Has anyone tried tung oil on cork handles and is it wise to do this?
Thanks,,,
Tom Kuzia

Thomas,
Lots of folks have tried tung oil on cork handles.

It is up to the person who puts the oil on the grip to decide if it is worth it or not.

Remember, cork is a very tight celled product that does not accept finish very well.

Good luck

I use Birchwood-Casey Tru Oil gun stock finish on grips that include cork and burl, basically to bring out the grain and contrast. I see no reason to use it on an all cork grip. Cork has a soft, warm feel to it. Coating it with a finish just makes it hard and cold.

Tru-Oil is a polymerized varnish that dries hard and can be built up to any depth you desire. Regular tung oil never "dries" or gets hard. It is more of a penetrating type finish. It will certainly darken the cork a tad but will not leave any sort of hard finish on top of the cork.

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

Thanks all,,,
I had a used/broken cork handle and being new to this thought the tung oil might seal it from dirty hands,worms/bait,etc.
This morning after my original post I put a little tung oil on the handle and it's now 4:15 and the cork still feels sticky to the touch.
I don't think it's a good idea to use tung oil on cork!
Tom Kuzia

Like Tom said it never dries Try the tru-oil

Bill - willierods.com

I personally like cork seal. Has a good feel and makes the cork easier to clean.
Norm

Cork is not hard to clean! I little dish soap, a soft brush and it comes clean easily.

With cork seal a wet rag is enough to clean dirty cork, untreated cork needs soap and a good scrubbing. I think this is easier. In addition, cork seal keeps the cork looking and feeling new longer. In my opinion cork seal is good stuff, and I use it on all cork handles I build. In fact, most people I build rods for will bring me their other rods with cork handles to have me clean them and apply cork seal; they like it also.
Norm

I'm going to order some Tru-Oil and give it a try on the same old/used cork handle I have !
Thanks again all,,,
Tom Kuzia

Linseed Oil works really good and it does not turn the cork to dark and it seal the water and dirt out.

Glenn McMurrian

I like the cork when it darkens It takes on a Golden tone A different color then just regular cork Finish works well also Several thin coats

Bill - willierods.com

I used Watco Danish Oil on a tennesee handle and it turned out great! its the natural finish color and brought out the grain and gave some color to it. I did epoxy over it to seal it but it feels great in the hand! stain took really well!

I use U40 cork seal for regular cork, and Tru Oil for burl. I really like what Tru Oil does for the tiger trout burl that Custom Fly Grips sells. Very nice!

i build 25-50 rods a year on average, using cork and wood for the grips. cork seal on the cork and BLO on the wood. my wifes rods grips kept needing refinishing due to heavy use etc (read neglect) so at her suggestion i applied a wrap finish to her grips and she loves the shine and bling. to me it looks like someone forgot to take the shrink wrap off the handle when bought at walmart. showed it to the kids, and they like it too. in other words i've been outvoted. 99% of the rods i make go to the family, kids that are graduating HS, gifts for kids bosses, neighbors etc. just finished 2 wooden handles using 3 diff. colors in the indian blanket design. put on several coats of BLO and shined it up and said looked how this really pops. no,,,they want finish put on it. have sold my soul for 50 cents worth of finish. oh well.

On this subject of cork and cleaning and finishing, I have a question regarding the restoring of damaged cork grips. What is the preferred item to repair damaged grips that actually do not need replaced but just filling and patching. I have a few vintage rods with cork grips that could use a touch up in places and also one last question is when to leave well enough alone.