30 days in...

[short-range]

Ok so I'm about 30 days into this journey of rod building and I will say lots of lessons learned.
First and foremost I am not a patient man but now I am learning!
Lessons learned so far
Have a plan
Take your time
Be patient
Be prepared
For me:
grip install and shaping - easy
Reel seat install - easy
spine alignment - easy
guide placement - moderate to easy
guide wrapping - moderate to difficult
guide wrap coating - difficult and downright frustrating

I have had more than a fair share of sand resand rinse and repeat on this guide coating I think I have gone through 2 bottles and still have not completed one rod haha FML!

I'm a perfectionist by nature and what is driving me crazy is these little pimples even on second and third coats so I am trying to figure out where the problem lies, I will find it but it's taking much longer than I expected.

I purchased the advanced custom rod building book and will start reading that as watching youtube videos it makes it look way easier than my experience.

I have taken many a tip from here so far and I am not giving up and will continue to charge forward.

Thanks for listening

 

[simmo13]

Looks nice. U must be a perfectionist which is fine. So am I.
Can’t see any issues on the rod where are the bubbles

 

[marlyn]

Are you flaming the finish a bit to remove bubbles?maybe apply more thinner coats.

 

[One_Leg]

Looks fine to me.

Black on black is difficult to photograph.

You are on the right track.

 

[short-range]

Are you flaming the finish a bit to remove bubbles?maybe apply more thinner coats.

Probably not enough

 

[SouthBayKiller]

Ok so I'm about 30 days into this journey of rod building and I will say lots of lessons learned.
First and foremost I am not a patient man but now I am learning!
Lessons learned so far
Have a plan
Take your time
Be patient
Be prepared
For me:
grip install and shaping - easy
Reel seat install - easy
spine alignment - easy
guide placement - moderate to easy
guide wrapping - moderate to difficult
guide wrap coating - difficult and downright frustrating

I have had more than a fair share of sand resand rinse and repeat on this guide coating I think I have gone through 2 bottles and still have not completed one rod haha FML!

I'm a perfectionist by nature and what is driving me crazy is these little pimples even on second and third coats so I am trying to figure out where the problem lies, I will find it but it's taking much longer than I expected.

I purchased the advanced custom rod building book and will start reading that as watching youtube videos it makes it look way easier than my experience.

I have taken many a tip from here so far and I am not giving up and will continue to charge forward.

Thanks for listening

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Let the first coat dry, cut the big pimples down flat with a sharp razor blade and apply a 2nd coat. The 2nd coat will hide the flat spots. The pimples are likely either from frayed thread or from dust. If it’s thread try to not burnish too hard and perhaps try a very light and quick pass with a clean flame to knock them down. If it’s dust it might just be your room and possibly HVAC blowing shit around.

BTW finish is the trickiest thing to learn and really you eventually learn that there is a point when you get to trying to make it perfect and you just F it up more. Learning to go light on the first few passes and really use the last coat to finish the edges and clean up everything has worked best for me. The quicker you get it on the dryer the better, as the more you move it around to “perfect it” the more lumpy it will end up being.

 

[plj46]

What epoxy and how's the temperature when you're coating the rods ? When it's cold I have problems.

 

[sealskinner]

Watch Saltydawgs youtube video on rod finish helped me a lot.

 

[7emptsT]

Looks pretty darn good to me, definitely better than I could do.

 

[short-range]

Let the first coat dry, cut the big pimples down flat with a sharp razor blade and apply a 2nd coat. The 2nd coat will hide the flat spots. The pimples are likely either from frayed thread or from dust. If it’s thread try to not burnish too hard and perhaps try a very light and quick pass with a clean flame to knock them down. If it’s dust it might just be your room and possibly HVAC blowing shit around.

BTW finish is the trickiest thing to learn and really you eventually learn that there is a point when you get to trying to make it perfect and you just F it up more. Learning to go light on the first few passes and really use the last coat to finish the edges and clean up everything has worked best for me. The quicker you get it on the dryer the better, as the more you move it around to “perfect it” the more lumpy it will end up b

finding this out the hard way haha

What epoxy and how's the temperature when you're coating the rods ? When it's cold I have problems.

