I had previous built a rod and changed the color to white. I had a very hard time getting the color to hold along the tip of the rod. I had spoken with two different individuals about the problem. The second person I spoke with said that I needed to dip the blank into a clear coat like polyeurthene to make the gloss stay and that prevented the thread from cutting up the paint. The problem is that the tip didn't want to hold and kept letting the thread cut through. I redid the tip several times and finally thought that I had it figured out, but once I expoxied the rod the paint bubbled up through the thread and the rod looked wet. This rod was for a retirement gift and due to the time factor it was presented. I told the individual that I would replace the rod as soon as I found out a good method to changing the color of the rod. What is a good method to changing the color of a blank and what type of paint to use? I was told to use any type and someone else said to use expoxy paint. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Çheck the online library here for the article on blank refinishing. You can just tint the coating to get the color and gloss all in one step. A urethane is one of the better type finishes you can use for a blank coating. Various tints and pigments are available. Testors model paint (use the pigment that has settled to the bottom of the jar) or the TAP pigments, or even gel coat pigments.

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

I spray my blanks with two ( dust ) coats of Plasti-kote auto paint. just enough to cover the blank. After it is dry I coat with clear. The first coat is put on (very ) fast in order to coat and seal the color. Then check for dust and such and recoat one or two more times.I wipe clear on with a cheese cloth
Sounds like you may have put to much paint on, or used enamel that is too thick and was not fully dried.
After I scoff with a fine pad, the gray one, I dust the paint on. Like said, just enough to cover the blank. After dry, a very fast wipe of permagloss or Minwax urethane which is hard. Have to let things ( dry well )

I have sanded and painted several unsanded rod blanks with good success. I had problems with thread digging into the paint and I found that if I let the paint cure for a week or so, it would harden up and the thread would not dig in to the paint. Letting it cure longer may help what you are having problems with too.

I am guessing that the spray paints off the shelf take a bit longer to cure and harden than something that would be sprayed on in a body shop.

I have sanded and painted several unsanded rod blanks with good success. I had problems with thread digging into the paint and I found that if I let the paint cure for a week or so, it would harden up and the thread would not dig in to the paint. Letting it cure longer may help what you are having problems with too.

I am guessing that the spray paints off the shelf take a bit longer to cure and harden than something that would be sprayed on in a body shop.

I have just built a rod on a blank that I painted. I sanded the blank with a grey scotchbrite pad and painted it with Krylon spray paint. For a top coat I used Testors Dull Coat (wanted a flat finish). In researching ways to paint a blank, I swapped e-mails with Ken Preston (you can locate him by doing a search of this message board), who was very helpful with the whole process. I also let the blank dry for a day or two between each coat and about a week befor beginning to wrap. So far it seems to be holding up very well.

You can check Ken Prestons website (WWW.kensfishingrods.com). He has a very informative article about changing blank color. It walks you through the process step by step and even has some pictures.