Turning a cork grip

I'm a better woodworker than I am an angler so I'm thinking it shouldn't be
that difficult to turn down a cork grip on a fly rod (I hope...).

A novice really in the fly fishing arena but it's been an interest to me
over the years and I've accumulated a few nice rods and reels. I was in the
local fly shop recently and had a chance to take a Sage Z-Axis out for a
test. Nice rod certainly but I was expecting "more" - whatever that is but
the Sage didn't feel, look or cast any better than some of my other rods.

Put that back on the rack and picked up an 8'6", 5wt Boron IIt, Winston -
and the wow factor went off the scale... Light as a feather, excellent
balance and the cork grip was perfect. I'll be ordering one with the Joan
Wulff grip for my wife as a gift.

So now that I've been spoiled with the feeling of a smaller grip - I want to
modify one of my rods down to the same profile as the cigar shaped grip used
on the Winston rods. I have the tools and can make any jigs that may be
necessary but I haven't been able to find out any info on how to mount a
butt section on a lathe so it can be turned/sanded down. The butt end is
stout enough and I don't anticipate any problems in mounting that to the
chuck but I think the ferrule end is going to be the tricky part.

Anyone have any information they care to share on how to hold that end -
perfectly centered - without breaking it? My first inclination is to bore a
tapered hole in a section of dowel and then cut two slots 90° to each other
to make a compression fit vise and slide the ferrule end into the slightly
tapered hole to hold that end. Not sure how much stress that would put on
the ferrule and maybe crack. I would use non-marring steady rest to keep
things from whipping but I'd be worried about heat build-up on the rod at
that point and what may happen - like permanent damage.

I did manage to get a couple of butt section ends from the Cortland Line
factory store that they use to mount reels to for display but they don't
have any ferrules on them - just a cut off section of the rod that extends
beyond the cork about 5". I would use these to practice on first. Now I
could always take the rod to a pro and have them do it and I just may have
to, but first I'd like to see if I can't do it myself. Fly fishing is just
not about catching fish for me - it's the journey.

Thanks for your input,

Bob S.

On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 09:22:39 -0400, "BobS" wrote:

I'm a better woodworker than I am an angler so I'm thinking it shouldn't be
that difficult to turn down a cork grip on a fly rod (I hope...).

A novice really in the fly fishing arena but it's been an interest to me
over the years and I've accumulated a few nice rods and reels. I was in the
local fly shop recently and had a chance to take a Sage Z-Axis out for a
test. Nice rod certainly but I was expecting "more" - whatever that is but
the Sage didn't feel, look or cast any better than some of my other rods.

Put that back on the rack and picked up an 8'6", 5wt Boron IIt, Winston -
and the wow factor went off the scale... Light as a feather, excellent
balance and the cork grip was perfect. I'll be ordering one with the Joan
Wulff grip for my wife as a gift.

So now that I've been spoiled with the feeling of a smaller grip - I want to
modify one of my rods down to the same profile as the cigar shaped grip used
on the Winston rods. I have the tools and can make any jigs that may be
necessary but I haven't been able to find out any info on how to mount a
butt section on a lathe so it can be turned/sanded down. The butt end is
stout enough and I don't anticipate any problems in mounting that to the
chuck but I think the ferrule end is going to be the tricky part.

Anyone have any information they care to share on how to hold that end -
perfectly centered - without breaking it? My first inclination is to bore a
tapered hole in a section of dowel and then cut two slots 90° to each other
to make a compression fit vise and slide the ferrule end into the slightly
tapered hole to hold that end. Not sure how much stress that would put on
the ferrule and maybe crack. I would use non-marring steady rest to keep
things from whipping but I'd be worried about heat build-up on the rod at
that point and what may happen - like permanent damage.

I did manage to get a couple of butt section ends from the Cortland Line
factory store that they use to mount reels to for display but they don't
have any ferrules on them - just a cut off section of the rod that extends
beyond the cork about 5". I would use these to practice on first. Now I
could always take the rod to a pro and have them do it and I just may have
to, but first I'd like to see if I can't do it myself. Fly fishing is just
not about catching fish for me - it's the journey.

Thanks for your input,

Bob S.

W-A-A-A-Y overkill. If all you wish to do is sand down a single grip,
use long strips of sand "paper" (actual paper or a cut-apart cloth belt)
- rough out with 80-180, depending on the quality of the cork used for
the grip - be careful not to rip out chunks if the cork has voids, and
finish with finer grit, down to whatever you desire - IMO, much below
320-400 is unneeded, but YMMV. Put the ferrule end of the butt section
under your arm, the butt on your knee, and shape the cork with the strip
of sand "paper" with the same type of motion you'd use to rag-polish a
shoe/boot foot, but with the "paper" wrapped around the butt. Use just
enough pressure to remove material, not so much so as to "lock" things
up.