Flex Coat but am liking the Generation 4
I am doing this in my garage so not idea right now temp wise
I have my Apls power wrapper there but picked up a CRB for my spare room where I can control the environment better

 

[skrilla]

How to get perfect finish, learn photoshop.

 

[Wendell Fox]

finding this out the hard way haha

Flex Coat but am liking the Generation 4
I am doing this in my garage so not idea right now temp wise
I have my Apls power wrapper there but picked up a CRB for my spare room where I can control the environment better

Some of your finishing problems might be coming from air bubbles coming to the surface from yor bottom wraps. If your triple wrapping, each layer of thread should have one coat of finish before proceeding to next thread layer. Gently slice off the most obvious bumps in the finish with particular attention to bumps and thread stick ups in the top wrap. Two thin coats on the top wrap is best. Cold winter temps prolong drying time. Applying rod finish successfully is one the most difficult parts of rod building for beginners.

 

[ssrmr2]

I have recently started to warm the epoxy prior to dosing and mixing. noticed more consistency when the wether is cooler like now. I am also building in the garage.
dust is a SOB. maybe i’m over killing it but I watch the winds and weather before epoxy

 

[TrixKelly]

Looks great keep up the work. Epoxy bubbles are handled with a small torch

 

[GClev]

I get the best results following the great tips at the Flex Coat site and keeping a clean work space with the temp in the room just above 70˚. Don't work in a room that is too hot, too cold, or too dusty. Your work area also needs good lighting. Even if you have great eyes, keep a magnifying glass handy.

To begin, use a short piece of blue masking tape like a tacking cloth on all the thread surfaces and remove all the skin cells and bits of dust. Like Flex Coat recommends for the first coat, thin the mix with acetone or MEK (I like 8-10 drops of MEK in a 8ml batch) and the Flex Coat will fully saturate the thread from top to bottom, clear to the blank, without any coating between wraps. Bubbles release easier too. Put on a bit too much of the thinned Flex Coat during the first coat, even if you want a lite thin coat in the end. When all the guides are coated, let the rod hang guides down for a few minutes until all the air is out of the guide feet. Inspect closely. If you see a bubble under a guide foot, pop with a needle. Shove the needle along the guide under the wrap if needed to release all the air. Then turn the rod over 180˚ and let it hang a few minutes with the guides up, until the excess Flex Coat is visibly sagging. Remove the excess with a brush. Let it hang a bit more and if it sags again, remove it with a brush. Now it's been totally saturated from tip to butt so start the slow spin on the dryer, hit the obvious bubbles with cool flame from an alcohol burner, and pick out the inevitable bits of lint with a dissecting needle. If you don't have a dryer use a cardboard box with V notches and rotate the rod every 10 minutes for the first hour and every 20 minutes for the next two. After three hours at 70˚, the finish is set, but leave the rod horizontal overnight.

Don't work the finish too long. Get in. Get it done. Get out. Like others wrote, fix small mistakes, bubbles, or lint with a blade tomorrow.

Perfect is the enemy of excellent.

Leon Todd, Yo Yoshida, and Flex Coat all recommended using CP thread from the beginning and no color preserver after the wrap.

 

[ED3]

Gen 4 finish works best for me, small bubbles and dust is always something to watch for and address no matter how clean your environment is or what brand of finish you are using.
I find going back with a heat gun after about 20 minutes of the rod on the dryer works well in most situations for me.

 

[short-range]

Thanks to a lot of great advice here I had a bit of a breakthrough this morning.
I was trying to paint a Picasso with the resin before and was trying to figure out why I see in so many photos the rod wrappers looking a bit sloppy with resin haha, well I have found how to better apply the resin, and yep gets a bit sloppy but seems to apply and flow much better.

 

[GClev]

I have my Apls power wrapper there but picked up a CRB for my spare room where I can control the environment better

I just received the new CRB Pro Gen 2 kit. As shipped, it sucks. I hope you bought the hand wrap system or just the dryer. I'll list my complaints in another thread for discussion.