Rubbing down a cork handle

[nottskev]

I have a float rod which is excellent in all respects except one: it has useless metal sliding reel fittings, so poorly designed you can expect your reel to fall off regularly.

I intend to replace them with other sliding fittings - Daiwa-type "graphite" ones that work well enough on other rods I've got.

Not content to use these joke fittings, the makers cleverly trapped them in place by flaring the handle below (and fitting a pointless metal band that adds to the trap) so to get them off, I'll have to reduce the handle in places. I'm estimating by 1/8 - 3/16 over 3 or 4 inches.

I've done such mods in the past, but only aiming at a functional job. This rod is so nice, I'd like to keep a fine finish on the cork handle.

Can anyone advise on the best way to rub down a cork handle - tools/materials/methods - to give the best chance of a good finish? I usually dive in, but I thought I'd ask, this time.

 

[no-one in particular]

Can you cut the sliding reel fittings off with some pincers or a small hacksaw?- Give the cork a light rub down with very fine sandpaper, clean with some white spirit and then whip a ratchet reel fitting back on.

Or a less prettier approach, a couple of winged jubilee clips either side of the sliding reel fittings to hold them in place or the same after you have cut them off to hold the reel in place direct.

 

[mikench]

Could these work for you Kev?

Cold Snap Reel Wrap

You could also try adjustable cable ties to tighten up the fittings you already have. I have some you can have to try. Not beautiful but worth a try as a temporary measure!

Is it possible to add shims( tape , cloth, metal ) to your reel seat or even within the existing bands. Could you run small amounts of solder down the bore of the existing bands to create a reduction and thus grip the reel seat better!

 

[Molehill]

I have a couple of old rods with that problem, an easy solution is adhesive cork tape. Cut a piece off, stick it onto the reel foot and trim. This bulks the foot out enough to grip again on the handle, peels off easy when you finish the session and put the reel away.

Cork Self-Adhesive Tape - Bakerross

 

[mikench]

That looks a better solution Kev!

 

[nottskev]

Thanks both for the ingenious suggestions. I watched the ice-fishing dude's video, Mike. The idea reminds of the match-fishing vogue for using sections of tyre inner tube to hold your reel on. It went with the spray-it-chalky- matte-black phase.

In fact..... rummaging through old stuff....only one of the bits of tyre has perished. Not bad; put on in about 1980

Neat. But getting your reel fixed was a bit like getting a condom on.


I'm trying to get from the bottom one - early model, special fittings that neither grip cork nor metal - to the top one - late model, good-enough bands that look neat and fill your hand nicely.

Getting them off is not the problem, but getting them over the flared middle section of the handle is. I'm mainly worried I could tear up the cork and spoil the finish if I go at it with the wrong abrasive or method.

 

[nottskev]

I have a couple of old rods with that problem, an easy solution is adhesive cork tape. Cut a piece off, stick it onto the reel foot and trim. This bulks the foot out enough to grip again on the handle, peels off easy when you finish the session and put the reel away.

Cork Self-Adhesive Tape - Bakerross

Thanks - I like that idea, when you just have a bit of cork compression/shrinkage to fill out. But on this rod, the fittings are tight! The rod is barely used. The cork is like new. it's just that the fittings themselves achieve the unlikely distinction of gripping on neither cork or reel foot. How did they do it, on a Rolls Royce of a rod???

 

[mikench]

If the reel bands move up and down the handle can you not decide where you want them to grip the reel and put the cork strip on the handle itself as a semi permanent fix? A band around the entire circumference would look ok and you could shampher the edges with fine sand paper or a small file! It might even look OEM( original equipment manufacture)! Mustn't be a hypocrite!

 

[nottskev]

If the reel bands move up and down the handle can you not decide where you want them to grip the reel and put the cork strip on the handle itself as a semi permanent fix? A band around the entire circumference would look ok and you could shampher the edges with fine sand paper or a small file! It might even look OEM( original equipment manufacture)! Mustn't be a hypocrite!

