You most definitely need to turn the wood off the blank. You are going to need more stability than a drill rig can produce to turn wood. You can pick up a lathe for little money and practice a couple of designs first. Cleaning out the center can be tricky. I try to do that first and than shape it.

Brayden

 

How do you get a tight enough bond between the wood/cork and "turning rod" you use in place of the blank, to turn the wood without the material becoming permanently attached?

 

I turn mine with a chuck that has jaws. I bore it out to fit the blank and then glue it on with the cork. I made a clamping system than ensure everything bonds well. Be really careful when doing your final sand as the cork will fly off and the wood will take much more work. I use very thin strips of sandpaper and take my time.

 

If there's a school close by, you might talk the wood shop teacher into letting you use the lathe for a while.

 

My college might have a lathe, but I'm not sure if I'd be able to use it for non-school projects.

 

See if they offer night classes, then sign up!

It's worth a try.

 

My Dad has been doing this for years whenever he has a woodworking project, he has failed Woodworking 12 about 10 times and had many frustrated teachers as he never completes the required class projects, but is one of the best woodworkers in the class.

 

I got ok results with a simple drill set up. Not ideal, wobbles around and you do get an off centre grip with some exntricities, but it fishes fine.

Bore out the centre of each ring to fit the blank. Glue up the grip. Bone out once more to make sure.

Get some ready rod or other straight round metal rod that fits the chuck of your drill. Use masking tape to build up a taper that holds the grip- pressure fit. Then snug on the grip and start spinning. I used a hole in my BBQ to steady the far end of the rod.

Wear gloves, leather is my preferred, but other work gloves work. Start with gritty sand paper and work down to your preferred fine grit. And ya, you will have to find ways to work around rings that are harder than cork, whether cedar, burl or composite cork.

But the next time I build, I'm going to find a way to get some time on a lathe.

Safety notes:

1- wear eye protection
2- wear at the very least a decent dust mask. Wood dust is not good for you

 

I use a 1 1/4" hole cutter on my hand drill to cut the wood into plugs the same outside diameter as your cork rings. Cut the wood into ½" thickness so that the wood rings match the ½" thickness of the cork. You can also use a much thinner thickness of the wood if you want it for skinny trim accents.
Then just mic the rod blank diameter and drill the wood plug to the correct inside diameter and glue into place with the cork. I always do the turning on the blank after gluing everything up. I use pipe clamps to compress the corks and woods while the glue sets and cures. Works fine if you start with a coarser grit paper and quickly move to medium to fine. You can control the difference in sanding speed of the wood vs. the cork by focusing on the wood if there is a significant difference. Go slowly and accurately.
I don't know how cedar would hold up without checking with exposure to the moisture and drying of your rod with its normal use. Yellow cedar would probably be OK. Burls work the best since they don't normally split.
Hope this helps.....

 

I've actually already cut a good about of rings with a hole saw bit on my little 8'drill press, so I'm doing part of it right so far lol. I was originally going to do the majority of the grip wood but after looking into it I've heard that you should mostly use cork in the front grip so the blank can flex more. I'm now planning on doing essentially the whole rear grip with wood,an inch or so at both ends of the front grip, and ~2 inch "band" 1/3 of the way up the front grip (from reel end). Should I be okay with that or is it too much still?

Also, I was planning on putting some sort of finnish on the wood parts of the rod, in a rather thick amount because the cedar I have has alot of end-grain. Any recommendations on a type of finnish that will seal/protect the wood and give it that shiny look I see on other custom wood grips?

 

just as important

just as important is having the cutting tools and keep them sharp. i probably get away with 2, a roughing gouge and skew. but a basic parting tool is good and many find the skew hard to hand and prefer a spindle gouge.

then think how to sharpen them. cedar will be more forgiving than maple, so tear out is likely to be less with duller tools.

if you are going with round plugs, you can skip the gouge

 

Finally figured out the picture thing. Here is my intended layout for the 2 rods. I'm not sure if the amount of wood makes a difference in whether or not its neccesary to glue and turn the handles off-blank. The reddish colored sections are the cedar.