Bark Grips

[Uncle Jesse]

H have a cheap rod given me by a recently decease friend. It has a foam grip, which I think is the worse of all materials for a grip. I was thinking of trying to make a grip from pine bark but noticed I have a pretty good supply of white oak falling into my yard. I picked up a 4" stack in a few minutes at lunch. Now what? I was thinking of cutting circles with my hole saws. Is there somewhere I can find guidance?

[kbproctor]

An 1.5" hole saw will give you 1.25" circles. I cut mine as thick as I can then square then with the hole in the center as much as I can. Stack them up on a mandrel (I use a chunk of the .25 OD stainless tubing from the hardware store), coat the mandrel with wax or some other release agent (beeswax or paraffin) and glue them together like you would a cork grip with a grip clamp. Turn to desired shape, seal, ream, install and fish. You can use shellac or sanding sealer to seal the bark so it isn't soaking up moisture o you.

[Gandolf]

Kevin,

How heavy is the grip compared to cork? Is the difference significant at all when being fished?

Thanks and regards,

Gandolf

[Uncle Jesse]

I'll let you know if I get it built. White oak bark is pretty light.

[kbproctor]

I can't say about the oak. Cork is the bark of a type of oak tree so I would think it might be similar. I find no significant differences with cork, burls, or the barks I have used. I would not expect any here.

Sounds fun to try at the least.

[Uncle Jesse]

I was thinking that subjecting it to a good steam bath while under pressure might help it conform to being flat in the stack.

[caddisfly777]

H have a cheap rod given me by a recently decease friend. It has a foam grip, which I think is the worse of all materials for a grip. I was thinking of trying to make a grip from pine bark but noticed I have a pretty good supply of white oak falling into my yard. I picked up a 4" stack in a few minutes at lunch. Now what? I was thinking of cutting circles with my hole saws. Is there somewhere I can find guidance?

Lots of decent advise here ... I sometimes have issues getting words into pictures my brain can understand. I do a lot of Bark grips and like the way they look. Here's a tutorial I did a few years ago with pics for those challenged http://www.rodbuildingtutorials.com/...on Hossack.pdf

What they look like and it is slightly heavier than cork but certainly lighter than the burl cork being used so much these days. I have one I hope to finish this week for Quad 3wt for hopefully my first fishing trip of the year in MT in a couple of weeks.



Doug Fir is good for other uses beside firewood



If this tutorial interests you I have altered some of the ways I do things and can point you to another mini version

[Uncle Jesse]

Thanks I saved the pdf file from the link. Although I don't have any fir bark it looks like something that should work with the local products. The handles and pens were beautiful.