I am new to rodbuilding and last night wrapped my first guide. Everything looked all good after a lot of preliminary experimentation.

I applied a water based color preserver to the wrap to "lock" it in place before moving on to another guide when I noticed something strange. The thread (nylon) took on a blotchy transparent look to it. I was surprised as that I exactly what I thought the CP prevented in the first place.

I am wrapping a bright pink thread on a dark gray blank. Anyone know what I am doing wrong?

Thanks,
Sam

Two things - first, the thread should turn uniformly dark. When dry, the color will come back up. Second, if you see blotches, that's not the color preserver, that's the blank showing through the spaces between threads that aren't closely packed together. Look at it under magnification and you'll see what I mean.

Pink over a grey blank will be tough. You can do it, but I might recomment NCP pink with CP for the overall best results.

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Something I learned from fly tying that I carried over into rod building was to always be sure I washed my hands with soap prior to working with thread. It's really important in rod building because you can easily contaminate the thread. I don't know if that's what happened but it may be a possibility. Another possiblity is that the thread was contaminated when it came to you. You might try stipping off the first 2 or 3 layers of thread from the spool and throw it away, then start from there.

I haven't used water based CP for many years, but I seem to recall that the thread would turn transparent when it was first applied and then become more opaque as it dried. You also have to sure that you really soak the thread with it and wick the excess off the bottom. Did the thread change appearance after the CP was completely dry?

I'm sure others will jump in with more insight on water based CP.

I think that I washed my hands well and I think the thread is clean because I blew a layer or two of thread attempting to get my first wrap right ;)

Is there some better option for the color preserver than water-based? I am a newby so any suggestions are appreciated.

I did saturate the threads with a brush and wipe off the excess. The CP was a milky color at first. I let it dry for 6 hours and it didn't seem to brighten back to the original color of the thread.

I am leaning towards the thread packing being the problem. I will investigate tonight under magnification and come back with some details.

Should I be thinning the CP before applying it? I have heard to thin it 2:1.

Thanks,
Sam.

When I use CP, which isn't very often, I use Gudebrod 811. It's a urethane based CP, and is completely clear, but sort of syrupy. I think most people recommend against thinning CP.

Samer, I had the exact same thing happen on a test wrap on an old gloss black blank. I used bright pink thread (nylon size A) and when I applied the water based color preserver the thread went translucent. After about 1 hour I checked the wrap, and it was back to the original color. I would inspect the tightness of your wraps, or suspect the color preserver. My color preserver is clear, not milky.

I don't know how others do it, but I would not put CP or anything on a wrap until I have done ALL of the wraps. That way I can adjust spacing and alignment if needed (for me it always is) without any trouble. Good Luck!

Samer, from your posting it is not quite clear to me if you waited for the CP to dry. My first feather inlay i made with a blue jay feather on a forecast (dark blue) blank. I used Gudebrod CP to stick the feather to the blank and when coating the feather with thinned CP noticed the exact effect which you describe, but after about an hour i saw the bright blue color of the feather returning. Did this allready happen with your guide wraps?

Karel Gol

Samer - I did a pink on black rod for my daughter. I used Gudebrod 811 and I experienced very similiar results as you when using nylon thread for the reasons Tom K gave. It seemed no matter how much I packed, I would get a spot or botch somewhere on a wrap. Even though they were not noticable except to me, the rod had to be perfect for the princess :)

This may not help you because it changes the color theme slightly (or may be a lot), but I switched to a Sulky metallic that is a few shades darker pink and with a little sparkle. I still had to pack really, really tight, but I did not have to use CP and best of all it eliminated the blank showing through being noticeable at all.

Just paint the area under the wrap white paint and your problem will be solved

Mike