Hello guys,
I just came over an astonishing discovery, when a rodbuilder friend of mine had to change the reelseat on an Evergreen Temujin....

It has cork arbors... I've never seen this in a rod... i know that they were used sometime, a long time ago, back in the days.... but for a 800$ rod... i think it's overwhelming to find something like this under the hood.

What are your opinions on cork arbors ... just for the sake of discussion .

[asavacustom.com]

[asavacustom.com]


Regards,
Andrei Sava

not sure what the problem is, they're fine

Cork has been used for arbor material for decades. Not as rigid and therefore not as sensitive as urethane foam, but they're not bad.

...............

Andrei,
When the need calls for it, I will often use cork for an arbor.
I have never had a failure with a cork arbor and the rod always ends up being an excellent rod.

Good luck
Roger

I've never used cork as an arbor, and thought to ask... I don't think I'll use in the future either, but I still feel it's somehow disappointing at a rod as such to use cork for arbors, instead of graphite/metal or other higher end materials, especially considering the price tag:).

Thx for the replies!

No need to be disappointed with cork arbors. They work very well. You would have been disappointed to find masking tape as an arbor for an expensive rod but not cork.

Terry

It could be a lot worse.

When I was about 15 ( around 1951) I recall visiting a little custom rod shop in a very ritzy part of Manhattan.
I'm sure the proprietor catered to the wealthy residents of the city.
When I entered he was standing at the counter assembling a rod.

He had already glued some cork rings on the blank with Elmer's glue to form the rear grip.
Then he wrapped plain 1/2" masking tape to form two arbors.
Next came the reel seat.

He bunched up pieces of newspaper.
Next he applied glue to the arbors.
With a little effort he was able to stuff newspaper between the arbors while sliding the reel seat in place.

He filled the front gap with more newspaper and then glued up more cork rings forming the fore grip.

Then he used some long rubber bands to apply pressure. and set the rod aside to let the glue set up.

Even though it was the very first time I ever saw a rod being built I was shocked by this method.

if I recall correctly his rods sold for $150 and up at the time.
That was a ton of money back then.
You could buy a car in 1951 for $1,800.

Whats so wrong with using masking tape for arbors?

Ryan Higgins Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Whats so wrong with using masking tape for arbors?


x2
The epoxy holds the seat in place. The arbor just centers the seat and allows the epoxy to set.
If properly installed the material shouldn't need to be waterproof.
I've never seen an epoxy (or drywall mesh) arbor fail on a fly rod.

It was the newspaper that I objected to.
Even when fresh it doesn't transmit any sensitivity to the hand.
Worst of all deteriorates rapidly and becomes totally useless.

And that's assuming no water gets in there.

I always coat my tape arbors on all surfaces with the epoxy, once it dries it should be waterproof, not that any water should ever get in there!

I can understand the newspapers. I bought a vehicle once where the previous owner put newspaper in the dash and doors as sound deadener, it hadnt held up well.

Thx guys!

I still think cork arbors are not a good enough arbors for a 800$ rod... considering their elasticity, and their poorer sensitivity transmission than any other material used for arbors (tape, graphite, poly foam)...

I would much prefere the tape over cork in any of my rods:)...