The ones I need to replace are already tight fitting on the cork and can be moved around.
This is the weird aspect ; they appear to be perfectly fine! You push the bands snugly over the reel foot, and off you go. But in practice, they fail to grip the reel foot/and or the cork, and loosen themselves off, separating under your hand.. The handle doesn't need bulking out; nor does the gap between band and rod need closing.......

These bands and the cork handle are like new and as fitted to a top of the range Shimano rod in the early 90's. The Japanese factory which ensured such amazing quality in every other aspect of the rods, clearly didn't bother to test the reel fitting design/material out by fishing with it for a few hours.
They used these bands on two series of rods, their top and second tier, for a couple of years then binned them in favour of the composite ones you can see in my pic. Sorry to go on at such length, but the issue is as odd and hard to imagine as that.

 

[mikench]

Could you not just use blue tack either on the reel seat or inside the bands ? I am sure that you will come up with and fulfill an admirable solution! Is that the diaflash rod Kev?

 

[nottskev]

Could you not just use blue tack either on the reel seat or inside the bands ? I am sure that you will come up with and fulfill an admirable solution! Is that the diaflash rod Kev?

It is Mike. I have 2 x14' , a 12' and this new-to-me 13' from that series. I believe they are a match in use for any current super-light rods, with several advantages, which include proven longevity and high quality triple leg rings throughout that don't deform at the drop of a hat

One has a fuji screw-down (major surgery); one has the Daiwa bands fitted by me; one came with the maker's late model ok bands.

But this one is so mint, I'm hoping to get the old ones off and new ones on without spoiling the cork, which means reducing its diameter in the middle of the handle to get band on and off. As I mentioned, the makers compounded the **** fittings by opting for a fancy sculpted handle that traps them in place instead of simple parallel cork, which would have been better imo.

 

[Mark Wintle]

I've sorted fittings like this by using a piece of inner tube rolled up behind the fitting to stop it moving once the reel is in place. Also glued a piece of inner tube to sit under the reel foot.

 

[nottskev]

I've sorted fittings like this by using a piece of inner tube rolled up behind the fitting to stop it moving once the reel is in place. Also glued a piece of inner tube to sit under the reel foot.

Thanks Mark - belt and braces? It's got a bit personal now, between me and these metal fittings, so I think they're going, once I hear how best to rub down the cork below.

 

[Mark Wintle]

As I glue cork pieces to screw reel fittings I use a rasp then a coarse file to shape them so the same tools will allow you to reshape the handle. I suspect though that if you are trying to take off an amount evenly all round then the only way top do a really neat job is using a lathe with sandpaper.

 

[Molehill]

I built rods and have a shed full of materials and the equipment, so this is probably what I would do if faced with it as a job - but need to see the rod up close to be 100% on this.

I would strip the rings off the butt section (probably only a couple?) take off the flared corks at the top, slide old fittings off and new ones on. Replace a couple of cork shives and sandpaper to shape, whip rings back on and epoxy. Not that big a job if you have everything to hand.

The alternative is to come in from the butt end, cut bits off and do similar, this may involve taking the handle down a bit? Plus putting a new butt cap of some sort on. Difficult to say which is easier without seeing it all and knowing what you can do.

 

[nottskev]

I built rods and have a shed full of materials and the equipment, so this is probably what I would do if faced with it as a job - but need to see the rod up close to be 100% on this.

I would strip the rings off the butt section (probably only a couple?) take off the flared corks at the top, slide old fittings off and new ones on. Replace a couple of cork shives and sandpaper to shape, whip rings back on and epoxy. Not that big a job if you have everything to hand.

The alternative is to come in from the butt end, cut bits off and do similar, this may involve taking the handle down a bit? Plus putting a new butt cap of some sort on. Difficult to say which is easier without seeing it all and knowing what you can do.

You're right - those are the two ways around it. On a previous rod, I took off the rings, removed cork and fitted a fuji seat and replaced the rings. It was in less than perfect nick, cosmetically, so the repair was functional and inoffensive, but the whippings weren't up to factory standard.

