Tom, What a story this would make for the Goof Up site on the rodmakers list. LOL Here are a few things that you can do if you are not satisfied with the epoxy on the wraps. If the epoxy has set and not hardened it can be removed with Denatured Alcohol. Wet a paper towel with the alcohol, wipe the wrap as it turns. It may take some effort depending on how much it has set. You can remove most of the epoxy and what is left will smooth out. To get a good finish, apply the first coat of Epoxy, as the rod is turning, wipe the first coat off with a little pressure on the wrap. This helps the epoxy soak into the wraps, smooth the thread and burst bubbles. If you have tipping wraps, care should be taken not to unravel them. Then apply the second coat before or after the epoxy sets. I find that this is about all I need on the wraps to get a nice finish. If you want a deeper finish apply another coat. Tom, now for your question, Here is what I have done with good results. Yes, I do goof up too. Take a new (sharp) single edge razor blade. Scrape off the pregnant bumps and bad spots till they are where you want them. You can actually scrape down to the threads but I don't recommend doing that unless you have a real steady hand. Try to scrape the epoxy pretty even all around the wrap. It don't really take too long to do a rod. When you are satisfied that you have done the best you can on removal of the bumps and goof ups, wipe the wraps with damp denatured alcohol towel and apply a coat of thinned Epoxy while the rod is turning. I do my thinning with Denatured alcohol. It only takes a few drops in the mix. This will clear up the cloudy surface left by the scraping. It might take you an hour or so but will feel a lot better about the rod. If not sure about doing this, try it on a junk rod or just the worst wrap on your rod. One thing about the epoxy not setting up. I found when I try to mix small amounts I have had the same problem. It seems that in small amounts I just don't get the perfect mix of epoxy and hardener. The second problem is that the mix is not mixed enough. Look at the mix, if you can see lines in the mix, it is not mixed enough. Be sure to mix all of the hardener with the epoxy. Sometimes one of the parts might be on the side of the mixing vessel and is missed. This will change the mix and not be am even mixture. I stir for at least two minuets with a dubbing needle. The dubbing needle makes an great tool to apply the epoxy. Stir slow and try not to create bubbles. I would rather throw away some of the mix than hassle epoxy that don't harden. Here is a tip on getting a smooth finish. After I apply the epoxy to three or four sets of wraps, I use an old hair dryer to blow warm air on the wraps. The dryer is held below the wraps an about a 45* angle on low speed and medium heat at about 6 to 8 inches. Clean the area of feathers, sawdust, thread and anything else that will add some new words to your vocabulary. Only hold on the wraps for about 5 seconds. This warms the epoxy, makes it flow better. It also warms the air in the bubbles and makes them burst. If held too long, the epoxy gets too thin and the air will create waves in the epoxy. It will also tend to run. When applying the epoxy ( I do the whole rod at one time) the epoxy may start to thicken if you are taking too long to get it applied. Just add a drop or two of denatured alcohol to the mix and it will thin out. It has been a long time since we have gotten together, maybe the show will come back to SLC and I will tie there again. Consider coming to the Sowbug, I will have a chair for you. I will quit here, getting long winded. Tony [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tom Davenport wrote: > Last year I built my third rod, using a Scott SAS blank. I was > determined to improve on the other two, and spent a lot of time getting > the wraps perfect, adding highlights, buying a REC burled madrone reel > seat and just trying to make it a pretty rod. > > When building my first rod I let the Epoxy build up too much, so with > this one I tried to use it sparingly on each wrap. When it set up and > I examined it I found a few places where it was too thin and the thread > wraps were showing. So I decided to add another thin layer, and this > is when all hell broke loose. The second layer didn't cure. I talked > to several people to get options for a fix, some said try to get it all > off with Epoxy cleaner, others said "Just put on another thin third > coat, and it will cure. So I added the third coat. All of the wraps > looked good after a few hours so I decided to clean up the work bench > while it was rotating. There was some thread scattered about that I > lined up neatly on the wall opposite the rod. I didn't notice that a > stray thread from one of the rolls had fallen over a wrap and was > quietly spooling as the rod turned! It had made ten rotations around > the rod when I finally spotted it and pulled the plug. I pulled on the > thread to get it to unwind from the rod, but pulled too hard and the > rod jumped from the drying base and fell, wet and sticky, onto the > workbench where the epoxy gathered up stray sawdust left from a > previous sawing job! So I really had a mess. I picked out the > sawdust, tried to smooth out the tacky epoxy as much as possible and > mixed up my fourth batch of epoxy for touch up. The third coat cured > well, but the fourth (touch up jobs) didn't. > > At this point I gave up and decided to give it a week and see if the > tacky spots would dry. Of course they didn't, so now, a year later, my > rod has some really ugly spots on some of the wraps, not to mention > several "pregnant" wraps from too many coats of epoxy. > > Now, this has become my favorite rod. I love the action and the way it > fishes, but keep wishing I could fix those wraps. Can it be done? Or > should I just be happy to have a rod that is a reflection of its owner: > Ugly, beat up, but functional? > > And one last question: The REC reel seat is finished with matt > polyurethane. I would prefer a glossy finish. Would a coat of gloss > poly do the trick? > > Tom Davenport
