Is it very hard to shape a cork handle on a fly rod by hand? I don't have immediate access to a lathe and I was wondering how to go about it.
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Is it very hard to shape a cork handle on a fly rod by hand? I don't have immediate access to a lathe and I was wondering how to go about it.
You can rig up a jig with a power drill... poor mans lathe ;-)
TL's~
I thought I read through that entire tutorial. That's a great article on how to find your handle shape.
Thanks
Lastchance,
No , it's quite simple. I've done it on a few of bamboo's that were too clunky in the handle.
Basically, mask off the ferrule (middle of the rod) with masking tape to prevent scuffing. Mask off the rod at end of cork handle...a few inches.
Cut a 1" wide strip of sandpaper, (1 of ea. grit) beginning with med. grit and then maybe 220 grit and finally some 400 to 600 finishing grits.
I sat on a chair, with the reelseat clamped between my knees, the rod ferrule resting on an armchair for height. Yeah, cumbersome but it works.
Pick a side of the rod so you can rotate it evenly ( I used the guide side to begin with) and rub with a push/pull motion to sand off the cork. Only take maybe 10 strokes at a time..rotate the rod 90 deg. and continue around the dia. keeping the same amt. of strokes for concentricity.
You can fashion an entire handle this way if so desired. I've shaped about 3/4 of the length on an expensive 'boo rod by doing this and it works well. Just keep your strokes even. Cork comes off readily as you will find out. I used a caliper to get the dia. I needed that felt like a couple other rods.
Progress to finer grits as you near the end....the entire process took me less than 15 mins.
It's not rocket science but work slowly. You'll be happy with the result!
Jeremy.