A question about butts??

[finga]

Gidday all,
A quick question......
Why does everyone use cork on their butts and not wood???
Is it availability, or grip, or ease of shaping, or weight, or.......??
Cheers Scott

[Parra]

Hey finga,

I don't know anywhere near as much as a lot of guys here but just to give you my take on the subject i believe it could be because,

1 weight ; traditional cork is very lightweight.

2 feel ; to me cork just feels nice in the hand. Warm in winter but not to hot in summer and is not too firm or soft.

3 looks/tradition ; cork just plain looks good on a lot of different rods and has been used for a long long time. I know some people think it should be used only because, thats the way it was always done. I don't really believe that as such but as u may be able to tell i do like a nice cork handle for a lot of reasons.

4 durability/workability ; if looked after cork can be quiet durable and can be worked with easily. It can be turned into just about any shape and size. (some limitation do apply though) and designs can be placed into the cork itself using various techniques, which for some reason u just don't see on many of the shelf rods.

Before i start sounding like a cork salesman i must point out that good quality cork is becoming very expensive and hard to come by these days. and poor quality cork just looks shabby and has limited durability.

Sorry i can't talk much about wood as i have not used it yet. I love well turned wood and iam sure theres advantages and disadvantages to using it for butts, iam sure somebody here with more experience will be able to fill us in.

These are just my opinion so far and other will disagree with a lot of what i said, and have a lot of other reasons, but it will be good to get other opinions for this is how we learn.

Cheers parra

[BilgeBoy]

I was kinda hoping the rod might float if I oopps loose a rod over the edge again. Have been meaning to drop my rod in the Neighbors pool to see if it does.

If not...Well I recon it feels a lot nicer in the hand and definitely has a a more traditional look to it!!

BilgeBoy

[Parra]

BilgeBoy,

might float with just a really light rod and extra long butt, but doubt it.

Once you add a reel then straight to the bottom i would say, but hey could be wrong.

Parra

[choppa]

mrs choppa has a nice butt,,,, firm and feels nice in the hand,,, think its some kind of neoprene rubber,,,, but its always shiny and easily maintained with a quick wash with warm sudsy water,,,and she's had the same one for a few years now,,

but i believe cork was traditionally used due to its lightness and ease of forming shape,,,with newer products becoming available and the cost effectiveness of synthetics,,, it went out of trend for a while,,, but its getting to the stage again that your seeing more and more cork butts in the shops,,


the thing that i have noticed over the years is the old cockroach likes the ""foam"" style butts if there not stowed away and cleaned properly,,,i don't believe cork or wood have this problem,,,,

choppa

[PinHead]

have both a wooden and cork type.

[roz]

I'll give this one a miss.

r.

[PinHead]

I'll give this one a miss.

r.

butt why?? don't you think mine look good ???

[finga]

have both a wooden and cork type.

Whick do you prefer Mr Pinhead???

If I remember correct (and if I go down into the dungeon) most old rods had wooden butts so the cork theory is gone as a material used traditionally. (well the 8 or so oldies I have here dating from the 1930's whick are cane, split cane and glass anyways)

The only reason I'm asking is I've been thinking about Owens mouse hick-up and Choppa's cocky problem to the EVA grips and the longtivity of the rod.

Here's a more traditional one I made the otherday out of saddle wood.
The butt section is 140mm and the foregrip is 80mm. The weight is just under 80gms so weight isn't an issue IMO.

I might be a bit biased but the different grains and finishes possible in wood is endless if the mind allows.

I think I'm going to have to try making some different corkies now to see which I like best.

I wished I could make the rest of the rod now....come on RB M&G

[PinHead]

I like the rod with the wood butt...but that is because the rod in total is great to use...I got it made by some bloke up the Sunshine Coast...very light and well balanced.

[Stuart]

Have you taken that rod down off the wall and got the thing wet yet mate? Have you taken it fishing yet?

Stu

[PinHead]

Have you taken that rod down off the wall and got the thing wet yet mate? Have you taken it fishing yet?

Stu

several times..I had it out on Sunday for a bit of a fish...no success..coupled with a Shimano twin power 1000 it makes a very easy to use set up.

[sid_fishes]

scott, mate i have to ask, what is it with you and butts???? [ just joking] but i am a bit worried about the look of the 2 butts[second and third pics]. sorry i didnt make it up today but i had a fellow ausfisher here to sought out some work he wants done, i have to learn to say no cheers sid

[darryl13]

you get better feel with cork handles rubber/foam next then wooden butts last
you dont get a lot of feel with wooden handles

[Stuart]

you get better feel with cork handles rubber/foam next then wooden butts last
you dont get a lot of feel with wooden handles

Not to sure how you come to this conclusion Darryl, would be interested to hear it though. In my 20+ years of rod building, I have always found timber to be the best for feel and sensativity. Cork would come a second and EVA/Foam would be the last choice. Cork is great, dont get me wrong. But in reality, cork is extremly porous and will and does loose some sensation. Timber is solid with no voids and once glued to a blank becomes one with the blank.

Stu