coatings Co., and at your local hardware store by Devcon. And yes, the gel-type Rod Bond from U40 will work also.

I would stay away from the epoxy thread wrap finishes for use as an adhesive. I know some people use them and get away with it, but it's just not that much trouble and probably safer to use the proper adhesive for the job.

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Thanks Tom. I appreciate the good advice. I'll give the slow cure epoxy a try and compare it to the Titebond glue. I'll decide which I prefer and stick to it. No pun intended.

Bob
I've tried em all and have settled on one and one only. Tite bond 2 works fine if it is used sparingly. Elmers goes to pot after exposure in a high humididy atmosphere for about 30 days. This may shock Tom Kirkman somewhat but many of the major rod manufacturers use the rod finish on their cork handle -- most of them use flexcoat, and the handles for the most part stand up very well. The absolute epitome of a bond for corks I have found is good ole rod bond. Of course I'm prejudiced, wouldn't you be also. Nevertheless it stands up best under adverse humidity conditions-- better than any thing else IF --great big IF you use it correctly. I have posted this method many times but it always gets lost in the airways so here it goes again. Mix rod bond in the usual manner, spread it on the face of a cork with a spatula type tool, let it stand for a few seconds, say a half a minute or so, then scrape it all off. Scrape very diligently. Do this with each surface, then clamp very tightly. There must not be any squeez out. If you see any squeeze out, you didn't scrape diligently enough and there will be a slight glue line at that point. If there is no squeeze out, there will be no glue line. I have experimented with putting the adhesive on one surface only putting the scraped surface against its mating bare surface -- and have the same excellent results. Using this method truly makes the handle one big cork with no seperate glue divisions between the corks. I have made handles from fly rods to mooching rods in this manner and the results are always the same --excellent. Its the only to fly. Try it, you'll like it.
Ralph

Ralph;
Does this work with a thinner epoxy, such as Epon 848 with the Epicure catalyst? I build bamboo rods and have been using the Epon that I use to glue up rod sections for my cork, but even thinned with lacquer thinner I get a slight line. Thanks
John

John
The reason you are getting the slight line is because of the thinner. Eliminate the thinner, it does more harm than good. Spread the straight epoxy/hardener mix on -- scrape it off, all of it, and clamp. With no thinner you should have no visible glue line. I'm not familiar with the epicure catalyst, but try it anyway.
Ralph