16ga.com ~ View topic - Cork wads

Does anyone have a good method of making cork wads from sheet or plugs of cork? I have access to a small supply of both...

best way to make cork or fiber wads

https://www.mcmaster.com/arch-punches

Member Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 2346 Location: West MI

Then chucked in a drill press on med speed set to kiss the surface of a piece of plastic (HDPE high den polyethylene [plastic cutting board] works best) makes short work of it. 5/8" & 16mm for loose OSC's & 11/16" or 17mm for tight fitting wads.

Clean the shop vac out pretty well then position the open hose near the where the cutting is going on helps collect the disk's as they jump out of the punch.

Here's an old 16 ga. punch for making wads out of sheet felt and osc's.
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Thank you gentlemen. I have been using pair of cheap punches in 5/8 & 17mm with limited success. Have looked for a good arch punch (I have 10 & 12 gauge) with no luck so the link to McMaster is much appreciated.

Any ideas on slicing stoppers cleanly. I tried fine-tooth saws but no good...

Member Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 2346 Location: West MI

Not familiar with the term "stoppers"; what are they?

Like the cork thing used to close a bottle of wine.

@ duckdup -- Slicing Stoppers (wine bottle corks). I have found some wine bottle corks work great in original diameter as 10 gauge filler/cushion wads. I slice them with a really sharp new X-Acto or utility knife blade. Single edged razor blades work well, too. It is putzy work -- you gotta wanna. If you think you really need a lot of cork wads, and can't stand the potential for sore or bloody fingers, either buy them, or punch them out of cork sheet with a bridge punch or some other device as mentioned above on this thread. I suppose one could build a fixture to hold and safely slice wine corks. Talk to byrdog on this site. Once sliced, they still need to be cut to diameter for the 16 or whatever.

Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 603 Location: Victoria BC Canada

I use 1/8" gasket cork sheets, available from your auto parts dealer. You can get arch punch diameter tables to aid in selecting the right one. I found 16 ga. easy to find, but twelve is another matter.

Picture framers will have scrap card material (1/16") for O/P wads, and waxed paper milk containers make the best O/S wads.

Cheaply?
Arch punches from northern tool or harbor freight. Quality wise, might not be as good as the ones BD suggested.
Buyer beware....

Member Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 2346 Location: West MI

Duhhh

Maybe take a PVC ratcheting tube cutter and sharpen the blade a bit more refined. If needing super thin cork I use the punch on sheet as suggested.

AND if you do not have the time for all this work
look at the products from CircleFly

https://circlefly.com/products

An example, you can get 500 1/2 inch fiber wads for $12

Lots of good ideas. Thanks.

Testing some methods this weekend. I ordered the premium arch punch.

I do purchase circle fly wads for every day loading.

However, I have about a cubic yard of whiskey & wine corks; hate to waste anything that might be reused...