I was boring the grip and I while fitting it I got some miner small scraches in the blank. I didn't think about the little particals from the reamer getting on the cork. Can I touch this up with rod restorer?

That would be a good method for some small spot repair, but just like adding touch-up paint on a car, it won't be perfect upon very close inspection. Still, if the scratches are too deep to simply polish out of the top coating, it would make more sense than trying to strip and refinishing the blank.

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Thanks Tom. I'll get some polish and give it a try. The scratches are not to deep. Tom

To avoid having leftover grit on the inside of the cork handle, I use a metal tapered file as a quick cleaner before test fitting the handle on the rod blank, has worked so far.

I will come at your post from a different angle. The title of the post was "My first mistake". Your are mistaken! Your first mistake was that you found this board and started building rods. Don't Worry - Be Happy - finish the first one and don't worry about the scratches. Take that old scratched up rod to the water and enjoy! Write the lesson learned down in a ledger for listing all mistakes - there will be many! Start another rod and try and not make the same mistake again. Maybe one day you will build a perfect rod. I have not been able to do that as yet!

One more thing - thread can be used in many wondrous ways - cover the scratches with a band of thread and place a name decal right on top. Out of sight out of mind.

Gon Fishn

Tom , a light coat of Permagloss will hide the scratches of a gloss blank . I have used Mr Stevens' method a couple of times also . Have fun , JD

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