Experimenters wanted

[Ray Kunz]

I recently found some wine bottle corks are being replaced with what seems to be highly compressed cream colored urethane foam plugs. It is very tough, can be cut with a razor blade, strips can be stretched to at least twice their length and still wont break, is closed cell and floats "like a cork".
Has anyone experimented with this material for things like extended mayfly bodies?

[chewydog]

I recently found some wine bottle corks are being replaced with what seems to be highly compressed cream colored urethane foam plugs. It is very tough, can be cut with a razor blade, strips can be stretched to at least twice their length and still wont break, is closed cell and floats "like a cork".
Has anyone experimented with this material for things like extended mayfly bodies?

No, but I hope they don't start making rod grips out of it.

[Ray Kunz]

They might. It's blemish free and 100% waterproof.

[swellcat]

And the best part is emptying the bottles to get at the "free" synthetic material.

I've cut large triangles for VIP type poppers and drilled out .30 caliber cylinders but haven't yet tried any of the finesse stuff you mention, Ray.

Note that they come in colours beyond the "natural." (Green, yellow, and flame orange not pictured since those have already been cut up.)

[swellcat]

http://www.supremecorq.com/faq/recyclability.htm

[Eight Thumbs]

By the time that I've acquired several corks in one evening, I've lost interest in anything but sleep! Also, my manual dexterity has decreased to a point that using a razor blade could be considered a form of suicide. 8T

[SteveP]

Poppers, poppers, and more poppers. I cut them into a rough size with a razor blade then thread them onto a needle and chuck them into the dremmel tool to turn them round and to a final size. I really like poppers alot and this makes it much cheaper since I got a 10lb bag from a winerey close by for a five spot, and trust me 10lbs is a lot of wine corks.

P.S. they take to paint really well also

Steve

[TwoWeight]

Those look great! A quick search in my area comes up with nothing.
Would anybody be willing to sell some of those?


TwoWeight

[6wt8wt]

Awesome idea for the poppers. How hard are they to cut with a razor blade?

[Bamboozle]

A lot of the wine from "down under" is now appearing with SCREW CAPS! I feel sorry for our down under friends if those corks turn out to be a hit. I'll feel even sorrier for the rest of us if the screw cap idea catches on.

I did find out after many years of trying cork unsuccessfully as a cap liner for my flask, that a thin slice of the fake corks works like a dream! It doesn't take a compression set like cork and is food safe to boot.