I want to cut down a graphics reel seat a bit at the top of the threading. What is the best way to get a clean cut? Thanks in advance.
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I would like to turn some ice rod grips and looking for wood specie recommendations. They will be painted. Light and durable. Scott
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I am teaching a class of beginner rod builders. They are Disabled Veterans and members of Project Healing Waters. So all their components are purchased by Project Healing Waters. My question is this. For a beginner rod builder what support would be the best? Yes, I know that's a loaded question and there probably is no best answer, but I only have experience with a few like the low-end Mudho
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Hi going to try making my 1st custom grips. What should i use to glue cork? Same thing if I’m doing EVA? thanks for the help!
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I guess with the new "stick-to-itself tape" Reel seats are being eliminated from ice rods. Just had some high school seniors come in and order some Walleye ice rods with no reel seats. They want a butt a split and and a grip that they can tape a handle to. I started making them and am questioning the length? I made the platform 4" long and now it seems too short. thankfully I can r
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Hey guys, Im in the market for a power wrapper. I’ve had my eyes set on the flexcoat power wrapper/finishing machine but saw that mudhole has the rbs gen 2 wrapper(appears to be equivalent to the flexcoat one) on sale slightly cheaper. I know both flexcoat and mudhole offer quality products so I’m sure both units are fantastic but was wondering if anyone had any insights to offer to help with
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I just turn a fly rod grip out of cottonwood rings. It is beautiful, just wondered with the vast knowledge base in the forum, what your experiences were? Weight is about 4.5 gms per 1 1/4” x 1/2” ring compared to 1.5 gms for the same size cork ring. I’m looking for cork alternatives as cork quality declines and prices increase. Just purchased 75 Flor rings trying a new supplier not a clear
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Hello from the Denver area. I'm brand new to this hobby and I have a gazillion questions. My back ground is in automotive, mostly painting. I have run body shops for a while now as working on the shop floor is not practical as I get older and more beat up. I already have 2 expensive and time consuming hobbies in hot rods and fishing. However, I saw a custom hand built rod at a fund raiser an
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If I were to use the two above links as a rear grip and a foregrip on a build with a Fuji standard reel seat, would the seat sit nice between the two with no visible gaps? I wasn’t sure how grips without tenons would do with those standard reel seats.
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Which of these three common materials do you prefer for your grips? (Or do you prefer another material altogether?) Do you prefer one over the other for a specific reason or purpose? Mix them up? What's your rationale? I'm using CF more often these days. However, my love-affair with cork has not gone away by any means. To be honest, I've never used EVA because I don't like the feel nor look
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I bought a harbor freight lathe with and extension to turn eva and cork but I don’t know what accessories I need. Mandrel, chuck etc. it’s probably something that gets asked a lot. So if it’s a sticky lmk please
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How does one make a fighting butt so the rubberized cork ring on the rear of the butt is convex (bulging outward)? I have seen butts available for purchase that are slightly convex and some that look as if someone cut a ball in half and glued it on. How can I get this result using sandpaper and a straight edge? Do I need another tool? Thank you in advance. Tony
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Hey everyone, I’ve posted a lot on this subject on this forum and i apologize in advance if I am beating a dead horse on this and if I sound like I’m whining. I am having a nightmare of a time with making my own grips all because of the cork inlet section. To elaborate, I can get a grip with no glue lines, shape perfectly and evenly with no issue, but when it comes to having even wal
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What or why are preformed cork grips cheaper than the same grip made with individual cork rings?
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I have built several carbon fiber grips from scratch and used different epoxy coatings to finish the product. I have used spar urethane as a top coat too. I want to make a set of grips out of the foam core alone and I am wondering if there is anything new or better to use to finish the foam core material?
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I have a section of a rod wrapper equipped with the alps upgraded chuck and the live center on the opposite end. My mandrel is 3/8 about 15 “ long. At high speed, everything looks great. No wobble at all. However , my grips are not coming out round. They are visibly OVAL! I’m using a sureform file, and, at the moment, turning burl cork. But, I have the same problem turning foam. I thought I’d ch
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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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Found this in the pics section - how can this be done to a grip?
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I’ve been looking at some of the more economical wood turning lathes, under $200. What I am not seeing are lathes that can be fitted with mandrels. Of course I know nothing about these lathes and how they’re built, so it could be that I am overlooking something that is rather sample to retrofit. I’m assuming I need a mandrel in order to turn cork? Any suggestions?
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As the title implies, there is a method to tie-off a thread wrap without the necessity of a pull-through loop. If you are doubtful, so was I until actually seeing the video of it! I saw a short video of a rod builder demonstrating to a dozen onlookers how to tie-off a wrap WITHOUT a pull-through loop!!! Everyone in attendance gasped with amazement. I watched that video upteen gillion times but co
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I’m looking at adding a power wrapper but am not finding too much info on the current options. I will use it for personal rods, and perhaps for friends and family. Being such, my budget is around $500. Not sure if I can get one that includes a handle / cork turner, but that would be great. Anyone what to share some resources that’ll help me make my choice? Maybe share your knowledge of the dif
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Does anyone have any tips on straight reel seat arbors? I can't ever keep them centered and it doesn't help starting with arbors that are crooked. I just went through 4 flex coat arbors that were crooked and couldn't get them centered up. I have the pilot bits I can try but doesn't matter if its off to start? Thanks Al
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I’m deep in the trenches with learning to turn cork and as some of you may know and can relate, I have a lot of bad grips. What can I do with probably 100 rings worth of grips that are rejects? I’m trying to find a silver lining here to my frustration and didn’t know if I could possibly salvage these into something useful so I feel better about throwing away money haha.
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Phil Erickson recently introduced me to Australian Banksia nuts for turning into rod handles; they are stunningly, intriguingly and uniquely gorgeous. Using the search function here, the last post involving Banksia nuts was from Phil over 12 years ago so I thought re-posting might be of interest to those unfamiliar. They may not be of interest to those who consider the lightest weight top priori
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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 bought a chunk of scrap decoy cork and mad a handle out of it. I think it turned out very nice. I like the variegated look of it. I found it very difficult to get a 1/4” center hole through the 1 1/4” x 1 1/4” x 8” block. Started center on one end but crept off to the side by the time I got through to the other end. I chucked the cork into the lathe but it is somewhat flexible, so when I r
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I have a bunch of pretty high quality cork discs, 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/8 inch diameter. I need to drill a 1/4 hole in each of them. I don't have a lathe or a drill press. The discs are a little too small to fit in the cork ring holder I got from mudhole. Suggestions? If the answer is just buy a lathe and do it right I can handle that. Don't think I would buy a drill press as I don't see myself
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I just started turning cork grips, and have my first one done. It turned out quite nice, with my only regret being that I didn't use better cork. I had read more than a few suggestions of starting and practicing with a lesser grade cork, and well ..... after finding out how relatively easy turning cork is, I find that I should have just went with the good stuff right off the bat. Now I will s
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