Replace the cork on two rods (Victoria)

BigBird007

Crew Member
Does anyone know of someone that replaces cork on rods in Victoria?

It was my winter plan to do it myself but my todo list is out of control and this isn’t even on the list at the moment unfortunately.

BB
 
Replacing corks on a rod is not that easy of a job. I have done it on my own rods. I did graphite lower sections on a few rods for Blue Wolf in a trade labour thing more than a few years ago He still uses them and it was not cheep then .The corks cost an average of $2 + and they are only ½ inch wide .The average rod has 22 inches of cork so 44 corks and one endcap. If the upper section needs to be done you would need to strip of any eyes above the seat . Also if you wanted a grade A job on both the upper and lower section you would also need to remove the seat Probably need to replace the seat as it might get damaged The rod is tapered so it is better to start at the bottom and work your way up

Each one of the corks has to be custom drilled to fit the taper of the rod .After all the corks have been installed the corks have to be shaped or smoothed out on a lathe. I would hate to guess the hours involved

There such a thing a cork filler that you can buy from Rodbuildingsupplies.com or you can make it your self by grinding up reel corks ( not plastic or foam) ones with a cheese grader and mix it with a clear epoxy glue filling divots and cleaning up with acetone
You know your budget better than anyone else
I do rod repairs mainly eyes and tips for some of the local Sooke guides
 
Replacing corks on a rod is not that easy of a job. I have done it on my own rods. I did graphite lower sections on a few rods for Blue Wolf in a trade labour thing more than a few years ago He still uses them and it was not cheep then .The corks cost an average of $2 + and they are only ½ inch wide .The average rod has 22 inches of cork so 44 corks and one endcap. If the upper section needs to be done you would need to strip of any eyes above the seat . Also if you wanted a grade A job on both the upper and lower section you would also need to remove the seat Probably need to replace the seat as it might get damaged The rod is tapered so it is better to start at the bottom and work your way up

Each one of the corks has to be custom drilled to fit the taper of the rod .After all the corks have been installed the corks have to be shaped or smoothed out on a lathe. I would hate to guess the hours involved

There such a thing a cork filler that you can buy from Rodbuildingsupplies.com or you can make it your self by grinding up reel corks ( not plastic or foam) ones with a cheese grader and mix it with a clear epoxy glue filling divots and cleaning up with acetone
You know your budget better than anyone else
I do rod repairs mainly eyes and tips for some of the local Sooke guides
Thanks, I kind of figured it would be worth more than the rods but they have some sentimental value to me so I haven’t brought myself to just buying new ones yet.

Do the graphite lower sections come just as one piece that you slide on?
 
Consider shrink wrap over your existing cork. Just use wood filler to fill in any large holes, sand and cover in wrap. Easy and relatively cheap; get the wrap from Andy at Custom Rod Builders, Victoria.
 
I bought the graphite sections custom sized from Custom Rod Builders and then Andy machined the 2 bushings for each rod I'm sure they were $80 each 8 years ago I talked to BlueWolf recently and he said it was still working great
 
Fill gouges and get this from amazon
 

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I used leather tennis racquet wrap on one of my old rods.
Worked great and that was two years ago.
 
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