FishingBanter - View Single Post

Conan The Librarian · December 7th, 2005, 07:34 PM posted to rec.outdoors.fishing.fly

wrote:

On Wed, 07 Dec 2005 12:05:21 -0600, Conan The Librarian
wrote:

IIRC, the OP mentioned a "divot", which seemed like a likely
candidate for a patch rather than a sanding dust filler. I honestly
don't see any reason why it shouldn't work.

You're not gluing it to the surrounding cork.

Then I may have misunderstood what you meant as to where you were
suggesting gluing the new piece/"Dutchman" - ???

I was probably not precise enough in my previous statement. You are
not gluing it to the cork on the sides, but rather the cork below the
patch. In woodworking inlays, you don't attempt to glue the edges of
the inlay, you glue it to the substrate. I'm assuming you would do the
same with cork, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Yes, you and the rest of ROFF. :-) I also offered what seemed to
me to be a fairly straightforward process for repairing a "divot". It
may seem like more trouble than it's worth to you, but I *like* fitting
inlays in wood. It's certainly more fun than creating a mess of sanding
dust and trying to form a paste of that and glue to fill a void.

I thought it might also work with cork.

Heck, I've no problem with "it might work." I just think that the odds
are heavily against it working, and it not working would probably cause
more damage. Consider the structure of the materials involved as well
as likely uses of such a inlay (or parquetry, marquetry) piece versus
that of a cork fly rod handle. If a "piece patch" is what is called
for, the split ring method Mike Connor first outlined is what I'd
suggest.

I understand your point about the uses, but if anything, I'd think
that cork would be more forgiving than wood. Wood inlays are inherently
a tricky business because of the hygroscopic nature of wood, and the
likelihood of having two different woods contracting/expanding at
different rates.

And if it didn't work, then I'd just go to the ring method. :-)

Thanks for the info. My library doesn't have those books, but I'll
make a note of them.

Actually, the Garrison book is a great book, but the handle section is a
bit thin. I'd suggest either the Clemens or Pfeiffer books with regard
to handle work, keeping in mind that a lot of the technique described is
more for full-blown, on-going rod building/finishing rather than an
occasional repair/replacement job. IOW, building sanding lathes,
reamers, taper cutters, etc. might be a bit much for very occasional
use.

Thanks again for the info. And don't worry, I've been known to
build elaborate jigs and templates for one-off jobs in the shop. :-)

Chuck Vance (who has one early 80's-vintage Fenwick HMG that
needs some serious cork work done; probably more like the ring
replacement you described above, as cockroaches or rats or *something*
got into it in storage and ate away huge pieces of the grip)

Yep, a complete or near-complete replacement in the way to go on such as
that. If possible, try to purchase the cork in person or from known
source. Check out Pfeiffer or Clemens cork info or Google "specie
cork." It's been years since I've needed to track such down, so I'll
not offer source opinions.

I'll check it out. Heck, this discussion has got me thinking that I
should get after re-doing that grip. In some spots it's almost down to
the blank. I don't know if that means it's a candidate for total
replacement or not. I'm a little leery of trying to remove the reel
seat/spacer, since I don't have any previous experience doing it.

Chuck Vance