Final round up of the Rod Building Weekend

[Lucky_Phill]

Hey Stui,

Here's a couple of questions about rod building, just thoughts.

1. Can you / is it advisable to epoxy the whole rod before any binding takes place ?

2. Can you ' sand' a rod blank prior to the abovementioned epoxy

3. When I said I was about to ' varnish ' the rod, could I use expoy or does it have to be varnish. Just my way of thinking is that varnish is a ' single " system and ' epoxy ' is a 2 pack ' system. In the painting game ( that's me ) we rarely combine the two different systems.

4. If I can epoxy the whole rod, can you sand in between coats ?



Thanks

Phill

[roz]

Have a question for you Stu.

I've been using Speed brand rod varnish, for the parts not covered by epoxy, and it's not lasting more than a half dozen or so trips out before it begins to wear off.

Is there a better product on the market? or should I be painting on sealer before applying the varnish.

roz

[DR]

Hi Roz. i personally would not use the varnish, it will end up looking like the old yellow beach rod that everyone has in their shed, the one with all the brown varnish peeling off that is really ugly..
best left with factory finish. if you have to do it you can use the same epoxy as on the guides, but apply really thinly, been years since i did it, but you can thin it with something, i'm sure Stuart will know.
if you cannot thin,i applied epoxy with the same bristle brush you use to apply to the guides, pour epoxy on to an ice cream lid ( i covered lid with foil first) give a hit with gas bottle or hair dryer untill thin, brush sparingly onto blank, then (carefully)using heat on to the blank try & basically wipe off with the brush what you have just put on. you should end up with a very thin coat of epoxy on the blank.
clear as mud..
probably a better way these days, but this will work.
cheers

[stuart]

Phill,

I wouldn’t coat the whole rod before binding takes place, would be more trouble than what it’s worth. You can sand a blank providing it hasn’t already been sanded by the factory, you will know because a factory sanded blank will be nice and smooth with a very good paint job to boot. Don’t ever use Varnish, its hideous stuff that lasts about two trips before turning a nice dog shit brown. On your particular rod Phill M10 spaghetti rod, coat the whole thing and DON’T sand in between coats, no need to mate.

Stu

[stuart]

Roz

Don’t use any other product other than epoxy based one’s. Varnish is a particularly nasty product that can make your week long love affair with your new fang dangled art piece look like a lame dog has just taken a dump on it. Avoid it at all costs especially if there are lame dogs hanging around. I don’t see the need to epoxy the whole length of a rod if it’s very light like the one you have built Roz, it can add unnecessary weight and dampen the whole rods feel.

Stu

[roz]

I wasn't contemplating varnish on the Samurai.

I've got a few Shakespear Uglies (another type of spaghetti) that have long lost their shiny black factory finish, and it is shedding very fine fibreglass splinters, so I need to stabilize them with a coat of something. Sorry I didn't give enough info in the first place.



Dave,

I've heard Iso-Propyl Alchol (from my lab days) used at between 10-20%, can dilute epoxy. I've never tried to do it, only ever used it to sterilize stuff.

[Lucky_Phill]

Thanks Stu,

The Phill M10 Spagetti Rod ( ) will recieve a ' thin ' coat of epoxy next. I want to clean the rod up prior to doing so, that is remove any hand oils, masking tape residue etc. A wipe over with a rag touched in metho ? does that sound OK ?

Phill

[stuart]

Thats fine Phill, just make sure the cloth you use doesnt leave to much fiber behind.

Stu

[stuart]

Roz

Now I have the info you shouldn’t use epoxy coating to stabilize these broken fibres. It won’t harden enough to offer any real benefit in terms of strengthening the fibre or laminate that has detached. Use the automotive clear two pack finish. You will need to apply several coats to bring the blank back to new. It’s important before I forget to put one coat on and let site over night before giving it light sand with 800 wet and dry then give it around two or three more coats over the next three days.

Stu

[shayned]

Finally finished the rod pretty much. I'll probably still add some letraset for rod blank details when I get a minute. I had an idea for the butt wrap which turned out pretty much ok, thanks to Angus Jack - Tony for helping with the printing and actually understanding what I was trying to explain. As I said it almost worked maybe the next time I'll sort the the couple of niggles.

I cheated a little with the epoxy, I've been lucky enough to meet a bloke who is an absolute nutter for rods (in a good way) and his collection probably desrves 6 0r 7 pages on the thread "Have I got a problem" all to itself, but he was good enough to keep a weather eye out as I epoxied the rod up, he also pointed out the traps and pitfalls before I could find them myself and showed me a couple of techniques to help get a better finish, he also threw it on his drying machine, god love him, as a one year old trying to help at home and hand turning a rod to dry don't mix. So thats the next thing to organise for the workshop, a drying machine, it will be very handy.

I'll attach some photos and as I said before thanks to all for the help and advice.
Regards,
Shayned

[shayned]

another butt of CALDAD 06

[shayned]

Runners

[shayned]

runners

[shayned]

Runners

[shayned]

And finally the rod's owner, young Callum, I may have to break it in for him a little bit first though. All in all for a first go, I reckon it's not too shabby.
Cheers