Ok...I put a coat of flex coat over my underwraps. I put scotch tapes an 1/8 an inch to the side for a stopping point for the finish. Now I have a rough section on both sides where the tape was. What should I have done?

Scotch tape, most any tape, is not a choice for clean lines. Best thing is to not use anything and concentrate on a steady hand. Speed helps, rotating the rod rapidly while applying. All is not lost however, apply another thin coat and go slightly beyond the rough edges - they should cover ok.

BTW, there was a post here sometime go from someone who used a piece of thread to apply finish to the edges, the thread takes upp and buffers any movement and shakiness in you hands for a nice clean edge. Have never tried it, but sound like it might work....

In the meantime practice makes perfect...

Lou

Get some thing to support your hand. This will make it steady Books. a pail, box, any thing. Better to get the hang of it with out the tape

You can also fold a paper towel over a few times to make a sturdy edge, soak the edge with rubbing alcohol, and clean up the line by rotating the rod while bringing the wet edge in on epoxy from the dry blank ever so slightly. You can't clean up big mistakes this way, it will only smear the epoxy, but if you start with a good line from your application this works great to clean up small imperfections.

And in my opinion, NOTHING messes up the finished look of a custom rod any more than having uneven epoxy lines especially on the first guide, which is certainly the most scrutinized part of a rod when someone first picks it up. I'm surprised a lot of times at the messy lines you see from experienced rod builders.

That first guide is the largest and people look at it and then figure the rest are about the same. It HAS to be good!

The Scotch tape does work (I only use it on the front edge of my marbling, though). You just need to remove it soon enough so that the finish will "round" off before it hardens. I'd put it much closer than 1/8" though...
I've never used this method on guide wraps, but using it on the marbling tells me that it will work if done properly.

Putter