New Guy....

I just finished two Crankbait rods.
I did some research on this site, and came up with two methods to try. Spatula, and 2" section pull towards the tip 180 and wait. The guides came out perfect with the "pull" method (painted on the Flexcoat with the rotation of the rod on the first one, turned out lumpy). Anyway both of the rods dimpled on the long straight sections with the second coat of lite. They looked good when I left the room and shut off the lights. Came back the next morning and both had random dimples in them, "pull" and "spatula" (no anomolies underneath from the first coat). Temperature was 71 -72 degrees. And I think I followed everyones instructions. That's why it's aggravating. Anybody have a solution? Or reason?
I did use Walleye decals on both that were raised after the first coat, or I would have probably quit after the first coat. These decals raised off the rod at the fine points of the fins and were sticking out of the first coat, that along with the dimples were upsetting. Did fix that with an X-acto knife, it just looks like the Pectoral and Anal fins have a white spot on them too. That might be another thread, or I'll just go and look right now.

Isolated dimples are usually a sign of bubbles that popped late in the finish setting process.

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

Yep....what Tom said.
Be sure to gently flame your wraps after you've got the finish on in the shape you want.
helps level the epoxy and get all those nasty bubbles out from wherever they are hiding....

you can sand down the finish and try another coat of FC Lite.
RB

Sand lightly with 600 wet paper - dry, no need for water Clean well, then recoat should cover nicely

Thankyou for the input!

That was killing me...I used a denatured alcohol flame with a small bit of tubing to blow through, ala Doc Ski,
but I guess I just don't have the experience to stay at it long enough to get the deep ones. I'll make sure I'm more careful about it after the sanding this time.

My expeience with the dimples was either the bubbles , or not scuffing the surface and the preveous coat repeled the finish in some spot , thus creating little pot holes . Happened to me a couple of times . Just another thing to worrie about . If the first finish was less than 72 hrs old you can rule it out.
Just thought I would throw that out . John

Got Fish ?

I guess your not using CP? Some thin out the first coat of finish in order to get penitration of the threads. When thin it also lets the bubbles release easyer.
And some times you cause bubbles when finish is heated, some thing to watch out for

Yep,
Used 3 coats of Flexcoat CP. Thanks for the reply. I'm beginning to realize the small things make a big difference.

i just finished a rod which had some anomolies too while using flex coat lite. they look like very shallow craters, kind of wide and somewhat irregularly shaped. weird, first time i've had this happen in 5 or 6 rods.

some variables that changed:

1) i have always put on two coats. this was the first time i put on THREE and after the second coat dried, it looked fine so this anomoly happened on just the last, third coat (???)

2) i usually have a small metal quiche-like or possibly tart pan tin which i cover with foil and mix the epoxy, this time i used only flat foil.

3) this "cratering" only happened on two wraps, both were the first i applied thread epoxy to (near the cork grip) and unlike all other rods, i came back at the end and perhaps 10 minutes after i thought i had finished, i went ahead and applied another coat, trying to "touch up" the first application thinking it was still wet enough.

4) i always use either 2.5 or 3 cc of finish in each flex coat syringe. this very last coat of flex cloat lite, i used only 2 cc of each.

i'm thinking rating in probability of problem: 3, 4, and coming in far behind, tied for last place, 1 and 2.

eric
fresno, ca.

Just to finalize,

I sanded down the four problem areas, started with 180 to sand the dimples smooth, then polished with 400.
I went through all my videos and books again, what I was doing wrong was working too long with the same batch of finish. The late bubbles coming through the thickening finish really left a nasty crater. I observed this happening.
Just like Tom said.
So the trick to this not happening (and I finished two sanded down sections perfect yesterday) is to apply a section of finish and go immediately to the alcohol burner and begin to work the bubbles out before it begins to thicken at all. Put that section in the rack until it dries enough to safely work on another area.