Oh, and put a piece of clean paper (like a full sheet of newspaper, but
NOT cloth - it'll "trap" too much of the dust) over your thigh and
another on the ground under the sanding to catch the dust to make repair
putty.

TC,
R

"BobS" wrote in message
...
I'm a better woodworker than I am an angler so I'm thinking it shouldn't
be that difficult to turn down a cork grip on a fly rod (I hope...).

A novice really in the fly fishing arena but it's been an interest to me
over the years and I've accumulated a few nice rods and reels. I was in
the local fly shop recently and had a chance to take a Sage Z-Axis out for
a test. Nice rod certainly but I was expecting "more" - whatever that is
but the Sage didn't feel, look or cast any better than some of my other
rods.

Put that back on the rack and picked up an 8'6", 5wt Boron IIt, Winston -
and the wow factor went off the scale... Light as a feather, excellent
balance and the cork grip was perfect. I'll be ordering one with the Joan
Wulff grip for my wife as a gift.

So now that I've been spoiled with the feeling of a smaller grip - I want
to modify one of my rods down to the same profile as the cigar shaped grip
used on the Winston rods. I have the tools and can make any jigs that may
be necessary but I haven't been able to find out any info on how to mount
a butt section on a lathe so it can be turned/sanded down. The butt end
is stout enough and I don't anticipate any problems in mounting that to
the chuck but I think the ferrule end is going to be the tricky part.

Anyone have any information they care to share on how to hold that end -
perfectly centered - without breaking it? My first inclination is to bore
a tapered hole in a section of dowel and then cut two slots 90° to each
other to make a compression fit vise and slide the ferrule end into the
slightly tapered hole to hold that end. Not sure how much stress that
would put on the ferrule and maybe crack. I would use non-marring steady
rest to keep things from whipping but I'd be worried about heat build-up
on the rod at that point and what may happen - like permanent damage.

I did manage to get a couple of butt section ends from the Cortland Line
factory store that they use to mount reels to for display but they don't
have any ferrules on them - just a cut off section of the rod that extends
beyond the cork about 5". I would use these to practice on first. Now I
could always take the rod to a pro and have them do it and I just may have
to, but first I'd like to see if I can't do it myself. Fly fishing is
just not about catching fish for me - it's the journey.

Thanks for your input,

Bob S.

Neat Bob that you're attempting this.
I've have some lathe experience, they're quite an interesting tooling
machine. What I use to control material of long length in a lathe, is a
locking tail-stock with a live center. This keeps the piece in runout
check. Just make sure your tail-stock is inline with your collet in x, y, z
alignment, and not too much pressure as you drive the tail-stock in the
drilled center of the butt section, just enough to get the live center to
spin and I think you'll be fine. Should be fun.
-tom

"Tom Nakashima" wrote in message
...

"BobS" wrote in message
...
I'm a better woodworker than I am an angler so I'm thinking it shouldn't
be that difficult to turn down a cork grip on a fly rod (I hope...).

A novice really in the fly fishing arena but it's been an interest to me
over the years and I've accumulated a few nice rods and reels. I was in
the local fly shop recently and had a chance to take a Sage Z-Axis out
for a test. Nice rod certainly but I was expecting "more" - whatever
that is but the Sage didn't feel, look or cast any better than some of my
other rods.

Put that back on the rack and picked up an 8'6", 5wt Boron IIt, Winston -
and the wow factor went off the scale... Light as a feather, excellent
balance and the cork grip was perfect. I'll be ordering one with the
Joan Wulff grip for my wife as a gift.

So now that I've been spoiled with the feeling of a smaller grip - I want
to modify one of my rods down to the same profile as the cigar shaped
grip used on the Winston rods. I have the tools and can make any jigs
that may be necessary but I haven't been able to find out any info on how
to mount a butt section on a lathe so it can be turned/sanded down. The
butt end is stout enough and I don't anticipate any problems in mounting
that to the chuck but I think the ferrule end is going to be the tricky
part.

Anyone have any information they care to share on how to hold that end -
perfectly centered - without breaking it? My first inclination is to
bore a tapered hole in a section of dowel and then cut two slots 90° to
each other to make a compression fit vise and slide the ferrule end into
the slightly tapered hole to hold that end. Not sure how much stress that
would put on the ferrule and maybe crack. I would use non-marring steady
rest to keep things from whipping but I'd be worried about heat build-up
on the rod at that point and what may happen - like permanent damage.

