I am making my first attempt at building a custom rod handle. I am planning on using all-thread, large washers held in places nuts on each end of the cork once the epoxy glue is applied. Is there anything I can apply to the all-thread to keep epoxy from adhering should some inadvertently leak through? Any help and or advice are greatly appreciated!

I just wax mine down with a candle, and I do not use epoxy if it is all cork, I use Titebond III

Ron Weber

Michael,
If you are building a cork grip for a rod, I might suggest that you use titebond III wood glue rather than cement.

A couple of advantages - 1. Titebond III is much less expensive than epoxy. 2. Titebond III is water soluable, so that you can wash off the excess glue with a damp rag. 3. Finally, Titebond III sands much more easily than epoxy.

But, Titebond III takes a day or two to get dry.

When I use Titebond III, I take a threaded rod and take cork rings that have each been reamed out to the approximate size of the rod blank as the location of that cork on the blank. As I put the cork rings on the threaded rod, I apply a liberal coating of glue to one side of the ring. Then, I slide the next ring down on top of that ring. I continue, until all of the rings have been glued together, and then I will put on a washer and nut, and tighten it down until the glue squeezes out equally from between all of the cork rings.

Then, I wipe off any excess glue that is on the surface of the grip - using a wetted rag.

Then I will let the grip dry for 24 hours. Then, I remove the nuts from the threaded rod, and I put the threaded rod in a variable speed drill. Then, I put the drill in reverse and unthread the threaded rod from the inside of the grip.

Then, I will wipe any glue off of the threaded rod and push the threaded rod back into the grip a couple of times to remove any partially dried glue from the inside of the grip. Then , I will let the grip dry for another 24 hours, without having the threaded rod on the inside of the grip.

Then, I will either use a smooth mandrel, or a threaded rod to hold the grip and I will put it on my wood lathe and shape it to taste. Finally, I remove the grip from the lathe, remove the mandrel or threaded rod and use a reamer or drill to size the inside of the grip for a perfect fit on the blank at its desired location.

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You can do the same thing with epoxy, but clean up is tougher and of course the epoxy is more expensive. But, since epoxy cures by chemical action, there is no need to let the epoxy dry as long as is needed for the titebond to dry with its evaporative type wood glue curing.

But, if I have used epoxy to glue the rings together, I will use a Stanley sureform file to cut through the initial layeer of epoxy which is tough to cut with sand paper, no matter the grit of the paper.

Good luck

I used Elmer’s Carpenter’s WoodGlue Max to build the inlay cork rings; it purports to be waterproof, heat and mold resistant, stainable and suitable for interior or exterior use. Is this ok to use to glue the rings or do I need to get the Titebond III; it really makes no difference to me I can get the Titebond III, I just happen to have the Elmer’s? Thanks all for the advice and support.

I would imagine that the Elmer's glue would be just fine.

Be safe

Michael

Elmer's Wood Glue will work - very similar to Titebond III. So, if you've a supply of Elmer's use it and then try Titebond.

Candle wax. paraffin or mandrel wax will help protect the threaded rod or a mandrel and make removal of the grip easier.

And yes some glue will "leak through" as you put it. That's normal and a good thing. You want the entire face of each cork to cork face to be glued.

I used Titebond III years ago to affix basswood decoy heads to cork bodies, Zero glue failures.

Be prepared for Titebond (and maybe Elmer's too) to discolor and do other ugly things to a threaded rod or steel mandrel. It's a chemical thing. Just clean the rod or mandrel as best you can and rock on.

In addition to Donald's comments, I just use a variable speed to unscrew the threaded rod from the glued up grip.

Then, I hold a rag against the threaded rod while spinning the threaded rod with a variable speed drill. This will remove any set or extra glue that might happen to still be on the rod.

Then, I will take a nut of the correct size and run it up and down the rod a few times to completely clear the glue out of the threaded rod.

If you have a thread chaser or a thread die of the correct size - it is even better to run up and down the threaded rod a couple of times to really clean everything out of the threads.

