Put the rear grip and reel seat on a Calstar GX-7 tonight. As I was pushing the grip (flocked with Nylon Royal Blue) down the blank, my thumbnail slipped and scaped the grip, leaving marks/scars. Then, I went to take the excess Rod Bond off from mounting the reel seat with a napkin. It wasn't cutting it, so lightly touched it with the napkin and 70% iso alcohol, which promptly removed some more flock where the alcohol touched it.

I thought these things were more durable than this? Its been a couple of weeks since they were flocked, and looked great till I put it on the rod and screwed it up. I did seal the grip first. Any ideas? Seemed durable enough, but I'm wondering if they scratch/scar this easy now, how are they going to hold up fishing?

I'm wondering if maybe I didn't put the paint on thick enough? I tried to keep it somewhat thin while still getting a wet coat so it didn't run.

Any way to fix this grip? I think I'm going to go ahead and take the reel seat back off for now, leave the drywall tape bushings. Thanks.

Phil

They're much more durable than this. Sammy Mickel and myself spent some time not long ago trying to rake off flock with our thumbnails. We couldn't do it. They're tough. Very tough.

Did you read the article on flocking in RodMaker? It doesn't sound like you did. The adhesive must be put on thick, very thick. Nowhere in the article does it recommend putting the adhesive on thinly - in fact it clearly states that you need a thick application in order for the adhesive to really get a good hold on the flocking material.

Sorry you had some bad luck there, but it appears that it was your fault and not that of the flocking. You may be able to sand what you have off and start over. It's worth a shot.

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Ok. Well shoot. Somehow I missed that in the article, I've read it several times. I put the flock on very thickly, the first grip I did I got a drip in it so I thought I put it on too thick.

Thanks, will try again.
Phil

Just curious - when you said my fingernail slipped and I removed some of the flock - did you mean you saw some flock on your fingers or did you actually scrape an area on the grip clean of the flocked surface. If the flock is on correctly there will be a lot of loose fibers laying on the surface that will come off. I am letting mine sit for about a week and then I wrap with some masking tape to take off all the excess material that is not bonded. I do this two three times to insure that all of the loose material is removed. If you do not do this someone will think that the stuff is coming off. I can not imagine scraping off any of the adhered flock with a fingernail.

Gon Fishn



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2005 10:29AM by Bill Stevens.

No, it scraped off the adhered flock. I must not have put the stuff on thick enough. I was wondering before when I used my whole bag of flock and didn't even use a quarter of a can of paint. I'll try to take the stuff off and redo it.

Phil

I've found that the foam type paint brushes are excellent for applying the adhesive. Put in on heavy just as if you were going for a high build look with epoxy rod finish. Turn and spin the grip for a minute or so once you've applied it to let it smooth and level. Unless you've gone much, much too heavy with it, you shouldn't have to worry about runs or sags.

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i had the same problem with cleaning off the rod bond with denatured alcohol. i haven't had the flock scrape off but when trying to clean off the extra rod bond it took the flock with it, the grip had been drying for 4 days. how do you get the rod bond off the grip? anyone having the similar problems? thanks.

I would suggest not getting rodbond on the grip in the first place. Tape off the edges or clean the extra rodbond off before you shove the grip home. Always better to prevent a problem than to try and fix one after the fact. I don't even get epoxy on my naked cork or foam grips let alone the few that I've flocked.

Be more careful Aye. The Iso alcohol is working fine for taking the rest of the flock off, a little time and I'll be able to give it a light sanding to get it ready to try again. Bad thing is I've got 1 tube full of flock left and not really enough time to order more before I leave for Japan on the 17th.

Phil

One more question: Are you recovering the flock that does not stick to the work piece. I find that there is enough flock in a package to do several grips. I work with the work piece installed in a plastic garbage can with a 13 gallon plasitc bag liner. I have lost very little flock using this method which was described in Rodmaker. If you do not have enough for a tube refill you may run short - you may not have time to empty the bag back into the cannister before the resin sets. Good luck.

Gon Fishn