DIY composite cork

[JasonGotaProblem]

I have been saving my cork dust for a while. I have a sandwich bag full of it now, and I was just given a shopping bag full of champagne corks that I may grind up, or make rings out of the logical portion and grind the remaining pieces.

But what if I wanna use all that cork dust and debris to make my own composite cork grip? I was thinking use a piece of pvc with a rod down the middle as a mold, but what kind of glue etc should I use to.bind them together? I was thinking simple elmers wood glue but the simplest answer isn't always the right one.

[Donnyboat]

I mixed some with wood filler, and used it for filling cork handles, then rubbed them down with sand paper, then gave it two coats, of colour enhancer, came up nice, but I think one coat of enhancer would have been enough, cheers Don.

[Midway Tommy]

Regular Elmer's or Titebond wood glue is not waterproof. You would need to use their waterproof types if you don't want it to eventually disintegrate.

Sounds like way more work than it's worth to me.   

[steelfish]

Sounds like way more work than it's worth to me.   

2x

maybe is coming with the age but lately I like to simplify things the most I can 
 

if you want to experiment with cork, there are tons of different kinds and colors of cork for fishing rods that you can mix and made some beautiful and unique handles and grips and save that cork dust and wine cork caps for filling your cork handles 

[JasonGotaProblem]

It's absolutely more work than its worth. No argument there.

Not all my projects are about saving time or money. I mean frankly i could go to the grocery store and buy fish. It just seemed like an interesting endeavor.

[jurelometer]

Definitely interesting.

Probably will not come out very dense and void free without significant compression when forming/curing, which complicates things a bit.

-J

[JasonGotaProblem]

I have some 1.25" pvc, and a 2x4 that i had already used a cup drill bit to make a ring that holds it snugly. I can widen the middle hole to fit that 8mm steel rod I bought to make into a gaff. I figure if I lightly oil that for easy release it'll be a good mold. Then make a tamping device out of some nested pipes of relevant diameters, with the gaps in the tamper maybe filled in with hot glue or something.

And regardless of the binding agent used, i suspect the ONLY way to get uniform results is to sift my grinds to divide by size, and mix in all the fine stuff first. only after that seems adequately mixed would I stir in the bigger chunks. It all sounds great.

[Midway Tommy]

Wax paper is a white glue sticking deterant, carpenters use it all the time.

[philaroman]

what's your next recycling project?
homemade rod-building thread from lint 
(90% dryer / 10% bellybutton) 

[jurelometer]

I have some 1.25" pvc, and a 2x4 that i had already used a cup drill bit to make a ring that holds it snugly. I can widen the middle hole to fit that 8mm steel rod I bought to make into a gaff. I figure if I lightly oil that for easy release it'll be a good mold. Then make a tamping device out of some nested pipes of relevant diameters, with the gaps in the tamper maybe filled in with hot glue or something.

And regardless of the binding agent used, i suspect the ONLY way to get uniform results is to sift my grinds to divide by size, and mix in all the fine stuff first. only after that seems adequately mixed would I stir in the bigger chunks. It all sounds great.

You don't want to tamp it, you want to hold it compressed until the binding agent cures.  Which of course means that it ain't coming out of a chunk of PVC pipe once you release the compression.  I suspect that the real stuff is manufactured in some sort of sheet press and then cut to shape. 

Too many iterations to achieve success IMHO, but a fun project nonetheless.   

what's your next recycling project?
homemade rod-building thread from lint
(90% dryer / 10% bellybutton) 

Who gave Phil access to the secret project list? 


-J

[Midway Tommy]

what's your next recycling project?
homemade rod-building thread from lint
(90% dryer / 10% bellybutton) 

Who gave Phil access to the secret project list? 


-J

Sounds just about as feasible. 🤣

[Shellbelly]

But what if I wanna use all that cork dust and debris to make my own composite cork grip?

Cork has its own natural binder called suberin.  The challenge for the DIY folks is activating it since it takes super-hot steam above 350.  If you can achieve that, you can mold your cork waste into usable shapes and work with it as you would with any solid cork.  Most of that dark chunky cork wall paneling is made this way.

I suppose you could pack it in a mold and try heating it in an oven.  Not sure if the smell inside the house would get you in a world of hurt ....that's on you.        

[thorhammer]

If I was gonna do this, I'd use clear Gorilla glue. Use wax paper on the mandrel as previously mentioned, and if possible, cut the pvc into halves as a spilt mold and grease with petroleum jelly as release agent. Rubber band it together and pour in your slurry; may have to tamp it in as your pour depending on viscosity. It is common practice to make cork-dust slurry with glue or epoxy to fill voids, just like plastic wood.

Now, yes, this is a butt load (see what I did there of work, when one COULD order from crudhole, but I got my start building my own rods with upcycling before that was a term- I had to spend on guides at times, but a lot of blanks were spliced from broken rods people had, with harvested guides and seats. I'd make shunts out of other pieces (just did that yesterday) and Devcon in. Some I'd use pieces of ski pole for handles, after I discovered cork or foam-covered aluminum was common in rod butts at one time. Hand wrapped with nylon upholstery thread from Wally, seal with wife's clear nail polish (uncoated thread drinks epoxy and creates voids and bubbling in a big way), coat with Devcon 2-ton epoxy from Wally, and hand-turn for a couple hours watching TV until it set. I made grips from crabbing cord and seat beat thread, having no idea that was actually a thing. I have several of these rods left in the rack almost thirty years later, zero the worse for wear. I just bought a $400 CTS blank, and chances are, I won't throw it but marginally further than some of the 30 year old Frankenrods.

Jason, a lot of work, and you COULD just order, as you stated, but since you are pour-molding this, how about dying the slurry in aliquots using different colors to match eventual thread wrap? Basically, like marbling, just drip in different colors sequentially, poke a close hanger down in a few times at the end to stratify? Just spitballing here. That'd look cool if it worked, and truly a custom look to it.

[jurelometer]

The amount of suberin present in cork may not enough to make a super-durable bond.  They usually add an binder for composite products like gaskets, bulletin boards, cheap wine corks, rod grips, etc.

I have used dyed composite cork rings for rod  building.  The coloring is usually pretty subtle unless the particles are small.  Probably that same suberin repelling the liquid dye.

You also need a flexible binder that will  stretch with the cork after curing.

I am a big fan of composite cork, Slightly heavier and harder than natural cork, but tough as nails, fairly sensitive, and still flexes with the blank.

-J

[philaroman]

don't much like the feel of burl, compared to natural cork,
but absolutely LOVE about 3/4" at both ends for durability