Hey everyone, I have read on here about people making their own arbor bits. I need to make one in a size that flexcoat doesn’t offer for fly rods I build. I assume the arbor portion is an aluminum sleeve that is 1/4” round. How would I arbor the point on a spade bit to stay center in the sleeve? Also would anyone be willing to make one for me who has done so already if I paid? Thanks!
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I'm building a rod that will have the aluminum reel seat (https://voodoorods.com/products/alps-single-trigger-aluminum-reel-seat) glued direfectly to a glossy carbon fiber sleeve, no arbor/shim/tape needed or possible. I've glued up graphite seats before using carbon inserts and those worked fine. Do I need to do anything different with the aluminum sleeve and the glossy carbon fiber tube? Any s
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What's the best adhesive or glue for building handles using cork rings?
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I'm beginning to turn my own grips. I'm using a burl cork with blue in the mix (Blue River) and a burnt mix on another. What I'm noticing is when I get finer than 120 grit the colors in the blue river cork or burnt loose the pop in their color and get dull or hazy. Is there a way to correct this? Thanks
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Does anybody have suggestions for building my own rollers to replace the tailstock of my lathe with? I was looking at the flex coat lathe as a better alternative to making cork grips instead of using a mandrel so I’m not having to ream out my rod grips. I’m sure I could buy the rollers from flexcoat or something similar to that elsewhere, but I wasn’t sure if I could make them myself for cheap?
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I'm running into issues keeping my turned cork grips symmetrical when turning on my power wrapper, especially when using any rubberized cork to cap or accent grips. I usually start with a standard square end wood chisel against my bench to sqaure up the cork to the mandrel but the chisel doesn't do much to bring down the rubberized cork. I end up chiseling the the normal cork grip and then sa
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I just need some clarification on the correct glue for cork rings. I have titebond III wood glue and U-40 Rod bond. Which would you use for gluing the cork rings together on the mandrel. Thanks
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I just need some clarification on the correct glue for cork rings. I have titebond III wood glue and U-40 Rod bond. Which would you use for gluing the cork rings together on the mandrel. Thanks
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If I wanted to make a leather handle for a fly rod, hoe do you stack then laminate thin leather disks to a mandrel, then shape them? I would resume some kind of polyurethane would be the laminating agent, and that it would soak into, and stabilize the leather, and that a press would hold everything tight. So if that's true, how would you add colors, or decoration to the handle? I also think a
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Hi guys, I have another cork question. I bought a lathe a few months ago to start making my own grips. I’ve successfully turned four grips now after wasting probably 60 rings worth of grips. I thought I had a solid process down (I’m learning as I go) by gluing the rings, clamping, taking a sanding block to the grip on the lathe to get a uniform shape, then shaping (with strips of sandpaper)
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I want to make my first cork handles. I have read there are basically 2 techniques commonly used to make a handle . 1) glue the rings on the rod and turn the handle on the blank or 2) glue up the rings on a mandrel and file out the center using a tapered reamer . The idea of turning the cork glued up to the blank does not appeal to me ,to many chances for a snaffoo on my part . Then theres gluing
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I am looking at getting some carbon fiber tubing to try out for tennessee handle for ultralight rods. I am thinking of 23mm diameter and can get the wall thickness in either 0.5mm or 1.0mm. This is for ultralight using 2-4 lbs test so I don't anticipate high stress. Can you get by with 0.5mm or would 1mm be necessary? Thanks in advance for any insight.
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For those of you using a lathe, as opposed to a power wrapper, to turn cork, what are your recommendations for wax to use on the mandrel? Curious to learn if there is anything more useful than Gulf Paraffin Wax. Thanks in advance for any replies.
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What do you guys do when you glue the cork rings together to make a grip on ha a steel rod in the middle. Do you wax the metal, so it is not glued together with cork and makes it possible to retract after the epoxy/glue has hardened?
