Pressing Cork

[VMS]

Hi everyone,

Into another build, and have a couple more to do this spring and I got to looking at the handles of the last two rods I have built. I got curious on this since I had a couple of very small (almost minute) gaps between rings. When pressing cork (or any other material for that matter) how hard do you press the cork?

I know you need very little epoxy at all...do you press until you get squeeze-out even though there might not even be enough to get any?

Given a good cork-reaming job, will I still see some cork distortion? Rings are roughly 1/2" thick so when pressed how much shorter per, say for every 5 rings or so should I be seeing?

thanks much!!

Steve

[upnorth]

Here is a link to some equipment that I have purchased or made for rod-building. A little ways down the page you will see the clamp that I use to clamp cork or any type of handle material for that matter. It allows me to clamp and keep everything nice and tight.

Rod building equipment.

[VMS]

Hiya,

I built a cork press (Two threaded rods that I can tighten down) like the ones you can purchase through any rod building store or site. I am good there...

[upnorth]

OK guess I mis read your question. If you are clamping or pressing if you will, and still getting gaps it would either be too much glue, the cork is not flat or you have more pressure on one side than the other. I don't use epoxy for cork or any other handle materials. I use water proof wood , I tend to think it has less build up. I am not sure if this will help, but you could try turning the rings to see if there is a position where there will be no gaps.

And if you ? the wood glue, I have 25+ year old steelhead rod I used good old elmers on back then and no problems yet. And believe me that rod has been through the mill, Salmon, Steelhead, spring, fall, winter. Definetly has not been babied.

[Kris Kristufek]

Let me take a shot at the answer. There is no right or wrong way to build a cork handle. Some ways are easier of course than others.

Most pros build their handles from rings, either white cork, which is getting to be terrible in the quality department, to burl rings, which are mis-named. The burl rings are ground up white cork that has been dyed and then a binder added. The reason the cork is so bad is several years ago, the cork oak trees in Portugal were destroyed in a massive forest fire.

Now, here is what we do.... Always, always (yes all the time), use a rod builders epoxy called Rod Bond to bind the rings. This material is very forgiving in that the mix ration while 1:1 is only approximate, it can be mixed using plastic spoons 1:1 etc. It has a unusually long pot life so you can work it for a long time. Apply to the surface to be bonded and scrape it off. I use a dental spatula to mix, apply and scrap. A film is all you need to make the bond.

I also build my handles using a steel mandrel (or drill rod) after I have pre-drilled the rings to the approximate size of the blank. Typically I will use a 3/8, 7/16 or 1/2" rod depending of course on the blank diameter. Wax the rod well with car wax, as the Rod Bond will stick to the rod. Put the rings on in order of your design, buttering one surface and scraping off the excess. I then clamp using appropriate clamps for the job, a couple of wood blocks with a hole drilled for the mandrel, then apply just enough pressure maybe one "squeeze" beyond tight. Let it dry over night, then shape or sand to the desired diameter , ream to the exact diameter of the blank, then go back to my buddy Rod Bond and attach to the blank.

Building quality handles from cork is not as easy as it sounds, but the results are quite rewarding.