Cleaning up/ reworking cork rod handles

[J._Bricker]

I got some good information from BR members regarding reworking cork rod handles. I had a couple days where I knew I wouldn’t be on the water and decided to clean up a couple of spinning rods. I started my little project with my G Loomis and Lamiglas rods, which I use for both bass and trout/steelhead fishing. And after the results I got cleaning up some of my casting rods, these puppies needed a little attention.

 

I cleaned up the rod handles with a damp paper towel to water down the “purple stuff” degreaser. I didn’t want to use the “purple stuff” at full strength for fear of damaging the cork or preventing the wood filler with bonding to divots in the cork itself. Neither happened and the cork cleaned up well.

 

I didn’t think to take pics to the handles after filling in all those divots with the wood filler. It did take a little bit of time, and some of the divots were deep enough that a second application was necessary. I lightly sanded down the rough application of the wood filler with #200 sandpaper. Once the handles were semi-smooth, I used #400 sandpaper sand down the handles, which revealed areas that needed a second application of wood filler. I repeated the process as applicable, and finished sanding the handles with emery paper. Somewhere in this process I got a little ambitious and added my Setyr Ned rig rod to the mix cause if two is good, three is better, right?  Anyway, a coat of U-40 sealed the cork to keep everything intact. I was pretty happy with the results...

[NorcalBassin]

Looks really good! Thanks for laying out your process and adding in pics for each phase. I just noticed a couple of my nicer rods are losing some of their cork/filler, so I'll probably be copying you when I clean things up this winter.  

[tander]

Those look great. Did the same with all my cork handles last year.

[ike8120]

Handles look great, you can use Mr. Clean magic eraser if you don't want to use the purple stuff.

[J._Bricker]

On 9/21/2019 at 4:21 AM, ike8120 said:

Handles look great, you can use Mr. Clean magic eraser if you don't want to use the purple stuff.

I tried using a Magic Eraser on one of my first attempts on a full cork bait casting rod handle. A Magic Eraser is pretty much a pliable piece of sandpaper, and did work removing light oils from the cork. However, it did start to create a “wavy” effect on handle with the high point being at the cork ring joints. To even this out I hand to sand it down with sandpaper. 

 

The “Purple Stuff” thing was something I decided to try to see what would happen. It works well and IMHO it definitely works better at removing oils (fish funk and bait scent) and grime better than the Magic Eraser, even when watered down.

 

@ike8120, thanks for your question and letting me expound a little bit further.

[Jigfishn10]

Great job @J._Bricker! I'll book mark this for my winter project. Thx for posting

[OnthePotomac]

My favorite for the very few corks I have now is Dawn with a sponge, well rinsed after scrubbing, and Elmer's  Golden Oak wood filler.  I sit on a soft seat chair with the handle sticking out in front of me and sand the filler with a long strip of 120 sandpaper like I was shining a shoe.

[FordsnFishin]

Good work! Never heard of using wood filler to fill in divots. What color did you select?

 

Every winter when I go through my rods/reels I typically take ooo steel wool over the cork. Than blow off and seal. Very easy and looks like new. 

[J._Bricker]

 

5 hours ago, FordsnFishin said:

Good work! Never heard of using wood filler to fill in divots. What color did you select?

 

Every winter when I go through my rods/reels I typically take ooo steel wool over the cork. Than blow off and seal. Very easy and looks like new. 

As @OnthePotomac mentioned above, I also used Elmer’s Golden Oak Wood Filler in the inexpensive, easy to use tube.