Covering cheap cork

[Tywithay]

Second time I've had to redo the handle on this rod because filler was falling out. Get tired of filling, sanding, and refilling, the cheap cork most companies use these days, so I did an experiment. Took one of my Curado rods and covered the handle with some shrink tube. Came out pretty good. Wish I had taken a little more care to completely cover the cork, but it's tolerable. Can't even tell while palming the reel. Feels pretty tacky for casting two handed. As an added bonus, adding a few grams to the butt of the rod took the balance to a new level. Best part is no adhesive, so I can cut it with a razor blade and rip it right off if I decide I don't like it. 

[Angry John]

Looks good.  With all the cork issues I cant believe a lot more companies are not using carbon.  Best handle material ever.

[Tywithay]

Just now, Angry John said:

Looks good.  With all the cork issues I cant believe a lot more companies are not using carbon.  Best handle material ever.

Agreed. I have a couple of Edge rods with the carbon handles and  I'd put them on all my rods if I could. 

[looking45]

I put shrink wrap on the handles of a few of my rods too. Not because the cork was bad, but to keep the cork clean, so i don't have to keep cleaning it. The X's are raised so they don't slip

 

 

[JustJames]

Look really nice man. Here are sample of professional done with clear coat around the edge and also balancer on the butt as well. A lot of my rod now got balancer and make the rod feel night and day. It is a lot nicer, feel batter and easier than try to balance the rod with reel weight. 

[looking45]

17 minutes ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

Look really nice man. Here are sample of professional done with clear coat around the edge and also balancer on the butt as well. A lot of my rod now got balancer and make the rod feel night and day. It is a lot nicer, feel batter and easier than try to balance the rod with reel weight. 

They look good

[Jig Man]

I’ve been using it for a long time.  Mud Hole is about the only place I can find it now.

[jimmyjoe]

   I use racquet tape to cover mine. It started as an attempt to keep them clean. But I sometimes fish when the rain is starting, and I noticed that my rods didn't get slick anymore. I like that. Any covering that doesn't improve grip when wet is undesirable to me.

7 hours ago, Tywithay said:

Best part is no adhesive, so I can cut it with a razor blade and rip it right off if I decide I don't like it. 

  That right there is super important to me! Thanks!    jj

[Basswhippa]

This is a Dobyns Champion 736 glass chatterbait rod that has been used 5 times at most.  It's a $240 rod.  ? Just when I was beginning to love the rod, a chunk fell out of the handle and it  is massive, almost the width of the cork ring.  It is deep and I can even see the blank. The handle is apparently of poor quality cork.  The other side of the rod felt like it's crumbling and was the area I was worried about, then I saw this. I know Dobyns has a solid warranty,  but its like $70 bucks.  I feel your cheap cork pain.   What size shrink wrap did you buy?  I think the Dobyns is the same size as the Curado. .  Where do you source shrink wrap?  How do you heat it?  Great looking job!  Thanks for sharing. 

[looking45]

I got the shrink wrap at Mudhole and used a heat gun to shrink it. Be careful, it doesn't take much to get it to shrink. Measure your handles with a caliper and get the size a little bigger, and it will fit nice and snug.

[GTN-NY]

Well now that’s cool. Thanks!

[Tywithay]

2 hours ago, Basswhippa said:

This is a Dobyns Champion 736 glass chatterbait rod that has been used 5 times at most.  It's a $240 rod.  ? Just when I was beginning to love the rod, a chunk fell out of the handle and it  is massive, almost the width of the cork ring.  The handle is apparently of poor quality cork.  The other side of the rod felt like it's crumbling and was the area I was worried about, then I saw this. I know Dobyns has a solid warranty,  but its like $70 bucks.  I feel your cheap cork pain.   What size shrink wrap did you buy?  I think the Dobyns is the same size as the Curado. .  Where do you source shrink wrap?  How do you heat it?  Great looking job!  Thanks for sharing. 

I bought eTekgo 30mm tube off of Amazon. Think it was like $14.99 for 64" of tube. It's supposed to shrink 2:1 so I may order 35mm if I get more, because I have a couple handles that flare quite a bit at the butt cap and won't fit. Obviously, not the case with the Curado, or the Dobyns. I used my wife's hair dryer to shrink it on the highest setting. She's a cosmetologist so it's pretty high quality, but it still probably takes longer than a heat gun. I just made sure to keep a little distance and keep the rod moving. I rolled it like a rotisserie so the epoxy in the handle or reel seat wouldn't break loose. Also, make sure to start at one end and work your way to the other. If you shrink each end, it'll trap air in the middle. It'll still shrink because it's not airtight, but it's a pain. For that Dobyns, I'd get a tube of wood filler from the hardware store and sweep a little in, otherwise it will have a gap in the shrink wrap. Natural or golden oak color look pretty good. 

[Linewinder]

1 hour ago, looking45 said:

I got the shrink wrap at Mudhole and used a heat gun to shrink it. Be careful, it doesn't take much to get it to shrink. Measure your handles with a caliper and get the size a little bigger, and it will fit nice and snug.

Does it shrink by length also?

[looking45]

very little, if at all

[JustJames]

Yeah the recommended with heat gun or boiling water not hair dryer, because regular hair dryer is not hot enough and you would need to heat it quite a long time which might damage internal.

[Tywithay]

21 minutes ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

Yeah the recommended with heat gun or boiling water not hair dryer, because regular hair dryer is not hot enough and you would need to heat it quite a long time which might damage internal.

I don't know what a cheap hair dryer will do, but my wife's will get to 400°F. Boiling water would scare me that moisture would get trapped in the cork and rot.

[Fishes in trees]

I used to use rod wraps - but those are getting hard to find in my neighborhood.   Tennis racket overripe tape is easier to find and it comes in different colors.  I like the rod handles in different colors because it makes finding a specific rod a little bit easier.  The shrink tubing is a good idea and at some point I'll try it out.   Another option is base ball bat tape.  That stuff comes in several different thicknesses and the thinnest one is great for covering rod handles.  Some guys have told me to use bicycle handle bar tape but I haven't found any that I like yet.

[tander]

I put Winn Grip Tape on several of my rods. I first put it on my spinning rods because in front of the reel was nothing but metal. Made if feel really good.

[MickD]

Fill that big gap formed by the chunk falling out or the hot shrink will shrink into it leaving a soft flat spot.  Plastic wood or any other fairly solid filler will work. The heat shrink will protect it.

[MickD]

I don't think it's a problem, but  it's easy to coat the cork with some kind of sealer, like Permagloss or waterproof polyurethane before using the hot shrink tubing.  Make sure the gaps to the seat and any other components are treated with the sealer.

[NOC 1]

On 5/30/2020 at 7:26 AM, jimmyjoe said:

   I use racquet tape to cover mine. It started as an attempt to keep them clean. But I sometimes fish when the rain is starting, and I noticed that my rods didn't get slick anymore. I like that. Any covering that doesn't improve grip when wet is undesirable to me.

  That right there is super important to me! Thanks!    jj

Cork bicycle handlebar tape can be used as well and comes in more colors than you can pay attention to.