# Staining Cork Tape



## Fesster (May 19, 2010)

I started building my third rod recently and used a sharpie to blacken the edges of the cork tape grips where they will transition to the rod before building up a ramp of epoxy. I had trouble building my last rod with little pieces of the cork sticking up throw the thread I wrapped over the ends and thought the sharpie might hide them a little better. Anyway, this got me wondering if you are stuck with having a natural cork and black-flecked color if you want to use cork tape (I am aware of other grip tapes and shrink grips, but like the feel of cork tape) or is it possible to stain the cork tape? If so, anyone have a product they would recommend?

I thought about using a bigger sharpie and trying it out, but I don't know if it would last. I also experimented with other colors on some spare pieces of cork tape and interestingly, the blue sharpie creates a very shimmery almost metallic effect, although the color is less blue and more violet.


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## huckfinn38 (Jun 13, 2006)

My favorite way to fix this is to go ahead and epoxy, sand, put a 2nd layer of thread on your sanded epoxy ramp and then put on a layer of epoxy. Looks smooth as silk then


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## FishNC13 (Nov 21, 2010)

Seems like with a little sweat the sharpie would get all over your hands.


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## JAM (Jul 22, 2002)

*Try to*

Build up the thread to the height of the cork from the Blank Side... Once you get the to the height of the cork ya just walk it on nornal, You can do a couple of passes there just keep it inline and nice...Darker colors are way more forgiving for going over cork... . Need to have a perfectly finished cork end that is straight... If you want color go to shrink wrap... I like cork... feels good ... wrap gets slimey... if yer catchin...JAM


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## Ryan Y (Dec 1, 2005)

*The cork tape*

If it sets up and sticks good to the blank, you can sand it down a little on that end to a taper. It helps me to do that. That way I could get a good level transitions to the cork handle without building a bump there. Youll need to use a high grit paper, like 180.
Then make sure you clean it as you dont want the cork dust in your finish.


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