Hi guys while fixing my handle I broke it brought to mind what kind of glue are you using to glue cork rings together. I have been using a combo of either Pro Glu or Pro Paste and I like the results but I was just wondering if there was something else out there that would work as well. Does anyone use the Tite Bond 3 wood glue? Just courious as to what everyone is using for glue. Thanks Justin

Tite Bond III is what I use on cork and wood.

I have done good with just about ant 15 minute epoxy like the Flex Coat rod epoxy or the Gorilla epoxy. I have tried the gels/paste but I can see lines in the cork so I use the less viscous thinner epoxies. I build mostly wading rods so I want something that can stay wet for long periods.

Like Phil - Tite Bond III works well for me on cork & wood surfaces

The epoxy adhesives you are using and the wood glues including TiteBond III are all good. For cork I prefer TiteBond III, which I used for years constructing duck decoys without a failure, and for which clean up is as easy as it gets.

Hi Justin,

Tite Bond III for me, too. Less of a chance of seeing the glue lines, and less of a chance of gluing the grip to the mandrel.

Take care,

Chris

Justin,
I apply titebond III for all of the cork glue joints and then clamp the cork together with a threaded rod up the center of the cork rings. Once the ring are tightly clamped, I will go over the outside of the cork with a wet rag to wipe off all of the excess titebond III.

Then, I will let the glue sit over night to dry the outside of the cork and glue joints.

Then, I will pull out the threaded rod that I have used to clamp the cork together. I will then push the threaded rod back and forth into the inside of the cork to remove any excess wet glue.

Since the titebond III is an atmosphere cure, the inside of the sealed up cork does not initially dry very well. But, after leaving the threaded rod out of the inside of the freshly wiped interior of the cork rings for 24 hours, the inside, as well as the outside of the cork will be nice and dry.

Then, I will put the cork rings on a mandrel, put it in the lathe and turn the cork to the handle shape that I desire.

p.s.
Before gluing up the cork rings, I will measure the smallest diameter of rod blank over which the grip will be used. Then, I pre drill all of the rings to that diameter so that if there is a large difference between the initial cork ring hole, that the initial drilling will get the tip part of the grip close to the required size, and then, only a bit of reaming on the butt section of the grip will be required for a perfect fit after reaming. I have several different sizes of mandrels for the lathe so that I can accommodate the various internal ring diameters that I might make the grip for the initial shaping.

Take care

U 40 quick cure epoxy works fine, too. Lightly clamped as Roger does. Never had a problem of any sort with any kind of cork.

The reason that I like to use the Titebond III is two fold:

1. Inexpensive glue
2. Very easy water clean up - completely of all excess glue.
3 And - softer than epoxy so doesn't leave quite the glue line that epoxy does when the grip is shaped on the lathe.

I use Titebond III for gluing corks on a mandrill. If gluing directly onto the blank, I use Rod-Bond, or 12 hr epoxy. I found Titebond III doesn't adhere well to the blank, and have had a failure once using it.

Again I like the 15 epoxy. This is why; 1) clean outside with DA or acetone 2) can be shaped about 2 hours after gluing up. 3) totally waterproof 4) Never had a failure.

What I haven't seen mentioned is Gorilla Glue. I've used it in the past for an absolutely indestructible waterproof bond. This glue sets up with water so you need to dip each ring in water before applying the glue. Gorilla Glue will expand to fill in gaps and will likely expand outside of the ring. So you'll need some extra sanding to remove the excess glue.