How To Repair A Cork Rod Handle

How to Repair Cork Handles and EVA Handles

November 09, 2016

Anybody has that favorite fishing rod, whether it was given every bit a souvenir or just your proficient luck charm, it tends to be the one that gets the most apply. Since it sees the virtually use, it takes the almost beating and earlier long the grips wearable out.

As time goes by, our favorite fishing rods really take a beating, and oft the grips become so worn and chipped that it starts to touch your fishing. Unless your grips suffer a consummate failure, consider these tips for repairing your cork and EVA grips.

This article highlights some common all-time practices for maintaining or repairing your EVA and cork fishing rod handles and grips.

Cleaning Existing Cork and EVA Handles

Note: To be prophylactic, always apply any recommendations the manufacturer may list, or examination on fleck pieces if available— simply to brand sure yous are happy with the results.

In general, here are a few suggestions for cleaning those handles and grips:

Lather and Water—You can attempt using some warm—lightly soapy—water and a sponge. Gently rub the sponge over the grip and you may need a little more than pressure for problem areas. When finished, be sure to utilise plain water to wash all the soapy residue off.

Then, try applying a sealant similar Cork Seal by U-40, it'southward simply nearly $five.

Cork Seal is designed to seal the surface of cork rod handles. It prevents the penetration of soils and other foreign matter transferred to the grip surface area from the fisherman's hands.

It too enhances that "cork feel" and toughens the cork to assistance in the prevention of sloughing and chipping of the cork surface in the future.

Cork Seal soaks into the cork and seals in depth. One time it is dry—clay, grime, and even salmon egg residue are easily washed off with soap and water.

Mr. Clean Eraser Pads—We have heard that many fisherman use Mr. Make clean Eraser Pads. Offset by getting them a little wet, and then gently rub over the cork handle, with a bit more attention to problem areas. Afterwards, information technology will look brand new.

Again, once the cork handle completely dries, employ cork sealant.

Repairing Existing Cork Handles—Over fourth dimension cork handles can not only get dirty, but also dry out out and crack—or develop small areas where the cork may have chipped off.

To fill in those cracks (or fifty-fifty make full in smaller holes) endeavour using Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler.

This works excellently on all kinds of cork grips and can be used to repair and recondition otherwise worn looking handles.

Some feature benefits of using wood glue are:

Sands hands to a shine finish
Resists shrinking + cracking
Like shooting fish in a barrel water clean-up
Solvent gratuitous

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Here are some key things to proceed in mind when repairing cork:

Grooming: Surface must be make clean & dry. Cork, filler and air temperature should be above xl°F.

Filling:Apply to cork pits and grooves with a spatula, putty pocketknife or similar tool, and be sure to remove whatsoever backlog. Note: Deeper repairs may need 2 or more fillings.

Sanding:Sand shallow repairs after xv minutes (or when completely dry out). Deep repairs may take up of 2-8 hours to dry. Use medium grit sand paper, and accept your time so you do not over sand - causing uneven handles.

Finishing: Before filling, exam stain on flake cork with filler. Apply cork seal or other finish after 24 hours. If you lot don't listen covering upward the cork, y'all can also utilise a heat shrink grip material. The next section on repairing EVA handles describes using heat shrink tubing in more than detail—and so proceed reading.

Repairing Existing EVA Handles

When your EVA handles are a mess and the material is fading, the easiest way to become that handle looking new is to apply heat shrink tubing. This of grade can besides exist used to repair or upgrade deprecated cork handles too.

Colored Oestrus Shrink Grip Material by CRB, for case, comes in a wide variety of colors and sizes, and costs anywhere from $four to $20 depending on the length you demand.

Heat shrink grip fabric is a great choice to rejuvenate one-time, worn out line-fishing grips. It works on cork, EVA, Hypalon, and even cork tape. It also works extremely well on new customized applications.

The product is mostly bachelor in 4 sizes to accommodate to all applications. It has a soft feel which volition reduce fatigue on the angler when fighting fish.

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Some typical repair applications for estrus compress grip material are:

Replace worn out cork, Hypalon and cork tape fishing grips
Use on saltwater or freshwater rods
Apply on new custom rods
Apply on projects that crave a new grip
Heavy wall thicknesses
Shrinking temperature of 150° F
Easy to install with just a heat gun
Usually has a two:ane Shrink Ratio

Note: Y'all may require a oestrus gun to properly compress this material. Rod Architect's Electric Rut Gun costs virtually $25 and is unremarkably sold separately.

Product Resource: Cheque out Mud Hole Custom Tackle for products and kits to repair cork and EVA handles, including all of the products listed in the article.

With these piece of cake tips, you no longer have to throw out a perfectly good rod just because the handle needs repair.