I prefer cork handles on my rods except for dock queens,I go with foam. The sun does a number on cork. I was using Penetrol on cork,but started using Helsman Spar Urethane.I use a foam brush ,bristle brushes seem to always leave a stray bristle that you don't see until its dry... The older I get it seems I like older things that have stood the test of time. It almost makes the rod look like a wooden handle rod.
It definitely looks nice. Does it change the feel of the cork?
It is slipperier
All my cork handles have been treated with penetrol, been using it for years. It soaks in and I like the fact that they're protected but not in the least bit slick. It has lasted for 10+ years without showing any wear. While Helmsman is great stuff and preferred by a lot of boat restorers I think the urethane on cork will eventually start to peel. Personally, I would detest the slickness on my grip.
I lightly sand down my cork rod handles with 220 sandpaper —- blow it off —- and apply a light coat of Penetrol.
Keeps the cork grip feel —- while preserving the cork —- and protecting somewhat from future staining, skin oils, and moisture issues.
Best, Fred
Honestly I don't do anything to my cork grips. I wouldn't say I prefer it but I kinda like the look of old worn/weathered/stained cork grips. And they dont start getting super comfy til they start missing chunks.
Just my opinion.
I recant my slipperier statement partially,the feel is the same or even better grip unless your hands are wet, if that makes any sense.
TOTALLY OFF THREAD TOPIC...
Tommy and/or Fred,
What is your recommendation for stained wood - here in my example Oak Threshold.
I've used over the years:
- Dura Seal Polyurethane
- Pettit Z-Spar Captains Varnish.
Nothing lasts more than 3 years, and I'll need to do something by end of this summer.
Thanks both.
(https://alantani.com/gallery/38/7588-180823200631-381721023.jpeg)
Wayne
Quote from: jgp12000 on August 18, 2023, 07:03:22 PMI recant my slipperier statement partially, the feel is the same or even better grip unless your hands are wet, if that makes any sense.
I was given a jar of U-40 Cork Seal which you can find online. I started using it on my rods this year. I really don't have a strong opinion on the durability or toughness.
It appears to be OK. After applying, it leaves the cork looking natural with the original cork feel.
Time will be the determining factor if I buy it for myself.
I first used the helsman on the wood shutters I made for my house.We just restained them this year then 3 coats helsman.There is also "gelcoat" a friend used on a dining room table he made. He had some old warehouse wood with pegs showing,It looks awesome! It looks like it has a glass top 1/4" thick . I can't imagine anything could penetrate it for years.
Quote from: El Pescador on August 18, 2023, 08:09:34 PMTOTALLY OFF THREAD TOPIC...
Tommy and/or Fred,
What is your recommendation for stained wood - here in my example Oak Threshold.
I've used over the years:
- Dura Seal Polyurethane
- Pettit Z-Spar Captains Varnish.
Nothing lasts more than 3 years, and I'll need to do something by end of this summer.
Thanks both.
(https://alantani.com/gallery/38/7588-180823200631-381721023.jpeg)
Wayne
If you are getting (3) years on an Oak threshold finish —- Pros will tell you that is very good.
A threshold will generally need to be refinished every 2-3 years.
NOTHING on a threshold that gets normal foot traffic will remain looking new after 3 years. Easy to just sand down somewhat —- blow it off —- use a little tac cloth to get any loose bits off —- brush using a semi-transparent oil-stain of your color choice.
I do a lot of woodworking using Oak..
My preferred method is to sand down to 220 —- blow it off —- stain with Watco or Min-Wax oil based stain such as Puritan or medium walnut. Let it set up for a day —- then apply (3) coats of lacquer. In between the 1,2,3 coats —- use "0000" steel wool after allowing to dry for an hour. After the 3rd coat of clear lacquer —- mix Rottenstone with Peanut oil for a hand-rubbed finish recipe. Apply to the wood —- rub it into the grain with a soft cloth. Wipe off the Rottenstone mix with a microfiber cloth and keep wiping until a desired luster finish is achieved.
I have done this on the furniture I have built in the house, windowsills, mantles, tables, chairs, nightstands, valances. It has held up well for 12 years. But thresholds are a different story.
