I have a small assortment of Andy Dear's exotic cork in route and have a question for those of you that are working with it. I have been combining burl cork from Angler's Workshop and wood to form grips. In doing so I have been using TruOil for a finish on both the cork and wood portion of the grip. Will the exotic cork that Andy sells take a TruOil finish without discoloring? The standard burl I have been using appears darker and doesn't change appearance greatly but I wonder about what appears to be a lighter colored exotic burl.

Stan Grace
Helena, MT
"Our best is none too good"

I put Cork Seal from U40 on the Dark Brown Burl from Andy, and it did darken considerably. Mo, it looks MUCH better, BUT I have a piece of Brown EVA which the untreated cork matches perectly, so I have to try and lightly sand the treated cork off. @#$%@#%. This has nothing to do with Tru Oil.

I recently completed a split grip rod with a foregrip with the exotic burl. I glued and shaped the rings into the 3 grips. After that, I lightly coated each with Tru Oil and then wiped off the excess. I dried each of them for at least an hour (some for two) under a lamp and then let them all sit for 36 hours.

As I was reaming the pieces to fit the blank, each slowly turned darker and darker. I didn't worry about it, just figured I needed to clean them really good and I glued them on the blank. The next evening, I scrubbed and scrubbed and couldn't get them clean again. I believe that the darker part of the burl got into the lighter color as I reamed them.

I sanded them down and put U40 Cork Seal on them.

Emailed Andy Dear very recently; haven't heard back from him on it yet.

Putter
Williston, ND

I got wood coming in. Got tired of the cork whoo's. But i am wondering if I will like a handle with out all those little nucks and crannies??

I've made two grips using a combination of Andy's burl, regular cork and regular burl cork. I used Tung Oil on one and Tru Oil on the other. They both darkened a bit, but I didn't think it was a significant amount. Both look good and have a nice feel to them.

If you want a "water white" finish, use a water-based product. All solvent-based finishes bring out the reds and browns in woods.

IVe used a lot of andys cork on a few rods for myself this winter , all of them got the tru-oil ...... one coat .
I applied the oil after shaping , and didn't touch it after . Since then I've fished 2 of the rods and the grip is very nice , not slick . Even wet , it grips well in my hand . Pretty nice stuff if you ask me , the only set backs are it's tougher to turn , and it's a bit heavier than cork , other than that , I'll take it . I'm tired of the regular rings .........................
JHD

Got Fish ?

I noticed the weight, too, and decided to weigh the rings. Nearly 4 times heavier than cork. Beautiful stuff, though. I really like it!