I did manage to get a couple of butt section ends from the Cortland Line
factory store that they use to mount reels to for display but they don't
have any ferrules on them - just a cut off section of the rod that
extends beyond the cork about 5". I would use these to practice on
first. Now I could always take the rod to a pro and have them do it and
I just may have to, but first I'd like to see if I can't do it myself.
Fly fishing is just not about catching fish for me - it's the journey.

Thanks for your input,

Bob S.

Neat Bob that you're attempting this.
I've have some lathe experience, they're quite an interesting tooling
machine. What I use to control material of long length in a lathe, is a
locking tail-stock with a live center. This keeps the piece in runout
check. Just make sure your tail-stock is inline with your collet in x, y,
z alignment, and not too much pressure as you drive the tail-stock in the
drilled center of the butt section, just enough to get the live center to
spin and I think you'll be fine. Should be fun.
-tom


Tom,

Thanks for the input. I do have several types of live centers for this Jet
mini lathe and will test that using one of the "test sections" I mentioned.
I'll wrap the ferrule with some nylon tape just to be sure I don't stress it
and then carefully adjust the live center in and see how that goes before we
go live...! The suggestion by TC will be given the first try since it is
the safest way.

Thank you,

Bob S.

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 09:22:39 -0400, "BobS" wrote:

I'm a better woodworker than I am an angler so I'm thinking it shouldn't
be
that difficult to turn down a cork grip on a fly rod (I hope...).

A novice really in the fly fishing arena but it's been an interest to me
over the years and I've accumulated a few nice rods and reels. I was in
the
local fly shop recently and had a chance to take a Sage Z-Axis out for a
test. Nice rod certainly but I was expecting "more" - whatever that is
but
the Sage didn't feel, look or cast any better than some of my other rods.

Put that back on the rack and picked up an 8'6", 5wt Boron IIt, Winston -
and the wow factor went off the scale... Light as a feather, excellent
balance and the cork grip was perfect. I'll be ordering one with the Joan
Wulff grip for my wife as a gift.

So now that I've been spoiled with the feeling of a smaller grip - I want
to
modify one of my rods down to the same profile as the cigar shaped grip
used
on the Winston rods. I have the tools and can make any jigs that may be
necessary but I haven't been able to find out any info on how to mount a
butt section on a lathe so it can be turned/sanded down. The butt end is
stout enough and I don't anticipate any problems in mounting that to the
chuck but I think the ferrule end is going to be the tricky part.

Anyone have any information they care to share on how to hold that end -
perfectly centered - without breaking it? My first inclination is to bore
a
tapered hole in a section of dowel and then cut two slots 90° to each
other
to make a compression fit vise and slide the ferrule end into the slightly
tapered hole to hold that end. Not sure how much stress that would put on
the ferrule and maybe crack. I would use non-marring steady rest to keep
things from whipping but I'd be worried about heat build-up on the rod at
that point and what may happen - like permanent damage.

I did manage to get a couple of butt section ends from the Cortland Line
factory store that they use to mount reels to for display but they don't
have any ferrules on them - just a cut off section of the rod that extends
beyond the cork about 5". I would use these to practice on first. Now I
could always take the rod to a pro and have them do it and I just may have
to, but first I'd like to see if I can't do it myself. Fly fishing is
just
not about catching fish for me - it's the journey.

Thanks for your input,

Bob S.

W-A-A-A-Y overkill. If all you wish to do is sand down a single grip,
use long strips of sand "paper" (actual paper or a cut-apart cloth belt)
- rough out with 80-180, depending on the quality of the cork used for
the grip - be careful not to rip out chunks if the cork has voids, and
finish with finer grit, down to whatever you desire - IMO, much below
320-400 is unneeded, but YMMV. Put the ferrule end of the butt section
under your arm, the butt on your knee, and shape the cork with the strip
of sand "paper" with the same type of motion you'd use to rag-polish a
shoe/boot foot, but with the "paper" wrapped around the butt. Use just
enough pressure to remove material, not so much so as to "lock" things
up.

Oh, and put a piece of clean paper (like a full sheet of newspaper, but
NOT cloth - it'll "trap" too much of the dust) over your thigh and
another on the ground under the sanding to catch the dust to make repair
putty.

TC,
R

Good idea! Concentrating on the technicalities and overlooking the
obvious - just like fishing - eh? I've never sanded cork down before and
your ideas certainly make sense. I'll try on one of the test sections I
have (full Wells grips) and see if I can't get one of those down to size.

