Darken cork

[BassSteve]

Hey,

 

I have several rods with very light color cork handles. I know about the U40 to seal the cork but I hear it doesn't really darken it. What can safely be used to darken the cork? Thanks 

[spoonplugger1]

Cork is impervious to liquids so anything you do will be a very fine skin coat at best, Birchwood-Casey Tru-oil gun stock finish may be your best bet to darken and protect so it cleans up easier. Fish slime and some good old fashion hand dirt/oils will darken it too over time.

[MickD]

Cork does not take stains well, doesn't absorb like wood does.  So it's difficult to change the color of it.   One thing that will help is to rough it up a little, then a stain might darken it some.  Tru Oil, a gun stock finish will darken it, but it also will harden it because it solidifies on the surface, like a paint.  So if the feel is important, I would not recommend it. I have it on a casting rod and it doesn't bother me, but some on this forum are a lot more sensitive to the feel of cork than I am.  

Great minds, Spoonplugger.  We were writing at the same time with the same info.

[BassSteve]

38 minutes ago, MickD said:

Cork does not take stains well, doesn't absorb like wood does.  So it's difficult to change the color of it.   One thing that will help is to rough it up a little, then a stain might darken it some.  Tru Oil, a gun stock finish will darken it, but it also will harden it because it solidifies on the surface, like a paint.  So if the feel is important, I would not recommend it. I have it on a casting rod and it doesn't bother me, but some on this forum are a lot more sensitive to the feel of cork than I am.  

Great minds, Spoonplugger.  We were writing at the same time with the same info.

So scouring it with sandpaper and using a wood stain with a brush on it would not really darken it?

[Bankc]

If you're going to be coating the cork in a varnish anyway, you can tint the varnish.  Woodworkers do this all of the time.  It's different from applying the stain or dye directly to the cork, and you don't have to rely on the cork absorbing the colors or not.  

 

I can't find an MSDS for U-40, which is odd, but since it cleans up with just water, I'm betting its water based.  That means a waterbased dye will probably work with it.  You might also get away with a waterbased paint, like watercolor.  Run some test samples on something before attempting this on your rod.  Since I can't find what's U-40 is made of, I can't be confident in any specific recommendation.  

[MickD]

6 hours ago, BassSteve said:

So scouring it with sandpaper and using a wood stain with a brush on it would not really darken it?

I said that roughing it up will help a little, but cork does not absorb like wood so it won't give similar results.  I cannot answer any better than that.  Try it and see.  

 

Previous comment on varnish  or paint, yes you can do that .  And if you put the stain in the varnish, then the color will be in the top coat.  But not many like to do that.  

 

If you custom build you can buy a multitude of different shades/colors/light/dark of burl cork rings from which you can build your grips.