Machining cork!

Can anybody tell me how to make a cork, into a smaller cork please? I have tried (with little expectation of success) turning with various shapes of tool; and assorted abrasives . All I got was a lot of cork dust and less corks! Some time back I made a working model Archimedes screw, with two wooden tanks (see album ). The upper tank has a drain made from 3/8" copper pipe, but I have nothing to plug it with, that doesn't leak, other than a piece of Plasticine. Not elegant. I'm sure I have seen corks this small but I have so far not found one. Any ideas please?

Regards Maurice

Turn one out of balsa wood?

Hi Maurice,

I you have ever used some silicone sealant the tapered nozzle that is on the tube always has some left over sealant inside that sets inside , pull it out and you have a tapered plug of silicone ,cut it as required to form a suitable silicone cork.

John

Cant help with making corks to size,but if and when you succeed, a light smear of vaseline will waterproof the cork.

Freeze it... ?

Have a look here

Tapered Cork Stoppers

(Also lists Silicone and Neoprene rubber versions)

Edited By Nick Hughes on 04/03/2019 20:14:00

Have a look online at methods of shaping cork fishing rod handles - lots of advice and videos etc.

Thanks gents. Moulding in silicon sounds good to me. I,ll give it a try.

Maurice

Hi Maurice,

Please see thread **HERE** .Seventh post.

Regards
Dias Costa

Hi Maurice,

Moulding a silicone bung sounds a good idea. If that doesn't work try a scientific supply company. Rubber bungs are made from a small end diameter of a millimeter or so to huge (>100mm).

Regards,

Alan

High speed and sandpaper, if required, glue sandpaper to a flat block of wood.
BobH

Grind it. With a dremel and sanding drums works really well. The use a vacuum cleaner to keep the dust to a minimum.

Thank you for all your help. I think I will try bringing it down to size and tapered using a Dremel and finishing it with the sandpaper glued to wood idea; I'll tell you how I get on. May take a week or so. Other stuff to do!

Regards Maurice

Razer blada mounted vertically. Feed slowly and run the lathe fast. Essentially you take small slices from the face of the cork to full depth required. Either Geo Thomas or more probably Tubal Cain described this eons ago. Works on rubber too.

Martin

Maurice, have not read all the reply so apologies if I'm repeating but grinding is the way to go or abrasive paper, fishing rod handles are profited in this way, first by grinding a profile then fine finishing by hand with wet & dry paper. The cork shives are glued onto the blank and are quite large compared to the finished unit hence the grinding.

Regards John