The old Dale Clemens brand of Crystal Coat Epoxy thread finish is about the only brand of two-part epoxy thread finish that can also be used as a final finish over both rod THREAD AND the rod BLANK. Klass Kote (kk) is the only other one currently available in fresh stock, as Tom Kirkman said above.
CRYSTAL COAT (CC) is very good as a rod finish, and will adhere well to a properly prepared rod blank's surface ***. It can be used as a final clear coat or it can be pigmented. I used a white pigment once, and it yellowed a bit after a couple of years. I think the white pigment didn't agree very well with the epoxy chemistry, causing the yellowing. However, I'm looking right now at a rod that I did nearly 20 years ago, and it still looks great. The clear coat of Crystal Coat that I used over the Gudebrod Regular Thread DARK BLUE (#246?) overwraps and the very-wide LEMON YELLOW (#6778?) underwraps has hardly dimmed. (Used Gudebrod Color Preserver.) I re-finished the (originally black) blank with the CC + black pigment and the CC has held fast to the rod blank over since. The brand of pigment I used was something sold thru Clemens old catalog (1985, page 37). It was something originally developed as a pigment for fiberglass surfboards & helmets. I can't say by experience which of the pigments available to you would work with the Crystal Coat you have.
If your stock of Crystal Coat is good, you can use that, mixed with your pigment. I applied the CC THINLY, with a quality natural bristle brush. Then I hung the rod blank VERTICALLY from the butt end. I think 2 coats is all it took, ~ 20 hours apart. Let cure at least 24 hours before building the handle. Better to wait up to 72 hours in case the pigment lengthens the cure time.
I had no problems with the CC finish running or not "leveling". It is not quite as smooth as glass, but it reflects light with only the slighest wave distortion. You have to get within 6" to even notice the imperfections and within 2" to see the non-uniformities of thickness that cause the imperfect light reflection. Looking straight-on, it is black, so it looks perfect and it totally opacified / obscured the blank beneath. This was the 7-foot forward section of an old 2-pc surf rod, the kind with a 8" of wooden foregrip tapered forward and turned to accept the male ferrule cap aft. The reel seat was ferruled, and the rear handle was 2' wooden.
It was very heavy, so your hands get tired. Work from the tip toward the butt. And as you go aft, if your hands get too tired, at some point you can rest just the very tip down on a hard table or hard floor to take off some of the weight from your hands as you continue applying the epoxy-pigment toward the butt. Then just carefully hang the rod from a string you have secured to the butt end from a swag hook in the ceiling and don't let any pet or any person touch any part of it for at least 12 hours. Check it by gently poking it with the tip of a toothpick, down near the butt end. If it doesn't indent, you'll be fine. But wait until ~ 20 hrs and test again before you apply the second coat. No scuffing required between coats. And no scuffing required when wrapping the guides with under- or over- wraps. I think the Crystal Coat has a pot-life of up to 30 minutes, so this is not a panic-speed job.
Just make sure you make a batch large enough for at least one full coat. Clemens said you could keep the left-over mixed epoxy in the freezer (32'F), and it would still be usable the next day. I know that it did work for me that way, and that helped to make sure I didn't run out on the first application, and to gauge how much I would need on the 2nd coat of pigmented rod finish. I used a small glass vial with a screw cap to reduce condensation when re-warming before re-use. Do make sure to re-stir it when warm and before the 2nd coat. I had only the least problem with bubbles. They caused most of the micro-imperfections in the light reflection, not the failure to brush over every square millimeter of rod blank surface. However, I am sure that trying to flame the few bubbles out would actually be such a monumental disaster that I highly recommend deep-sixing that idea. Remember, the entire blank could be marred with one little slip of your hand or even set on fire in just a fraction of a second.
Doug Moore (above) said: Yes, PermaGloss (PG) can be tinted with the solid / settled fraction of Testor's paints. (Pour off the oil / vehicle.)
*** FINALLY, if you haven't done so already, do yourself a favor. READ: ***
(1) LIBRARY: REFINISHING ROD BLANKS by Ralph O'Quinn. RMM-2(3).
Originally appeared in RodMaker Magazine, Volume 2, Issue # 3.
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www.rodbuilding.org]
(2) LIBRARY: SURFACE PREPARATION by Ralph O'Quinn. RMM-5(2).
Originally appeared in RodMaker Magazine, Volume 5, Issue # 2.
[
www.rodbuilding.org]
Best Wishes. Don't use Flex-Coat for a ROD finish. I think the polyurethanes, varethanes and spar varnishes are generally recommended as ROD blank finishes. SEACRH RBO to see for yourself. -Cliff Hall, Gainesville, FL-.
