- By Ralph O'Quinn
(This article orginally appeared in RodMaker Magazine)
There are various methods for refinishing rod blanks. In my work as
an epoxy finish/adhesive formulator, I have discovered a better and
safer method than what is commonly used by many rod builders.
People have been trying to refinish rod blanks with the epoxy resin
marketed for thread finishes almost as long as thread finish epoxy has
been on the market. That is about 30 years. I saw my first such attempt
by a would-be rod maker about 25 years ago. It was one hell of a mess!
In the ensuing 25 years I have seen many hundreds more, and they all
have one thing in common; they too are one hell of a mess.
In my rod repair business, it seems that I often have a rod that some
guy tried to refinish with a thread finish epoxy. Finally in disgust
he gets the rod to me for clean up and refinish. This will cost him a
minimum of fifty bucks, unless he wants me to remove and replace the
guides, in which case it will run closer to a hundred and fifty bucks.
I repeat, "this just ain't no way to refinish a rod". WHY? Because
all you get is one hell of a mess. The epoxies sold as thread finish on
rods, are really casting resins. They are not coatings in the
technical sense of the word, and will not perform like a coating. A
coating is what you need to apply when refinishing a rod. Coatings or
paints, all have one thing in common; they contain some sort of a
thinning agent known as a solvent. The purpose of the solvent is to
give some flow and make the coating wet the surface to which it is
applied. Wetting is very important to the performance of any coating.
If it doesn't wet, it doesn't stick. Thread finish epoxies simply do
not wet properly and therefore they simply do not stick to the blank
properly. Add a solvent, and this non-wetting characteristic will be
improved somewhat, depending upon what solvent you add, and how much.
On every rod that has come into my hands after some guy tried to
refinish the blank with a thread finish epoxy, I was able to remove
most of the crud with my thumbnail. Is this is the kind of coating
that you want on your rod?
A previous article suggests that you "dip your finger into the standard
wrap epoxy and rub it onto the blank." Before any of you do this it
may be wise to take a look at the warning on the bottle of standard
wrap epoxy that you are using. It says something about eye and skin
irritation. It warns you to wash with copious amounts of soap and
water, in case of eye or skin contact. Be sure and wipe your eye with
the same finger that you dip into the resin mix! (Just kidding, DON'T
DO IT!!!) There is a good reason for warning you to avoid contact with
the epoxies and hardeners. There are some people out there who are
highly allergic to the touch, even the smell of resins and amines
(epoxy hardeners). Those who are allergic, are usually aware of their
condition, but some are not so aware of it, and dipping their finger in
epoxy is a rather rude way of finding out.
If you are working with a graphite rod, please be advised that the rod
is held together by a heat curing epoxy. After the blank is cured and
sanded, it is then coated with a coating that is intended to protect
the epoxy, and also give it some shine and allure so it will sell. This protective coating is never an epoxy, and should never, ever be
removed from the rod. Never sand down to the bare graphite if it can
be avoided. When refinishing an older graphite rod, one that has seen
much service, this cannot always be avoided. You are bound to expose
the graphite in some areas, but keep those areas to a minimum. It is
not true that these areas can merely be re-epoxied as they already
consist of a much better epoxy than any that you can possibly apply. However the very fact that you exposed graphite fibers has in itself
damaged the rod. Do not under any circumstances, sand these exposed
areas. Do not under any circumstances wipe these exposed areas with
acetone. Acetone will wash away more of the epoxy resin that is
holding the graphite fibers together, further damaging the rod. Never
wipe a sanded rod blank with any solvent other than one of the
alcohols, or soap and water.
When working with graphite keep foremost in your mind that this rod is
composed of thousands of fibers, all of which run parallel along the
rod from butt to tip. These fibers are carbon and as fine as the finest
hair and they are held together with a heat curing epoxy resin, which
is a far superior structural system then any room curing epoxy that you
are able to replace it with. Any time that I sand or otherwise remove
or damage one of these fibers, I have essentially damaged the rod
accordingly. Acetone will leach out the epoxy resin binder, and leave
the rod badly damaged wherever it comes into contact with the graphite.
Fiberglass rods are another story. There is no epoxy involved with
fiberglass rods. They are made from Polyester resin impregnated glass
cloth, sanded and coated with a protective coating like the graphite.
Some of them are not sanded before applying the protective coating.
These are usually known as rough outs. A fiberglass rod can stand
considerably more surface abuse and mistreatment than its counterpart
graphite. Since the glass fibers are a woven cloth, local exposure of
the fibers does not impose the same degree of damage to the overall rod
as it does with graphite. However, Acetone will leach out the
polyester resins and ruin the rod if exposed. Avoid acetone on any rod
anywhere at any time - just to be safe. Acetone is really not hurting
a rod with its original factory applied protective coating intact. What Acetone is hurting is the bare epoxy resin in graphite rods, and
the bare polyester resin in fiberglass rods which are holding the rod
together underneath the outer protective coating.
So just how do I refinish a rod blank? Before you even consider the
refinishing, you must take care of the preparation. Preparing an old
rod for refinishing, does not come easy. Certainly not as easy as just
sanding it with 400 and 600 sandpaper and slapping on some epoxy resin.
