Have been using Glass Coat for about 8 months to cover butt wraps. I just tried to remove an A Guidebod underwrap from a rod that is about 6 months old.

I have rebuilt a number of class 50 and 80 rods that were quite old and really had no problem picking at the thread and finding a starting place and simply unwinding the thread which normally just pulls through the finish. I am assuming that the old finish was mostly Flexcoat. It was still partially flexible and allowed the thread to be easily removed.

Getting the thread off the blank with the Glass Coat is a formidable task. The stuff is hard as rock and you can not unwind the thread without breaking. Heating seems to help a little but not much. If you are doing repairs plan on spending more time than usual to remove wraps when they are finished with Glass Coat. I have not stripped any guides that were done with Glass Coat as yet. I hope the stuff can be removed with out damaging blanks.

Gon Fishn

Glass Coat and high build LS are my go-to finishes these days. Great products but each is quite a bit different from the other.

How about removing wraps where Aftcote was used. Any experience out there? My recent "comedy of errors" rod turned out to have a ferrule/guide wrap around 4 degrees off. I really thought I checked alignment - but it is getting more difficult with progressive lenses.

Will want to travel with the rod on Sept 25th, and thought I'd wait until winter, but will change now if it will be easier to remove the epoxy now (four days old) rather than later.

Jeff Shafer

Aftcote seems a little soft to me. I don't think that it would cause any problems but it tends to peel off pretty easily if you do want to remove it.

Jeff: Dump the progressives, at least with the lines, I can tell which one of my three lenses I'm looking through!

One of the positive points about professional grade Glass Coat is its durability.
Finishes aren't designed for easy removal. They're designed to offer lifetime thread protection and can only do that by being "tough." Finishes that are easy for builders to remove generally don't do a very good job staying on the rod over the long haul.

Rich Garbowski

That is why I use it Rich. If it came of easy, I would figure it ain't stickin

Rich got me hooked on it and I use it for all my saltwater rods.
You can get it in large bottles.

Hio, Coach.....Are you fishing cold water or warm water in the salt? I have a request to do some work for a pacific northwest rodster...where the air temp will be in the 50's F, and the water temp relative.
I'd normally use another product, but over the winter months, glass coat's my friend, as it sets up faster than the other resins I use, when the WX warms up some.
For others reading: feel free to come in with your opinions regarding Galss Coat for use in salt conditions, warm or cold. Thanks in advance (TIA) KD