Thank you and I'll post back how it turns out.

Bob S.

"BobS" wrote in
:

I'm a better woodworker than I am an angler so I'm thinking it
shouldn't be that difficult to turn down a cork grip on a fly rod (I
hope...).


http://www.renzetti.com/home.php?cat=298

Most of the rod lathes I've seen chuck up by the reel seat, and use a
support for the thin end. Renzetti sells one such "rod support"


--
Scott
Reverse name to reply

"BobS" wrote in message
...

"Tom Nakashima" wrote in message
...

"BobS" wrote in message
...
I'm a better woodworker than I am an angler so I'm thinking it shouldn't
be that difficult to turn down a cork grip on a fly rod (I hope...).

A novice really in the fly fishing arena but it's been an interest to me
over the years and I've accumulated a few nice rods and reels. I was in
the local fly shop recently and had a chance to take a Sage Z-Axis out
for a test. Nice rod certainly but I was expecting "more" - whatever
that is but the Sage didn't feel, look or cast any better than some of
my other rods.

Put that back on the rack and picked up an 8'6", 5wt Boron IIt,
Winston - and the wow factor went off the scale... Light as a feather,
excellent balance and the cork grip was perfect. I'll be ordering one
with the Joan Wulff grip for my wife as a gift.

So now that I've been spoiled with the feeling of a smaller grip - I
want to modify one of my rods down to the same profile as the cigar
shaped grip used on the Winston rods. I have the tools and can make any
jigs that may be necessary but I haven't been able to find out any info
on how to mount a butt section on a lathe so it can be turned/sanded
down. The butt end is stout enough and I don't anticipate any problems
in mounting that to the chuck but I think the ferrule end is going to be
the tricky part.

Anyone have any information they care to share on how to hold that end -
perfectly centered - without breaking it? My first inclination is to
bore a tapered hole in a section of dowel and then cut two slots 90° to
each other to make a compression fit vise and slide the ferrule end into
the slightly tapered hole to hold that end. Not sure how much stress
that would put on the ferrule and maybe crack. I would use non-marring
steady rest to keep things from whipping but I'd be worried about heat
build-up on the rod at that point and what may happen - like permanent
damage.

I did manage to get a couple of butt section ends from the Cortland Line
factory store that they use to mount reels to for display but they don't
have any ferrules on them - just a cut off section of the rod that
extends beyond the cork about 5". I would use these to practice on
first. Now I could always take the rod to a pro and have them do it and
I just may have to, but first I'd like to see if I can't do it myself.
Fly fishing is just not about catching fish for me - it's the journey.

Thanks for your input,

Bob S.

Neat Bob that you're attempting this.
I've have some lathe experience, they're quite an interesting tooling
machine. What I use to control material of long length in a lathe, is a
locking tail-stock with a live center. This keeps the piece in runout
check. Just make sure your tail-stock is inline with your collet in x, y,
z alignment, and not too much pressure as you drive the tail-stock in the
drilled center of the butt section, just enough to get the live center to
spin and I think you'll be fine. Should be fun.
-tom


Tom,

Thanks for the input. I do have several types of live centers for this Jet
mini lathe and will test that using one of the "test sections" I
mentioned. I'll wrap the ferrule with some nylon tape just to be sure I
don't stress it and then carefully adjust the live center in and see how
that goes before we go live...! The suggestion by TC will be given the
first try since it is the safest way.

Thank you,

Bob S.

Good luck Bob, let us know how it comes out.
-tom

Here is how I've done it:

Lay the bench top drill press on it's side and use it like a lathe.

Chuck a wooden dowel and stretch some rubber surgical tubing over it.

Stretch the other end of the tubing over the ferrule, bringing the tip of
the ferrule almost snug against the dowel.

Make a V block device, using soft adhesive backed felt in the V notch to
protect the finish of the rod. (For good measure, wrap the portion of the
rod that will spin in the V block with masking tape.) Clamp the V block to
your bench, located so it contacts the rod just above the winding check.

Wear a soft cotton glove on your non-working hand, and use it to gently keep
the spinning rod from flopping out of the V block.

Let 'er fly and shape with 100 grit sandpaper. Finish with 220, then 400
grits.

"BobS" wrote in message
...
I'm a better woodworker than I am an angler so I'm thinking it shouldn't
be that difficult to turn down a cork grip on a fly rod (I hope...).

A novice really in the fly fishing arena but it's been an interest to me
over the years and I've accumulated a few nice rods and reels. I was in
the local fly shop recently and had a chance to take a Sage Z-Axis out for
a test. Nice rod certainly but I was expecting "more" - whatever that is
but the Sage didn't feel, look or cast any better than some of my other
rods.

