cork grips

[sid_fishes]

as i,m in the middle of doing a rebuild on a livefibre[ the grips were shit] i thought i would replace them with cork[ the stuff my dad used as hand lines]. now i bored the hole in the middle on a lathe at work, but when i now shape the cork in my alps lathe i cant seem to keep it uniform[ seems out of round , if that makes any sense]. so is there a method to which i can work to??. thanks guys and girls ian

[jerson]

Sid,
you my have to take the grips back to work & center them on a lathe that has a tool rest, i don't know if the alps would have this feature. The tool u are using must be held at the same distance from the material as it is moved along the tool rest. The taper in the grip will be achieved by angling the tool rest to the cork grip.

[walldog]

as i,m in the middle of doing a rebuild on a livefibre[ the grips were shit] i thought i would replace them with cork[ the stuff my dad used as hand lines]. now i bored the hole in the middle on a lathe at work, but when i now shape the cork in my alps lathe i cant seem to keep it uniform[ seems out of round , if that makes any sense]. so is there a method to which i can work to??. thanks guys and girls ian

Are you using a mandrel? If not try chucking the cork up on 1/4 threaded rod , epoxy enough rings together for the whole grip slap the rod through the whole (assuming that you drilled a 1/4 hole) throw it in the lathe ( drill will work just as well, it is only cork) ;D and problem should be solved


Walldog

[DR]

sid, you can usually do it with a sanding block. usually it is better to shape them off the rod, but at a pinch can be done after, but if they don't come out right you are stuck with them or have to cut off & start again:'(

put a shaft of some sort through them, lately i use an old golf club shaft in a cordless, rough but does an ok job.
if you have access to a lathe that is the way to go. you don't really need a support as the centre should be true, start with a heavy paper & just touch cork lightly until high spots are down & a basic shape is achieved. change to a mid cut & again just lightly until pretty well what you want. then using a strip about 1 1/2" wide & 6" long, hold both ends & smooth off.
just take your time in the beginning, in no time you will be able to rip out a set of grips in a couple of minutes ;)
clear as mud

[Stuart]

Ian

DR is right, however I would like to know by how much the cork grip is off centre. Did you put the grip on the blank and then turn it to see if it was out of round? If so you will find that the blank is not straight. This is why I turn all my grips after they have been glued on the blank, I then shape them.

Stu

[sid_fishes]

thanks for all the replies guys,the cork was used as old hand lines by my dad so they had compression marks in them . i used a lathe to find /drill the centre hole, then a rat tail file to shape it to fit the blank/ glued onto blank as i thought it would easier to shape[ and it was ] but last night i had a blowout, and ripped a bit out [ right under where my thumbs sits bugger], so today i,m going to try and patch it . thanks for all your help again cheers ian