I have a new blank that has a bunch of uneven, spiral ridges in it.Is this from the manufacturing process? Should I sand these down to smooth out the blank?

Martin,
If the ridges are not uniform I am not sure what you have. After a blank is taken out of the oven and the tape is stripped off there will be a spiral ridges all of the way up the blank that is caused by the over lapping of the tape. But on every one that I have seen the ridges are pretty uniform. If that is what you have then yes you can sand it down being careful not to sand into the graphite fibers. These ridges are just resin and are usually sanded off by the manufacturer. If the ridges are not uniform though I do not know what to tell you. Maybe someone else will jump in with the answer.

Be very careful if you do sand these, particularly near the tip. You only have about 1 to 1.5 mil thickness before you'll be into the graphite fibers. Some companies allow for this when making blanks that they know they'll be sanding before painting or finishing. Some do not. Either way, go easy on the tip as there is little margin for error there. Back your sandpaper with a sanding block and when you start seeing black residue coming off - you've gone far enough.

If we're talking about a large diameter, heavy walled surf blank, then of course you have a little more room to play with before you'd actually hurt anything.

.............

You have an unsanded blank, usually obtained very inexpensively from various sources.

I stock these blanks and build them up as "guest " rods, or rods for kids.

No, I would not sand the blank. Save yourself the time and trouble and build the blank as is. The spiral ridges mean that there is a slight excess of material there that was designed to be sanded off. It does not detract from the performance of the rod, In fact, on the contrary, the extra thickness may give the underlying fibers a little more protection. Besides, if you sand the material off you'll have to recoat it with somethig or you'll have a dull look to its texture.

Shakespeare use to sell many of their rods like this, built on unsanded blanks.

Lou

Martin Ferral - If you sand it, or if it needs to be coated afterwards, or if it was unfinished to begin with, then read these articles before sealing the blank. Sanding too much, or using too coarse a grit, or using standard thread finish to coat the blank will give you problems. Save yourself some time later by referring to these first. This a part of the hidden cost of using unfinished blanks - you can leave it raw or finish it.

(1) LIBRARY: REFINISHING ROD BLANKS by Ralph O'Quinn. RMM-2(3).
Originally appeared in RodMaker Magazine, Volume 2, Issue # 3.
[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]

Hi,

I know that this topic has been discused before but I'm unable to find anything doing a search so I'll ask. I have always stayed away from any type of sandpaper on a blank. I use the finer gray pads for the water break surface and the coarser gray pad for other purposes. What would be the best medum to use to remove excess material from a unsanded blank? If sandpaper is ok to use what grit would you suggest?

Thanks
Hank