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Hi all - I've done a lot of reading on this topic, but there isn't too much clarity around what i'm looking for specifically. There are a few schools of thought, but I wondered if personal experiences would help to solve some of the challenges i'm concerned about. Firstly, I build my grips from individual cork / rubberized rings directly on the blank using a combination of 2 part bonding epox
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Hello all, new member here with my first post. I've been lurking a while, and have already learned a lot as I go down the rabbit hole of rod building. I'm building my first two-hander, a 12' 6 weight. I'll be gluing cork rings on the blank, and sanding them on a hobby lathe. I've done a re-grip of a single hander this way and it came out pretty good. I have several spey rods from which I ca
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Although coming from the composite industry, I just recently fabricated my first foam-core, CF-skinned grip. Observations of the pre, actual, and post process has prompted me to offer my experience of the process and end results. Admittedly, they do not fall in-line with what I have learned to be the accepted properties/attributes/qualities of foam-core grips; specifically weight (objective) and
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I want to turn my own rubberized cork butt caps to match my cork split grip butt grip. I have been turning my own cork grips on a lathe, but have had to buy the rubberized butt cap. This limits me to have to size my fighting butt to match whatever size is being sold. I purchased some solid 1 1/4 inch solid rubberized cork wafers in hope to glue these up and somehow turn to match the butt grip. i
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I’m having trouble finding anyone who currently sells 10”-12” long mandrels to turn cork. I searched a bit, but mostly everything I found was from a few years ago. If anyone can point me in the right direction I’d greatly appreciate it.
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Sorry to ask such a basic question. I have a cork grip that is installed on a rod glued on with Titebond 3. Does anyone know that if I BOIL the grip, whether the bond will break including between the cork rings so that everything will fall apart? I don't want to try unless I know it may work. This cork grip has my 'best of the best' flor and is really pretty special. I'd like to reuse it af
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Getting ready to make my first cork handle and had a couple questions. Can I glue up the rings on the turning mandrel? I know it has to be waxed to avoid sticking. Does it need to be clamped? Are there any tricks to clamping while on the mandrel? I see these clamps that go in the blank. I don't plan to turn them while on the blank. I will remove and ream them as necessary. Thanks. Gary
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Any recs on where to buy cork handles? On my last build I had epoxy seap through small cracks in my handle. Thanks. Gary
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Has anyone tried a product called Syncork? Had any luck with it?
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Probably a dumb question but can you use all burl cork rings to build a handle, i found a company that has a selection of all different designs that look really good. Or do you just use them for trim bands. Thanks
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Hi guys I’m wondering the process you guys use to ream out a rear grip on a spey or switch rod. Do you ream out the cork then glue up or glue up then ream the cork then glue on the butt piece? Trying to find best practice.
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Hey Guys, Looking for some a advise on which is the best glue to use when making a custom cork handle with burl cork. I am new to this part of custom rod building but want to expand on my builds. I purchased a bench top lathe and have my burl cork. I have watched quite a few YouTube vidies but would like your opinions on which glue you like to use and why. Pro - Cons. I have purchased Elmer's Wo
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I am alternately gluing a rotation of 4 shades of cork that are cut into 1/16" sections. I am looking for some tips when I zip tie ring to keep each small section "square" in pie ring. Have glued these up before and used individually however i am building an Indian Blanket style handle and when I stack the 3 I have completed they don't line up perfectly. 16 pieces are difficu
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I recently bought a Daiwa presso spinning rod, and like the rod, but the grip is so small in diameter, it's uncomfortable for me. My initial thought was to return the rod and then build a replacement with a tennessee handle, but then it occurred to me to just replace the handle on the rod, which I otherwise like. Then it occurred to me that I have a couple of junk rod, and I was thinking I
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What is the best way to hone out the cork. I watched a Flex Coat youtube which showed honing only a few pieces of cork at a time. Then they were all glued together. The issue I see is that you now put a standard 1/4 mandrel in to glue them up and it would be loose. Seems to me that nothing would line up and you would end up to honing a again. Am I to technical about this? I like the idea as
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Hey guys, just a ? on the best epoxy to use as far as reel seats, cork rings to blanks,etc... several options out there. I started using weldwood for gluing cork rings together seems like a good glue as far as that goes. Weldwood is a contact cement. Could i use this glue for eva grips? Thanks, Roger
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