Does Al soak the rattan prior to wrapping on the cork?
(Joe Byrd) Before I gave rattan grips a try myself, I asked Al about soaking. He said he tried it once, but the rattan wanted to turn unsightly shades of gray after soaking, so he gave that up. Since then, I’ve done a couple “trial,” rattan grips without soaking. I think wrapping the rattan is going to be a little tedious no matter how you go about it, but even so, it’s not really such a big deal. Anyhow, I can’t imagine that the soaking process would make anything appreciably easier. (Bill Harms) I’ve helped my wife make several baskets using the rattan. Soaking the rattan for about 15 minutes in a bucket of water, patting it dry, and then wrapping makes for much easier bending of the rattan. Tight radius turns, such as at the front of the grips shown in the Web site, can cause splits to come off the dry rattan. The soaked stuff will bend through an amazingly tight curve without breaking or splitting. I haven’t tried wrapping rattan around a cork grip, but I have made several fishing
