hey guys, just finished my second rod. its a 6'6" ul g. loomis. came out beautiful, put the final coat of epoxy on thursday afternoon. it is now completely dry to the touch but was wondering how long i should wait before i break her in. i appreciate your help. i've heard anywhere up to 2 weeks. let me know!! i want to use my new toy! thx again
aaron

Hi Aaron,

I like to go 48 - 60 hours before using, and caution should be used not to get to ruff with it.

Thanks Cliff

Hank
On The Rocks Fishing
Wells, ME.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2005 03:42PM by Milton (Hank) Aldridge.

Wait about 2 or 3 days. Waiting for 2 weeks should not be necessary. I'm sure Hank means 48-60 HOURS, not minutes.

This assumes the rod is at a room temperature of at least ~ 62 degrees Fahrenheit continuously. If the rod is stuck someplace any colder than that to finish curing, then for each 10 degrees F below 65F, ADD at least an entire 24 HOURS to the longer recommendation of 3 days needed for curing at the "normal" room temperatures of 65F-75F.

Obviously, for a one-piece rod under 7.5ft long, bringing the rod into some heated part of the house is usually not a problem. But for a one-piece surf pole of 9-12ft, then it may get relegated to an unheated space for curing, and that could easily take a week to cure properly for a winter-time project. If the curing temperature is near freezing 32F, then, yes, 2 WEEKS may not be unreasonable. But that doesn't seem to be your case.

Temperature affects the rate of ALL molecular motion (such as mixing and viscosity), chemical reactions (such as epoxy polymerizations for coatings and adhesives) and rates of vaporization for volatile solvents (such as drying times (for paints and varnishes). A 20F drop in temperature will reduce the rate of most reactions by at least 50% if not 65%. So, if it takes 24 hours at 72F, it takes at least 48 hrs at 52F. But at 32F, it would take 96 hrs. At that point, I would say that it is easier to devise a way to bring a rod inside and hang it horizontally along a ceiling than trust a freezing temperature cure, because most rod-building chemicals were not designed to cure properly below ~ 52F. -Cliff Hall, Gainesville, FL- .

We can thank a scientist named Arrhennius for developing the equations that describe the dependence of a rate of reaction on temperature and activation energy. And thank Boltzman for his Boltzman's Distribution of kinetic energy , which describes how a liquid with a temperature below it's boiling point can evaporate. -Cliff Hall-

Aaron,
What I have been doing, and I have seen it mentioned on the board by others, is to leave a sample of the epoxy you used for your wraps on a piece of foil, in a mixing cup, etc... leave it in the same environment in which the rod is stored while waiting for it to cure. Then you can use your fingernail to press into the sample. When you can't dent it anymore, your wraps are "cured".