Best, Fred
Wayne,
You're doing good @ 3 years on a threshold, especially if it's facing to the south or west. UV & sun play havoc on clear finishes. If it were mine and it needed refinishing I would sand it down to bare wood, stain it with oil base stain if it needs to be stained and give it 3 or 4 coats, lightly sanding between coats, of Helmsman Spar Urethane. A lot of boat guys have switched from Spar Varnish to Helmsman Spar Urethane. Many say the urethane lasts longer. I've used it on mahogany transoms, oars and a fillet board and it has lasted for years.
Love Helmsan Urethane. Fred, you're slipping. Those drawers arent labeled as to what reel parts are in them :)
Quote from: thorhammer on August 19, 2023, 01:29:53 PMLove Helmsan Urethane. Fred, you're slipping. Those drawers arent labeled as to what reel parts are in them :)
When we moved up here about 13 years ago, there was a large fireplace in the corner of the living room. It was extremely inefficient, although made entirely out granite rocks, with an un-approved and obsolete insert. It was 3 stories tall, and cemented together with concrete, not mortar. House was built in 1930.
Since we wanted to add new windows, and open up more of the natural outside light to the inside, and completely change the orientation of the living room —- the fireplace had to go.
Took 3 days to take it down, and we ended up renting a towable compressor and Jack-hammer, scaffolding.
We added more modern windows in its place, upstairs and downstairs — plus a very efficient free-standing woodstove on a granite slab.
Now the problem was —- no mantle to display seasonal stuff on —- and we are old-fashioned in some ways, we wanted a mantle.
Sue also wanted to display her Grandfather's drafting equipment tool box he made in the late 1800's.
So I built a mantle to encase the toolbox out of Red Oak using 1X & 8/4.
Really heavy. Not the tool box, but the Oak mantle box.
Attached it to the studs in the wall using lag bolts and a hidden French Cleat.
We keep tea candles, remote controls, matches, and other odds & ends to reduce unsightly clutter in the drawers.
I also ran a hidden wire and plug-in's to the top of the mantle so that we could use some old fashioned lamps for display.
Sue really enjoys decorating it for the Seasons.
Best, Fred
Tommy & Fred,
Then it is YOUR advice I will follow during some warm days in Sept.
Our front door (with Jen's FAV color - Purple) faces SE, and an extension of our home (guest bedroom, you all are invited to use it when you visit here) blocks the South & West sun exposure.
Still, after 3 years the threshold REELY looks bad, let's see how Helmsman Spar Urethane holds us. I'll post in 3 years.
Wayne
Quote from: foakes on August 18, 2023, 06:12:05 PMI lightly sand down my cork rod handles with 220 sandpaper —- blow it off —- and apply a light coat of Penetrol.
Thank you for posting that. Was just going to ask if sandpaper can be used to restore some old cork handles.
Quote from: reelynew on August 19, 2023, 05:04:30 PMQuote from: foakes on August 18, 2023, 06:12:05 PMI lightly sand down my cork rod handles with 220 sandpaper —- blow it off —- and apply a light coat of Penetrol.
Thank you for posting that. Was just going to ask if sandpaper can be used to restore some old cork handles.
I do basically the same thing, but on older handles that have dirt and oil stains I'll wipe the cork off first with a decent dose of lacquer thinner on a rag to get rid of most of the oily grime. That way it doesn't require as much sanding. I sand with 320 and finish with 4 or 600 before wiping with Penetrol, but if it'sreally rough I might start with 220 & move to 320, etc.
Thank you Tom,
Much appreciated for that tip and I will have to pick-up some Penetrol. Can this be used as a restorative function on metal frames as well?
Matt
Related to Helmsman Spar Urethane, but not on rod handles.
Been looking for an alternative to the water-based poly I have been using for rod building and repair projects as a thread covering. Wanted something that dries fairly quickly and did not require a rod dryer rotating for hours and hours. Did some homework and found several references to using Helmsman Spar Urethane for this purpose. Suggestions were to use it by applying very thin coats; turning it a little for 5-10 minutes after application; and applying maybe three coats total. This would not give you a heavy end coated project, which is fine with me. I recently tried it on a rod I had rebuilt, coating all the threadwork as outlined above. Quite satisfied. The coating is satin-like, but not full-on gloss. The water-based poly is nice, especially the ease of clean up, but I was looking for a little more shine on the end product. Don't know if any of you have tried this.
Frank
You All are truly masters.
Just some lacquer thinner on the grips and it's looking 100% better already. I'll follow-up with some light sanding and a sealant afterwards.
This has been a Master Class in restoration for me. Thank you All,
Matt
Nice!
