cork grips - shellac vs. spar varnish

[Ron Mc]

I come from a bamboo fly rod background, and we used flexible coatings to turn fibrous materials into tough composites - spar varnish, and maybe as exotic as mastic varnish on silk thread wraps or to turn an old silk braid into a floating fly line.  When I made my first twine wrap on a bike, it was natural for me to coat it with spar varnish.  Later wraps, found out shellac is awesome for this application because twine wraps on a bike don't need to be flexible - twine it, shellac it, and it's good to go and go.  More than 2 coats would also be a mistake.  

While I haven't tried shellac on cork grips, its use there doesn't make sense.  Take a soft grippy material and put a hard slick exoskeleton on it - seems to defeat every purpose of a cork grip.  

Three years ago, when I put cork grips on my daughter's upright bike, I used spar varnish and here's the result 3 years later - it's soft and grippy, and still beads water like a new Ferrari  

  

That's the good news - now the bad news:  you have to be patient, because it takes 7 days to do this right (hey, it takes a month to mastic-varnish a silk fly line).  You want 5 coats, and wait a day between each coat to let it soak and cure.  You apply thin coats and of course the cork sucks it right up.  Wait a day and apply another.  It won't be until the 4th coat that you can see the cork is sealed and you're apply a build-up.  After the last coat, give it two days to cure, and it will still feel tacky - don't worry.  Take a lint-free cloth and buff it like you're shining shoes.  You will be delighted with the result for years...

[Deacon Patrick]

Brilliant!

With abandon,

Patrick

[Ron Mc]

Thanks, friend.  I failed to mention how the varnish instantly highlights the rings and spalted texture of the cork - IMO, makes it gorgeous.  

At San Antonio's Siclovia (cyclovia to everyone else) her cork grips got more comments than my old Raleigh and our friend's watermelon Nutcase helmet

[Kellie Stapleton]

so far I've left mine natural because I see the shellac flake (yuk). The spar varnish does look fantastic.

[Philip Williamson]

I feel a trip to the hardware store coming on... That makes cork grips far more appealing to me.
I varnished some skateboard pedal decks, but the shellac whitened in the rain. Can I spar varnish right over the shellac, or do I need to strip the shellac off, first? This is to protect and shine up the bottoms of recycled skateboard squares that snap into clipless pedals to make a platform. Is that even a legitimate use of that material?

Thanks,
Philip
www.biketinker.com

[Ron Mc]

Philip, 

Spar varnish should work great because its flexible, but I think you would have to strip the shellac first.  

[Peter Morgano]

I have varnished cork grips before, it did come out nice but here in upstate NY it took about 10 days to get it all done. It was inside in the winter so I had the time, came out nice though.

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[Philip Williamson]

Thanks. Your pictures of the varnished grips are the best looking cork grips I've seen.

[Ron Mc]

brought up this old topic for two reasons - first to show off my results over the winter with spar varnish on cork and shellac on twine wraps (it was brown twine, chosen to accent the spalted look of the varnished cork)

but also to mention this other product that fly rod builders use - this won't make the cork look dark and spalted, but instead will seal the cork and keep it looking bright and natural

http://www.mudhole.com/Rod-Building/U-40/U-40-Cork-Seal-2-oz-

[David Hays]

Nice work Ron. 

I just shellacked my bar tape but for next time, any specific suggestions on which type of spar varnish?

David

[Ron Mc]

I have some fancy stuff around, Sutherland Welles, but plain old Helmsman available at hardware stores, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. is very good spar varnish.  If you buy varnish, you also want to get some kind of inert gas like Bloxygen (you don't need this with shellac or the U-40 sealant).  Pour out your working varnish supply into a glass jar, spray Bloxygen and seal the can.  Also spray Bloxygen into the top of the jar every time you close it.  Both can and jar will keep indefinitely.  Wipe on a thin coat with a lint-free cloth and go away for a day.  After your coats are done, let it dry a couple of days and lightly buff with a clean lint-free cloth (removes oil that would otherwise pick up on your hands and gloves).  

[drew]

yes, beautiful and great idea. i don't use cork grips, but im wondering how this would work on cloth tape. now i shellack them and while i like the look and the weather resistance, the hardness is not ideal.  have you tried the spar varnish over cloth? 

[Ron Mc]

btw, propane is an inexpensive substitute for Bloxygen, in case you have a gas grill or camp lantern.  

[Jim Bronson]

Spar varnish - is this for boat spars, aircraft wing spars, or both?

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Keep the metal side up and the rubber side down!

[Ron Mc]

drew, I've never tried but it should work, and the U-40 should, as well.  Shellac is hard, but Varnish or U-40 will be tough and flexible.  

[Ron Mc]

any weathering application of a flexible fibrous material that will absorb the oils - bamboo fly rods, too - this one was made in 1915 

of course the name came from spars on sailing ships

[Richard Rios]

Hi all,

sorry for the off topic post. But since I noticed Peter M has become active on the list again I wanted to warn other members should he post items for sale in the future DO NOT buy from him as he will accept payment but not send you your items. Although other list members have had difficulty dealing with him ultimately they received their stuff. I and another list member were not so lucky. Forgive this interruption but I would like to be a small part of keeping ROB a safe and fun place to share ideas and buy goods from other like minded members.

Sincerely,
Richard

[drew]

looks like the intense draw of the rivendell group has brought him out of hiding.  somewhat insulted and shocked that he thinks he can just show up again. im not as diplomatic as Richard. Peter, you owe me money, man... a decent person would also include a sincere apology. 

sorry to be so off topic. needed to be said

[Ron Mc]

don't know him, but this is a post I dragged up from last year

[drew]

ah. well we are idiots. i do hope that he stays away. 

[Richard Rios]

Apologies didn't notice the date, but I will let the post stand just in case. I'd feel pretty bad if he pops back up and someone else is taken advantage of...

I really do like the varnish idea though as I put shellac on my cork grips and they did become hard and slippery. Keeping the grips nice and squishy plus waterproof is a fantastic idea. Not sure I personally have the patience for it though...

sincerely,
Richard