Tried Tom's trick and worked very well, only two questions:

1. How much Permaglos do you let the brush soak up? It soaked up an amazing amount.

2. Are you push and pulling the blank through? I did and ended up with some hard line in the urethane. I'm wondering if its because I pulled the blank back through after it made it to the butt section, and the hole didn't shrink enough to wipe excess epoxy off as the blank got smaller.

You only make one pass - trying to go up and back will lead to problems. I usually push the brush over the tip and draw it towards the butt.

The foam needs to be very wet but since you're only using a small portion of the brush (I don't know what size you bought) there is little reason to let the whole pad saturate with PermaGloss. We'll do a pictorial in RodMaker on this simple but effective technique in the near future.


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Hi Phil- here's how I've done it........ I cut a slit in the foam brush (on the same axis as the handle), soak the lower half of the sponge with Perma Gloss (enough to make it pretty wet), then insert the blank into the slit and make about three QUICK one-way passes down the blank (butt to tip, butt to tip, butt to tip) while rotating the blank (blank in left hand, brush in right hand, vice versa if you are a lefty). In a couple of places, where lines or runs would have formed, I lightly drug the brush down the blank to knock off these areas. This technique has worked for me but as quickly as Perma Gloss cures, you've really got to be prepared to make the strokes, then immediately get the wet blank in a vertical position for curing. I've got a small spring loaded clamp that I use to suspend the wet blank (tip down) from my garage ceiling for curing. Then there's always the option of applying additional coats to cover imperfections. Perma Gloss is great stuff but I do wish they could slow it down a bit.

Hope this helps..........

Pete Kornegay

Tom & I were apparently responding at the same time. He recommends one pass and I suggested three passes using the slit-brush method. The reason I started with the slit method is because I was refinishing a surf rod with a large diameter butt.

Pete K.

To hold the blank, consider passing a piece of heavy mono or nylon down through the tip of the blank. Keep pushing and it will exit out the butt end. Tie that end to a popsicle stick or similar and then suspend the tag end up at the tip end from a ceiling rafter or what have you. Now you only have to hold one end of the blank and once you make your pass or passes you can just let go of the blank and let it hang. This wil work better if you do what Pete does with the slit in the foam. It's not recommended for very long blanks for obvious reasons.

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Thanks for the advice guys. Will give that a try.

I'm in the same boat as Pete. We both have big butts. Well, I don't think that sounded right. Most of my rods are salwater blanks...starting out small at the tip and sometimes really big at the butt. The hole in the brush method is better for smaller blanks where the butt isn't so big. For the bigger blanks I still apply permagloss with my fingers (wearing gloves of course). Again, you have to be fast.

Jay

If you want some things that are easyer to work with try minwax spar urethane, man-o-war, and even clear thinned. A lot more time to work with these Just give them 2-3 days to dry fully before wrapping over.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/2005 07:20AM by bill boettcher.

Agreed Bill. I have a can of Minwax in the shop, but haven't used it in six months or so. It is easier to work with than Permagloss, but the drying time is longer. I've had no problems so far with the rods I've used the spar on.

Jay

I guess I am getting lazy, I always look for some thing that is easyer to use. I know people that also thin out clear to an almost watery state and use on blanks. They and myself have had no problems with it. Just have to let it dry longer. Even tried an Auto Clear but it was similar to permagloss. Now it sits in my closet?? Glass Coat thinned has a nice set time to work with.