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Turning Cork

he has more fun building rod than he does fishing.....thanks for sharing
 
I have a setup that I need to video and post here and on www.rodbuildingforum.com. The drill idea comes from Dale Clemens who is the godfather of rodbuilding. It is shown in his book on rodbuilding. You can also go to Grizzly and get a mandrel that fits a drill press. John, interesting video. Don't tell my wife- she will ask why I had to get a lathe.
 
Turning cork with lathe tools

Interestingly I was about to post some questions about turning cork and i saw this thread.
I have some 4" x 6" thick cork that i want to turn. its not as dense as wine bottle cork. Does anyone have experience with this?
What type of tools? Lathe speed? Any ideas, Photos?
 

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Robert, what are you going to make? What kind of contours are you anticipating? I build custom fishing rods and turn the cork this way:
1. I square the sides and clean up the glue with a paint stick two side tape and 120 grit sandpaper.
2. I have a contour guide (more on this in the future) that gives the basic shape.
3. I then turn to "almost" done with drywall screen.
4. I finish the grip with 200- 400 grit sandpaper.
BTW, the grips are generally cork rings that are glued up on a threaded rod and slightly compressed until the glue dries. Then the grip is slipped on a mandrel and put on the lathe. I use the slowest speed. Not necessary to go to higher speeds.
 
This cork turned better with a gouge rubbing the bevel. i tried scraping and a skew but the surface was very rough. Even with the bowl gouge I needed to sand to get a smooth surface. I tried some oil on another piece but it disappeared instantly. Any ideas on finishing? I cant imagine using it for anything but it was fun. There was no resistance which was a new sensation while turning. I have 3 more pieces.
 

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Many custom rod builders use Casey's Tru-Oil Gunstock Finish which is a refined linseed oil finish. Three or four coats, rubbing with 0000 steel wool between coats. You should find it at any sporting goods store or big box store if they have a good hunting section in sporting goods. It comes in a bottle or aerosol can.
 
Robert Feingold said:
Interestingly I was about to post some questions about turning cork and i saw this thread.
I have some 4" x 6" thick cork that i want to turn. its not as dense as wine bottle cork. Does anyone have experience with this?
What type of tools? Lathe speed? Any ideas, Photos?
Click to expand...
John has explained things well. I have some experience turning grips out of yoga blocks, which is the same as what you have. Yoga blocks are the cork equivalent of particle board. Natural cork doesn't turn with edged tools very well. Since the blocks are composed of very small particles, the tear out you get is minor compared with natural cork. Edged tools can be used, but abrasives still work well and quickly. The synthetic material is harder and heavier than natural cork, though that probably won't matter in this situation.

Natural cork doesn't absorb dyes or finish to any extent. Any finish applied to the synthetic cork will stay on the surface, too.
 
I tried turning some cork once with little success. I wanted to turn a new handle for a fishing rod. I turned a piece of cypress instead. I made the handle longer, tapered down and turned a ball on the end. It turned out great and I love the way it feels and the extra length is nice.
 
Built custom fishing rods- the best way to turn cork to start is drywall screen- takes it down real fast. Just be aware of where you wan to stop.Then turn with a tool to get your contour. A lot has to do with the quality of the cork. Some are real fine and should turn easy; others are coarse and hard to shape with anything. There are rubberized cork rings that are much harder, like some woods. I glued some cork rings a few days ago and now I can't find them!!!!!!
Anyone interested in cork should look at the link and pick the better quality cork.
www.mudhole.com
 
I have some experience with both natural cork and manufactured cork, which is cork bits glued together in some fashion. For our uses, the manufactured cork will respond to normal turning methods better than the natural cork. The natural cork responds very nicely to abrasives, and like John I get good results with mesh abrasive, either dry wall sanding sheets or plumber's tape abrasive rolls. If you want a nice chunk of cork to turn, as seen in John Jordan's nice bowl above, you can buy a 'yoga block' fairly inexpensively. The ones I've seen tend to be a little darker than natural cork or John's bowl.
 
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