Most rods that really need a refinishing operation are in the low to
medium price range, and did not have a top grade protective coating
applied on the blank at the factory. High grade blanks, those in the
$150 and up range, seldom ever need a refinish job, because the coating
applied at the factory was top notch and will stand up to the elements
much better than their cheaper associates. There are exceptions to
this. There are good blanks manufactured by good companies who simply
do not understand coating technology, and put poor coatings on good
blanks. But they are in the minority.
Most coatings are a derivative of a Urethane, or an Acrylic, usually a
Urethane compound, although Alkyd Ureas are still used extensively.
Each manufacturer has his own favorite, and most of them guard their
secret most zealously. They are universally applied by dipping the
blank into a tank of finish. Usually, depending upon the coating
technology, the blank is wiped by withdrawing it through foam or soft
rubber which wipes off the excess resin. This leaves a very thin
coating, less than a mil (l mil equals one, 1 thousandths of an inch.
ie: .001 in.) Some coatings are then air dried and some are baked in
an oven. It is those that are air dried that more likely to attract
your attention for refinishing.
Probably what attracted your attention was that the coating is starting
to peel. Repeated flexor and exposure to sun has taken its toll. So
you figure on prettying up the rod by adding a new paint job. Remember
now, you want to apply a new coating to the blank. You do not want to
apply new resin to the structure of the rod. If you take 400 grit
sandpaper and judiciously start sanding away, you will be removing
most, if not all, of the resin that covers the outer fibers. The outer
fibers are the main structure of any rod. First try your thumb nail on
the loose particles. You will be surprised how much you can remove with
this handy little tool. Also this will show you the difference between
the coating and the resin. Keep in mind that you want to remove the
coating and preserve as much of the resin as possible. I have a set of
soft steel scalpels on which I rounded the edges with 600 grit paper,
so that they are quite dull and will not cut into anything, including
my fingers. I use them to gently scrape finishes and it doesn't bother
the underlying coating. Sometimes it is best to use something softer. Try a common plastic picnic knife; they work surprisingly well. Another good tool is a piece of split bamboo. It has sharp edges and
will scrape off finishes, but is not hard enough to mar the underlying
resin.
When all of the loose finish is removed, abrade the entire rod surface
with Scotchbrite type F. That is the gray color about the same grit as
0000 steel wool. This will clean and remove surface shine from the
resin under the removed coating, but it will not remove the resin
itself, nor will it dig into the fibers such as sandpaper will do. Don't worry about handling it with your bare hands. Surfaces that are
this porous are not going to be contaminated by your hands, providing
that they are reasonably clean. Take an alcohol dampened (not
saturated) rag and wipe the entire blank. You are doing this to remove
loose pieces of removed finish, and abraded resin, not to clean it from
greases or contaminations. Either Isopropyl (rubbing alcohol) or
Denatured alcohol will do the job.
If this is the first time that you have tried to refinish a rod, then
you probably better leave the guides on, even though you can only get a
half-*** job this way. The only way to do a first class job is to
remove the guides and have the blank completely free and clear of all
impediments. However removing a guide and the resultant clean up in
the guide area is another lengthy article in itself; too lengthy to go
into at this point. Working with the guides on is a real handicap. You are constantly chipping away at the windings; there is a real
problem at the edge of each winding where it is very difficult to
properly remove the finish without cutting into them. Then, what do
you do with that area underneath each guide, between the windings? These problems must be resolved on an individual basis. If you do very
many refinish jobs, you will soon learn that complete removal of the
guides is the only to go. It is easy to reapply the guides, because
you have a nice new blank to work on; it is another story to remove
them properly.
Now for putting something back on. The Urethanes are your best bet,
but not just any urethane. Do not use the Varathanes, or any oil
modified urethane. You are better off just using a good spar varnish. Get a good two-part urethane, and follow the instructions on the can. It will give you a life-long coating. I always use Permagloss, because
it does the job so magnificently and I have plenty of it. It is a
moisture curing urethane, tough as nails, and will stay water white
forever.
A very good coating to try if you have the wherewithal and intend to do
more than one blank is a good automotive clear coat. Not the kind that
you buy in an aerosol can, but the kind that comes in two or three
parts and you have to mix before using. They are very expensive, and
are an excellent coating. I have never used anything sold in an
aerosol can that was worth a damn. The only epoxy that I am aware of
that is worth trying is the old Clemens Crystal Coat (or the newer
Klass Kote offered via their link on the rodbuilding.org board). Some
of the automotive epoxy coatings are probably worth a try, (not the
ones that come in an aerosol can) but I have never used them so I can't
speak from experience. Crystal Coat was sold as a thread coating but
it contained a solvent, like all good coatings, and does a fairly good
job as a rod coating. It doesn't tend to turn brown, has pretty fair
adhesion, and gives the rod a nice luster if you use several coats. I
still prefer the urethanes, but if you are set on an epoxy for your
coating, then give Klass Kote a try. Whatever you decide to use for a
coating, please do not use any of the standard wrap epoxies that are
intended to coat your threads.
We haven't even mentioned the myriad of rods out there that are painted
dazzling colors. Eagle Claw is one brand that comes to mind. There
must be hundreds of thousands of those bright orange (or is it yellow)
sticks out there. Refinishing these rods is something else again, and
you usually wind up with a different colored rod. Lets not go into it
at this time, we can save it for another article. We have enough to
ponder over on these pages.
~Ralph O’Quinn
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