This article is not for the people who build one rod and purchase a $40. super grade pre made grip , such as those offerd by Strubel, Rec or maybe Sage. Instead this is intended for those who build many rods and are constantly challanged to find a superior grade of cork to make their grips.
For years now the grading of cork has been inconsitant, advertised incorrectly , and sold at prices that are becoming outragous. With no offical grading system, sellers of cork rings place their own self interpeted grades on rings and the rodbuilder is at their mercy. Grades such as Flor, Extra select, Grade A, are all bogus terms, which leaves the rodbuilder with receiving inferior grade cork to work with. Paying $3- $4.00 per ring is no insurance that you’ll receive top grade cork if you cant handle and inspect it before buying.
As most know wine stoppers, are the biggest demand for cork, as is a few rod companies with massive orders stipulating the best grade of cork. The rodbuilder is left with basically the left overs. This coupled with no offical garding system has allowed companies selling cork rings to sell inferior cork with no policing.
With all that being said , I personally am tired of being ripped off. I like many builders have resorted to using a lot of burl cork rings in stead of using the low gades of natural cork forced upon us. …Using burl cork can be nice as accents and an occassional full grip,
but making a super grade natural grip is all but impossible…This has lead me to search for other alternatives.
Now, one can argue that flaws in cork give it character. On the other hand there is little alternative for those that want a perfect cork grip short of spending mucho bucks or buying a pre-made from the above companies , which leaves the creativity completely out in making you own grips. So, what I’m presenting here is what I consider my alternative to making the “perfect” no flaws natural colored cork grip. Pictured below is a pre-shaped cylinder ready to be shaped into what ever style you want grip. This is pictured next to natural cork rings for what one seller advertised as “extra select”.
Notice the massive amount of holes in those rings, which when sanded one can nerver remove without using filler. Filler is just what it is…“Filler”. Using cork dust and glue is another method of “hiding flaws”, either method for the most part is not permanent and over time reverts back to a lousy grip.
The cylinder you see below was made from 1/4" cork flooring underlay. This is a composite cork! it comes in varied thickness (in this case I used 1/4") each piece has to be glued individualy and then dried. Once sanded (as you can see) , it produces a “totally flawless” grip, whos consitancy and color is almost the same as natural cork. The same things can be acheived , such as adding color burl or craft foam trim rings if so desired and it sands or turns the same.
Weight is all but negligent compared to that of natural cork. And with that in mind that weight is of no real concern placed at the rear of the rod. So what I’m looking for here is opinions. What do you think? Like / Dislike…Have I gone to far in search of?
Lay it on me…Ed … Ps …I will post the grip finished to shape at a later date.
