At one end you have pure cork, it is the lightest and least durable. At he other end you have the cork/rubber composite, it being the heaviest and most durable. In between in both weight and durability is the all cork composites which are available in various colors.
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Yes, Tap Plastics has retail stores in many communities. The acrylic should turn very well on your lathe.
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Without a lathe how are you planning on building a grip with cork and foam? You are correct that white foam will pick-up oil from hands and dirt. Sealing with cork seal will help, but not sure for how long on the foam. I use white acrylic for my accent rings, it turns quite easily and do not absorb anything. I find the acrylic at Tap Plastic stores where they sell 4"X4" sample
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Us fly tiers use wire for a number of purposes, it would certainly wrap a rod. The wire comes in various thicknesses and is available in Gold (brass), silver and copper colors on spools like wrapping thread. John if you are interested in trying some I can send you some to play with, email me.
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I think Tru-Oil will give you problems on the EVA as it is an oil. What are the accent rings made of? If cork and glued together well they will be quite durable. Cork seal may be your best bet. If you have some scraps left try, testing before putting on the grip.
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I find the glue application raises the guide foot off the rod and makes it even more difficult to start the climb up the foot. I use small pieces of surgical tubing cut into narrow rings. By using various sizes I am able to get a good snug setting with the bonus of being able to reposition the guides during the wrapping process. Others use narrow strips of masking tape.
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I think some may have missed Billy's point. He is trying to avoid having to put on an additional coat of epoxy and was wondering if could save a problem wrap by buffing instead of another coat. As the epoxy's used on wraps never really gets as hard as casting resin or acrylics I doubt very much that one would be able to simulate their gloss or the gloss of unsanded wrap epoxy.
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JP has turned grips from bamboo laminate counter top material very successfully. He had a beauty at the show. We are both awaiting a shipment of 1 1/2" thick bamboo laminate in different colors and configurations to turn. I have also just turned a grip made up of 1" bamboo flooring laminate that I cut into 1 1/4" rings and glued up as you would cork. Turned out really nice. I'll po
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It depends upon what size fish you will be catching. I fish British Columbia and Alaska with a 9' 8wt. 3pc and a 9.5' 9wt 3 pc and in California I use a 9' 7wt 3pc and the 8wt. All of course are fly rods with full wells grips, single handed no fore grips or fancy (glitzy) wraps as I prefer the understated stealth look.
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RPM's that high can cause ridges or humps in the epoxy due to centrifugal force.
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I use Titebond III for all my cork and Birch bark, holds great and less of a problem turning later.
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It was my first show, but it sure won't be my last! I was overwhelmed at all the information, ideas, tips and tricks I learned at the ICRBE. But even more importantly I come away really valuing the contact with people like: Tom Kirman, J.P. Timberlake, Karry Batson and Bobby Feazel, all of who took great pains to answer my questions and explain how they achieve their amazing results. To finall
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It is not the proper type of epoxy for wraps. As said before it is an adhesive, whereas the wrap type is more of a casting resin. Devcon or other adhesives besides being "off color" do not level like wrap epoxy.
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I'm in Alamo and build rods, will be glad to help in anyway I can. While I build fly rods much of the process is the same. Phil
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A lot depends upon your prior experience with machine tools and working with wood. If you have used a lathe before, you have a big head start Turning cork for grips is the easiest, wood for reel seat and grips a little more difficult. Better to start with the simple and progress as you gain experience. A good mini lathe will do both grips and seats. The above message indicates that glue res
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Strong rumor out west here that Gary Loomis is going back into the rod business now that his "no Compete" is up.
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Tom, is right on.....adding additional hardner or resin beyond the 1 to 1 ratio will not help in any way, and is often the cause of "tacky epoxy!" Very careful measurements and complete mixing are essential. I have used most brands of epoxy (finally settling on Threadmaster) and do not worry about bubbles during or after the mixing process because as mentioned before, they are very e
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With that combination, it will be very hard to see them.
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Ray's link is a good one! The guide pictured on the left (lower photo) will have no problem climbing up the guide foot, the one on the right will want to slide down and pile up upon itself. Woeeying about cutting the thread usually ends up in poorly prepared guides!
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What's the application? Holding guides for wrapping or other? Would love to hear more.
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Tim, The FAQ you posted has no relationship to your earlier comments "impede a blanks flexibility by about 10" and with it's "greatest effect on the thinnest parts." As for wrapped guides "hobbling" performance, that sounds like an opinion not a fact! For most of us there is more to a fly rod than just it's ability to throw line. There are esthetic and creat
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Building your own with all the various parts could end up costing more than buying a finished product and as stated above the tumbler motor is questionable for lathe us. As for size, most "Mini Lathes" will handle 12" or so and "Midi lathes" up to maybe 18". Turning something as long as 15" will require a mandrel of at least 3/8" dia. even then you will
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If you do not get absolutely ALL of the epoxy off a matte blank, you are in effect "filling in" the surface with the epoxy and this could appear milky.
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I do not believe the spine makes an iota of difference if it is up or down vertically! On a 4pc 5 wt it could make a slight difference if the spine is 90 degrees to the vertical on the top section, but most would never notice it in actual use. Modern graphite rod technology has virtually put the "spine issue" out of business!
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The Bark Canoe Store www.barkcanoe.com (John Lindman) also has good thick Birch Bark. I have found he has scrap pieces of the canoe grade that costs less and works great. A good guy to work with also!
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I too have found Anglers Workshop and Dave Lyons especially to be very helpful and responsive. I teach a rod building class for our fly fishing club and one of our past students mistakenly epoxied his grip and reel seat on the 3rd section of a 4pc rod blank. Dave had him return the section, removed the reel seat and obtained a replacement section from Loomis returning all at no charge. Rea
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Tom, I sure hope that UPS does attend and offer shipping services! I am attending for the first time and anticipate buying quite a bit if and would need it shipped as cannot carry back on plane to California.
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As noted above, the materials you mentioned sand a different rates, so you need to reduce the diameter of the wood checkerboard rings while not reducing the cork too quickly or too far. I have found the a wood rasp works very well on the wood and I actually turn the wood down to very close to the ultimate diameter before I glue the grip together for the final turning. The comment about using a &q
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I am not having trouble logging in or view the photos, but am not able to upload a photo. I constantly (many days) get a message that the connection is interrupted. Whats up?
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I too am having trouble uploading photos. After logging in and attempting to upload, I get a disconnect message server interrupted." Is it me or what?
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