Are those the same rod. Did you remove the bottom black foot?
Quote from: jtwill98 on August 21, 2023, 03:22:27 PMAre those the same rod. Did you remove the bottom black foot?
The photos are flipped. The top of the first one is the bottom of the second one. You can tell by the taper of the cork and the reel seat threads.
Quote from: Midway Tommy on August 21, 2023, 03:46:34 PMQuote from: jtwill98 on August 21, 2023, 03:22:27 PMAre those the same rod. Did you remove the bottom black foot?
The photos are flipped. The top of the first one is the bottom of the second one. You can tell by the taper of the cork and the reel seat threads.
I realized that after posting. I looked and didn't see a quick method to delete or retract the posting, so I left it, knowing someone would "point out the error in my post" :-[
I taped up the bottom of the rod foot and yes, as Tom pointed out they are different directions. What's interesting is that the cork handles appear to be many cut pieces as I am able to see the seams between them. I would have thought it would have been one piece.
Quote from: reelynew on August 21, 2023, 04:57:22 PMWhat's interesting is that the cork handles appear to be many cut pieces as I am able to see the seams between them. I would have thought it would have been one piece.
They're made of multiple individual rings glued together with epoxy and then tuned on a lathe or sanded to the desired shape.
Quote from: Midway Tommy on August 21, 2023, 05:43:31 PMQuote from: reelynew on August 21, 2023, 04:57:22 PMWhat's interesting is that the cork handles appear to be many cut pieces as I am able to see the seams between them. I would have thought it would have been one piece.
They're made of multiple individual rings glued together with epoxy and then tuned on a lathe or sanded to the desired shape.
Yes, sir indeed lol!
That's why, when you see the cork handles with all different kinds of shading in them!
Never knew this, either until one of my handles disintegrated from them bugs, whatever they are!
They go and eat all kinds of little craters into the cork, completely ruining the grips!
Went to grab one of my cherished All-Star rods, to go fishing one time and squeezed the handle and it completely disintegrated in my hand, was absolutely horrible!
And I think I quoted the wrong person and can't figure out how to undo it. Lol!
Hi Wayne, Fred and anyone else who might have an idea,
I too have been working on my threshold and am looking for some advice on how I can adhere it back. I ended-up picking-up some Helsman Spar Urethane which I applied to my sanded down threshold and tee-moulding. The company that put in the engineered wood floor in the home did so before it was sold to me. They laid it right down on top of some tile and took it straight to the front door, using the tee-moulding to seperate/transition to the threshold that they all glued down using a high strength hot glue gun for flooring. I can't seem to find one of these glue guns locally to rent without either hiring or paying-up for the tool.
I needed to build up the tee-moulding to fill the gap to the concrete foundation as they used the hot glue previously. I cut 3 strips of some polycarbonate sheets I had and used some Loctite PL 2 (polyurethane based), but unfortunately, that isn't holding to the polycarbonate sheets. It just separates from both the Helsman spar Urethane treated tee-moulding and polycarbonate sheets. The two just aren't bonding.
I can look into another material to provide the lift needed for the tee-moulding, but was really wanting to limit the amount of untreated wood in that area, which is why I was looking for a plastic like product.
I treated both the top and bottom of my threshold with the helsman spar. Do either of you have any suggestions on what adhesive to use between the wooden treated helmsman spar threshold and the concerete foundation? The
wooden threshold is fairly thin and I do not want to screw it down into the concrete.
Any advice would really be appreciated.
Thanks,
Matt
One of the ways to do it is use wood screws instead of a filler strip . Like jack stands , set the height . Clean the trench good so the glue sticks to the concrete ..
Thank you kindly for your reply,
I ended-up abandoning the polycarbonate strips. That was a little too idealistic. I found a scrap piece of redwood I ripped and then treated it with copper green. Everything is coming together as I'll glue that down with a construction adhesive to a piece of hardy board I used to prop up the threshold. If you saw how thin the threshold is, the angle it is propped up at, using screws or a nail might compromise it.
I'm just a little concerned that the construction adhesive will not bind to the spar urethane treated wood and the concrete foundation.
Anyone try this before?
Thanks again,
Matt
Generally the thinner molding come with a track to lay in ..
Wood moldings are general thicker and usually don`t have tracks . We use screws every 8-10 inches apart. Just work the glue into the concrete for a better bond . Masking tape to hold in place and dumb bells to weigh it down .