On another rod - I've faced this exact problem twice before! - I cut off the cork "button" at the butt end, sandpapered down the wider mid-section, which is what traps the old fittings in the top section of the handle, slid the old bands off and the new ones on, and spigotted back the little end section using a carbon off-cut. This, too, is fine, and much less drastic than ring removal. But the sandpapered section looked it! That's the way I propose to do it.

As for what I can do, I've done lots of repairs, whippings and adaptations to get rods exactly how I want them. The most risky/ambitious would be splicing a fine solid tip into a 12' model of the rod which took a bit of careful measuring and judgement and, if I say so myself, works brilliantly. (Lucky shot!) But in this case I'm asking for advice on dealing with cork as a) the rod is mint and rare, and I'd hate to make any more mess than absolutely necessary by going at it hastily b) I'm not a rod-builder, so I don't have the materials or skills that some out there will have and know how to apply. I'm not sure what's best for removing cork and then for re-finishing it to get the smooth surface back when you've removed some.

Thanks for taking an interest - I appreciate there are bigger problems in the world

 

[mikench]

My middle names are "Heath Robinson" ( you may have guessed) Kev and I would only attempt my limited skills on a rod of little value! This rod is clearly not in this category but if the reel falls off the rod is effectively useless! The new bands you propose look like they could be capable of expansion say when heated so as to stretch over the wider part of the handle! Is this possible?

Unless I was confident of achieving an effective and aesthetically end result I would assign the task to a professional !

You may have seen this and the proposed solution is not yours but informative nonetheless !

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a7JRXXjnnWs

How about coasters Reel Seats - Rod Building - Gerrys Fishing

Uk hooks supply them and AD Breakaway Coasters (Saddle Clamps) | Angling Direct

 

[nottskev]

Thanks, Mike, I liked the video. I can't watch bad fiction, but I can enjoy a doc even if it's a man banging nails into a piece of wood.

The bloke made it look easy, and it clearly wasn't his first go! I applauded his preference for cork over foam too. I put a Fuji seat on a Daiwa rod a while back, and where he shimmed up the blank with paper tape, I found some well-fitting off-cuts of carbon blank to fit between blank and reel seat.

I made a note of the grades of sandpaper he used in the stages; shame he didn't include finishing off the single cork to get rid of the roughness.

I thought I recognised the rod he was working on. A Shakespeare Quatro 12' light feeder. (is there a geek award?) I don't know which hooligan owned that one, but my own example, bought in 1989 in Skipton, is still in pristine nick and caught plenty of roach on a trip to The Lakes last summer. Nothing wrong with the reel fittings.

 

[bracket]

NottsKev. Sometime ago I put a Fugi winch fitting on a 13ft Normark Avenger. Quite straight forward. As has already been mentioned, remove the rings on the butt section and cut the cork back enough to accommodate the length of the fitting and the replacement cork. On the Normark the blank did not go to the end of the butt, it had a parallel insert to carry most of the handle. This needed building up to match the blank diameter. I did this with tape. I didn't tape the whole length of the fitting area, just at each end and in the middle. The winch fitting is quite rigid anyway. I finished it off with a section of tapered moulded cork, which I got from my local tackle dealer, it is readily available and comes with a fine sanded finish. I had to just ease out the internal bore of the cork to get a snug fit before gluing it all up. Finally whipped the rings back on and that was it. I didn't pratt about tarting the handle up but it would be easy if that's what you want to do. Pete.

 

[chrissh]

Have a word with Kevin Barry at Open Water Angling Centre he sort out what you need if it’s just to rub the handle down a touch. Or if you want a complete new handle he replaced a cork handle on one of my rod at a good price

Open Water Angling Centre
50 Mansfield Rd,
Clipstone,
Mansfield
NG21 9EQ.
Tel: 01623 627422

This is what he fitted on my match rod
Match Cork Handles - Corks, Cork Products & Fighting Butts - Corks, Cork Products & Fighting Butts