A few weeks back somebody asked about the article or tutorial on making birch bark grips. I cannot find it now. Any help finding it is appreciated.

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Likely a stupid question but thought id ask anyways. Im almost completely new at this and Im currently planning my first float rod build to use with a centerpin (13ft). It was recommended to me that i use sliding rings if im just starting out with a centerpin so that i can adjust where the reel sits, leaving me with a tenessee handle. How heavy are these handles compared to cork? would it be possible to use birch bark for the center of the handle and a few inches of cork at the top and bottom, or would it weigh a ton? I believe a handle for a rod that size would be in the 20-22inch range? Has anyone else tried something like this, cause im not sure how it would look. Luckily im not in a hurry so I have time to experiment a little.

Thanks, Will

Will,
I really think that you will be much happier with a grip if when using birch bark you use it mainly as trim, rather than the main body of the grip.

Good luck
Roger

alright thanks, I thought that might be the case.

I made a float rod grip from birch bark and used quite a bit of it. I could have used more without a problem but I mixed in some cork and wood. Go for it, you'll love it. The handle in the pic also uses sliding rings.

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I also made another float rod handle from birch using much more birch with a fixed reel seat. I love them both.

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Will,
bore the birch bark grip out and insert an off the shelf arbor. They commonly come from around 15 mm to 22mm.
Rodmaker has an article on the general principles of this.
You will get a weight the same or maybe even less than all cork. The heaviest part of it all is the adhesive!
BTW: all the samples i have had of Birch bark are lighter than cork. The birch bark rings are thinner than cork rings so needs more glueing therefore possible extra weight.

We're talking about a 13 foot rod here, in my opinion the difference in weight between cork and birch bark is negligible.

I made a birchbark disk last night, first one. It took me 10 pieces to get a 1/4" thick disc. Turned, sanded and finished with CA just for the effect and it is awsome. Is it normal to take so many pieces of bark to get only 1/4" of thickness? The article author states he glues 20 pieces and in the photo it appears that his stack of rings is about 1" to about an 1 1/4". The chunk of wood in his article also looks like a much different bark than my birch. I took it from a tree on my property that has been down for a while. Maybe different type of birch? At the thickness my bark is it will take me 240 pieces to get a 6" handle, with 1/2" trim ends. Sound normal for a Michigan birch tree?

Jim one of the things i found is to not use the areas of the bark that are iregular in color. Its hard to explain but certain areas of the sheets i have are a reddish color inside in spots and wavy. Dont use those areas as they are week and heavy. I also started doing the bore and arbor thing and so far its the ticket to save weight.

At 13 ft it is top heavy Without Guides and thread and finish

Some weight on the butt handle should help

Bill - willierods.com

thanks for the input. I may try to do something like steves in the first pic. As far as tenessee handles go, thats the best looking one ive seen. How long is it? I think a 22" handle should be good for a 13' rod but ive never done one before and right now im using a 10'6".

Will the grip with the sliding rings measures 21".