Hello Lee. Nice to see you have your own forum. Have you or anyone else used the Fuji IPS reel seats to make a spinning rod handle? I bought the entire kit - seat, pre-cut handle, and locking forgrip, and I'm having trouble getting the cork to fit perfectly into the seat. I'd like to make my own "pre-cut" handle out of cork rings, but I am not sure how to cut the cork stick once it's glued up. Also, how do you sand the cork down - I have the seat edges corvered w/ masking tape, but I 'm wondering if I should sand it by hand or with power.<br><br>Any tips or advice anyone has with these seats is welcome. Thank you, Billy<br><br>
Hi Billy,<br>I haven't used the seat you are talking about but as for cork sanding and shaping, that I have done a bunch of.<br><br>When working with round cork handles I use a lathe made from a drill motor and shape with 80 grip sand papaer.<br><br>When cutting shapes for inlays, to join different materials or to fit an od shape for the seat, I use several tools. My basic shape I will cut with an exacto and then use small rasps for fast cutting large amounts or cork. Once I am close to the size and shape I'm looking for I will switch to a file then finish off with differing grits of sand paper.<br><br>The files and rasps I picked up at Harbor Freight, they are smaller than the ones I found at the hardware store. I also picked up a small 6" hack saw that I use when cutting cork handles. A good micrometer or calaper is a must when fitting cork to insure a good fit.<br><br><br>Lee<br>Lee's Custom Rods<br>"Quality is the product of crasftsmanship"