Be safe

Haven't built many rods as most guys on here but been using epoxy to glue my rings on a 1/4" threaded rod and has no problem whatsoever taking it off. All you do is stick one end on a drill and reverse out the rod while holding onto the cork handle. No wax or anything needed to prep the rod. But then again, I've only built 5-6" handles on threaded rods. Longer grips may stick more?

I use Rod Bond And threaded rod What i do is put three drops of it on a ring Bring the next ring down on it and turn it 8 or so times which spreads the glue Do all the rings and there is none spreading out of the rings which means you are using TOO MUCH
High speed turning cuts it all nicely

Bill - willierods.com

Sid

Yes, length does matter - there is more grip to rod or mandrel surface area so the grip sticks a bit more as the length increases.

So does the number of glue joints (my experience with epoxy is limited as I prefer the ease of turning to shape using glue). For example, if you are building a faux birch bark grip using 1/8" cork rings there are a bunch more glue joints than when using 1/2" cork rings and thus there is more glue that seeps out the rod or mandrel. Built a 7" faux birch bark fly grip a couple months ago and it was a challenge to get it to release from the mandrel.

Adjust how much glue is used ROD BOND does not need a LOAD of it a very fine covering is all that is needed

Bill - willierods.com

Thanks to everyone for all your time and help, this is the best forum and group of folks I have every worked with!

I use plumbers teflon tape when gluing up a grip.

Chris Richer
Iroquois ON

Michael, to rough size the cork on my power wrapper, I like to use a Microplane. It smooths reasonably quickly without tearing up the cork or grabbing like a more aggressive rasp might. Just google
microplane 8" coarse flat

I also prefer drywall sanding screen instead of sandpaper.

John Shear
Chippewa Falls, WI

In contrast to John's comment about the use of drywall sanding screen to use on shaping a grip. Yes, I have used it a few times, but I just find that drywall sanding screen is more trouble than what it is worth.

I keep a good supply of fresh sandpaper in grits from 50 to 600 grits. After completing the shaping of a grip, I use my air compressor and a blow nozzle to blow out the sanding dust from the sand paper.

The key thing is to use only sharp sand paper, and only use sand paper that is not clogged with sanding grit or dust. I just didn't care for the sanding results and speed that I obtained from using drywall sanding screen. It will work for some folks, I just prefer to use the paper instead.

One other thing, if you have different materials in a grip having different amounts of hardness in the material - always use a backing board on the sandpaper. Otherwise your sanding will result in sanding dips into the softer material and leaving ridges on the harder material.

Common sense.

Good luck

I'm with Ron W. I use Titebond III to glue the rings together and also wax my mandrel (non threaded) with used birthday candles!

Rog

Thanks again to all for sharing your time and experiences, they are a great deal of help! I thought the use of plumbers Teflon on the mandrel is a great idea. Since an overwhelming number of folks use the Titebond III I purchased some today and will use it to glue the cork rings together. I made some BURL Burnt Cork inlays in the cork rings for the handle I am building so I am very grateful to Roger Wilson for his caution regarding the potential problem when sanding materials with different hardness; without his heads up, I would have more than likely had the problem.

im a little different but ive found clingwrap perfect for the job. wrap around the threaded rod tightly, maybe a couple of layers then glue the cork. comes off easy as and clean!

I do use epoxy, only a little however and then once the washers tightened down clean off any glue squirts so you don't have to sand them down first. I don't use any water soluable glue what so ever on any part of the rod

Ben,
Remember, titebond III is water soluble when the glue is wet. But, once the glue cures, it is reputed to be water proof.

[www.titebond.com]

However, note that titebond II is not water proof; but only water resistant.

[www.titebond.com]

I finally complete the rod handle that all of you helped me with so much, if anyone is interested; I posted a picture in the photo gallery "My First Rod Handle. It obviously isn’t close in quality to what the experienced folks are doing but I am quite pleased with the results, thanks again to all who were willing to share their time with helping me.