Starting with 1/4" cork underlay , a few cork rings , and some craft foam , assemble and glue all the pieces on a 1/4" Mandrel. (in this case I used a piece of 1/4" all thread).
Once the glue has dried, use a wood rasp to get as close to a round shape as possible.
After that it’s time to use the lathe (homemade or whatever) and start sanding with 80 grit to get everything round and uniform.
Once round, it’s time to use a finer grade of paper 120 grit and start your priliminary shaping.
Keeping an eye on what shape you want to acheive start working the areas that need to conform. When you have achieved the basic shape and get fairly close to the final shape , it’s time to switch to an even finer grade of paper 400 grit. If you want a silky smooth finish switch to 600 grit afterward. …below is a pictorial of a full wells grip from start to finish. Composite sands almost the same as regular cork. If you substitue Burl cork be aware that it is harder to sand , so you have to take caution to sand everything uniformly.
Experiment/ use imagination/ and most of all have fun!
Nice post. One question-how do you keep the materials from spinning on the mandrel when you go to the lathe. That is what keeps them from slipping on the mandrel? Do you simply tighten the two wing nuts on the ends tight enough to prevent slippage, or do you actually glue all the materials onto the mandrel and then sort of unscrew the whole handle off when done shaping.
Dave…good question. In the begining the wing nuts are used as a clamp to keep pressure against all the corks and glue. Once its dry the nuts and washers can come off. I wax the mandrel in the beginning but the grip holds fast. Using a little pressure the grip breaks free of the mandrel and simply screws off.
Composite cork can be had in all sort of shapes and sizes. For instance cork squares, cork rolls, cork flooring tile , etc. Your local home depot may even carry it. Depending on how many grips you intend to build it may or may not be cheaper than fine grade cork rings or burl. The advantage is : a perfect grip w/no pits.
Other places to look online might be the cork store or the following link. I do not recommend getting anything under 1/4" thickness …1/2" is better…less glueing. Keep in mind your squares for glueing would be 1 1/4" square (1/4" thick), so multiply that to figure (1 1/4" x length of grip in inches) to see what you’ll get out of a single sq. foot tile.
