Ice rod building

Been building ice rods for a little while now but the handle options are limited in my book. Wondering about making my own handles. Where is the best place to get the cork rings for doing so? What grade of cork are you using? What kind of glue or epoxy are you using?

Start with a lower grade cork. That way you can get some practice before buying higher grade cork. I’ve found ebay is about the cheapest place to buy cork. I use a 2 part pro paste.

Use pretty much any of the slow cure epoxies. 5 minute epoxy will get brittle.

Nick if you have Face Book search out some ice fishing rod building groups ..There are some very good rod builders that have all the info you need..

If you PM me I can send you some of those groups

I buy my ice rod cork at Janns Netcraft. Fairly inexpensive and best part is they have a 1/8″ bore which is better suited to ice rods than the standard 1/4.

Quality of cork isn’t great but use some pit filler and they look about as good as most.

I glue mine up on a small threaded rod wrapped in teflon tape. Use washers and nuts to tighten. Use Titebond III waterproof glue then epoxy handle to the blank with a 30 minute 2 part epoxy.

Tucker

You could also always use a 1.25” hole saw and get some birch bark. The bark should be about 1/8” thick. You can either source your own or buy sheets of bark from Mudhole (other places may also carry it). Get a long bolt (12” or so) and some wide washers w/ wing nuts to make a handle clamp. Glue it up, clamp it tight, let it dry then chuck the bolt into a cordless drill and sand-lathe the bark to the final shape. Coat the handle with wax, epoxy, or varnish and you’re done. Mount the handle and go fishing.

I know you asked about cork specifically but birch handles are rare, unique, and beautiful.

I’ve thought about buying bigger summer rod handles and cutting/ shaping them to suit my needs. Haven’t tried it on an ice rod yet, but it seems like an easy way to get what you want without reaming and clamping rings.

new to rod building what to use to turn cork

Mud Hole will have all the items you need to make your own handles. Cork rings and Pro paste to glue together. I use a drill with a 1/4″ threaded rod and washer/wing nuts to turn the cork. Start with 50 grit and then 80/100/150/220 seal if you want or fill pits with oak wood putty then sand with 220 again. Check out You Tube for videos on this. Good luck

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Ryan Wilson wrote:

sheets of bark

Can you post a ling for the sheets of bark at Mudhole?

It sounds like most of the stuff was covered by everyone. I like to add wax to the mandrel to prevent the glue from sticking to it. I turn the handle on my lathe but you can also chuck it up in a drill.

Rodwork wrote:

It sounds like most of the stuff was covered by everyone. I like to add wax to the mandrel to prevent the glue from sticking to it. I turn the handle on my lathe but you can also chuck it up in a drill.

Will you share some pictures of your work?

This is some of the stuff I have with me.

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I really like the glow-in–the–dark tip wraps.

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I was doing some playing around.

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