Put that back on the rack and picked up an 8'6", 5wt Boron IIt, Winston -
and the wow factor went off the scale... Light as a feather, excellent
balance and the cork grip was perfect. I'll be ordering one with the Joan
Wulff grip for my wife as a gift.

So now that I've been spoiled with the feeling of a smaller grip - I want
to modify one of my rods down to the same profile as the cigar shaped grip
used on the Winston rods. I have the tools and can make any jigs that may
be necessary but I haven't been able to find out any info on how to mount
a butt section on a lathe so it can be turned/sanded down. The butt end
is stout enough and I don't anticipate any problems in mounting that to
the chuck but I think the ferrule end is going to be the tricky part.

Anyone have any information they care to share on how to hold that end -
perfectly centered - without breaking it? My first inclination is to bore
a tapered hole in a section of dowel and then cut two slots 90° to each
other to make a compression fit vise and slide the ferrule end into the
slightly tapered hole to hold that end. Not sure how much stress that
would put on the ferrule and maybe crack. I would use non-marring steady
rest to keep things from whipping but I'd be worried about heat build-up
on the rod at that point and what may happen - like permanent damage.

I did manage to get a couple of butt section ends from the Cortland Line
factory store that they use to mount reels to for display but they don't
have any ferrules on them - just a cut off section of the rod that extends
beyond the cork about 5". I would use these to practice on first. Now I
could always take the rod to a pro and have them do it and I just may have
to, but first I'd like to see if I can't do it myself. Fly fishing is
just not about catching fish for me - it's the journey.

Thanks for your input,

Bob S.


I'd put a dowel in the ferrule....lower the base on my drill press and cut a
hole for the reel seat in a piece of wood and attach that to the base of my
drill press......then I'd do it all with sandpaper..


john

On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 09:22:39 -0400, "BobS" wrote:

I'm a better woodworker than I am an angler so I'm thinking it shouldn't be
that difficult to turn down a cork grip on a fly rod (I hope...).

A novice really in the fly fishing arena but it's been an interest to me
over the years and I've accumulated a few nice rods and reels. I was in the
local fly shop recently and had a chance to take a Sage Z-Axis out for a
test. Nice rod certainly but I was expecting "more" - whatever that is but
the Sage didn't feel, look or cast any better than some of my other rods.

Put that back on the rack and picked up an 8'6", 5wt Boron IIt, Winston -
and the wow factor went off the scale... Light as a feather, excellent
balance and the cork grip was perfect. I'll be ordering one with the Joan
Wulff grip for my wife as a gift.

So now that I've been spoiled with the feeling of a smaller grip - I want to
modify one of my rods down to the same profile as the cigar shaped grip used
on the Winston rods. I have the tools and can make any jigs that may be
necessary but I haven't been able to find out any info on how to mount a
butt section on a lathe so it can be turned/sanded down. The butt end is
stout enough and I don't anticipate any problems in mounting that to the
chuck but I think the ferrule end is going to be the tricky part.

Anyone have any information they care to share on how to hold that end -
perfectly centered - without breaking it? My first inclination is to bore a
tapered hole in a section of dowel and then cut two slots 90° to each other
to make a compression fit vise and slide the ferrule end into the slightly
tapered hole to hold that end. Not sure how much stress that would put on
the ferrule and maybe crack. I would use non-marring steady rest to keep
things from whipping but I'd be worried about heat build-up on the rod at
that point and what may happen - like permanent damage.

I did manage to get a couple of butt section ends from the Cortland Line
factory store that they use to mount reels to for display but they don't
have any ferrules on them - just a cut off section of the rod that extends
beyond the cork about 5". I would use these to practice on first. Now I
could always take the rod to a pro and have them do it and I just may have
to, but first I'd like to see if I can't do it myself. Fly fishing is just
not about catching fish for me - it's the journey.

Thanks for your input,

Bob S.

If you do put the butt section of a _finished_ rod in a lathe, the spin
center may well not the center of the rod blank because of any guides,
etc. When building a rod, if the grip is to be sanded/lathed on the
blank (as opposed to on a separate mandrel stick), it is done before the
wrapping, the reel seat, etc. Unless you are certain the butt section's
spin center is the actual center, I'd only try it on something that can
be started or spun manually very slowly and the speed gradually
increased until you are sure that it is actually "centered." IOW, my
advice remains to do it by hand. If you want to lathe a grip, make a
new one on a mandrel and install it on the rod. Hey, as always, YMMV.

TC,
R