Hi all,
It was years ago when I started to build rods I was talking with a rod builder that did some of the best work I had personally ever seen. I asked about the finish on the rod blanks he worked with and he told me that he Permaglossed them with nylons. I have done this with fair to good results. This rod builder also mentioned that the mirror finish he was able to obtain was brought about by buffing the finish on the rod blank with a product called diamond something.
I thought I better check in and see if this buffing compound may still be on the market or if I should go ahead with the toothpaste buffing. Yeah toothpaste of the right type will buff light scratches out of stuff like plastic and acrylic lens but I am looking for the product that would most be suited to the application. Minty smelling fishing rods could bring up question that at worst could bring conjecture into a sale as I see it anyways.







Tight wraps and lines,
Wylie

I do wood turning as a hobby and use a buffing system called "The Beall Wood Buff" This is a three part compund application the second part is called White Diamond and is a very very fine abrasive compound used for the final polishing prior to waxing. I don't know if this is the same stuff you are speaking of but I'm going to try it on some acrylic lacquer I have applied to a blank. It should be dry enough to test/polish in another week.This system puts a very clear clean high gloss finish on wood ,we will see how it works over lacquer.Stay tuned LOL

dick

I think you might want to stick to a product like the very finest buffing or polishing compounds. You're not dealing with a lot of thickness to begin with. I've done a bunch of work with various buffing compounds and wheel compositions, but don't consider myself any kind of authority on the intracacies of buffing/polishing. I'm sure toothpaste may work in some instances - it does contain very fine abrasives. But I have no idea if it's the ideal product for this sort of thing. I tend to think it wouldn't be.

You might ask a really good knife maker what he would use on something like a clear laquer finish. Automotive finishers often use the standard 3M polishing compound for work on laquers. I've tried the run of the mill Dico blue compound for plastics and it works pretty well. K&G No-Scratch Pink is pretty good too. Whatever it is, it'll have to be a pretty fine compound, or you'll have to work through several to get back up to a really clear and brilliant shine.


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Dick,

It won't bring clear finishes back up to a high, clear gloss. Still not fine enough for that. I've tried it. You'll get it smooth, but you won't get that clear, high, gleem out of it.

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Tom are you saying you have used this Beall Buff System on acrylic lacquer?

dick

Yes. I've used it on wood too, and it's not even the best for that. After the White Diamond on a loose wheel, try some "No-Scratch Pink" and watch your wood pieces really gleem! You just thought they were glossy. The Beall system is built on Tripoli and White Diamond, but you can go even finer than that if you want a really high gloss.

I've had the best luck on clear laquers or epoxies with the compounds intended for plastics. I have to believe that's because they are such very fine abrasives. Somebody in the automotive finishing field could probably tell us the best product for this sort of thing.

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Darn, somebodys always costing me money, but I'll get some today,,,,LOL

Dick - I sent you an e-mail, as I have some of these abrtasives & wheels from K&G, which I will never, ever use.

I don't know if this will do the job, 35 yrs ago my &Uncle owned a custom auto paint shop. H used to buff lacquer paint with corn starch past to get a high mirror gloss
Good Wraps Bob

Check your local Auto Body and Paint suppliers. products are always changing.

Wylie,

The product was U-40 Diamond Paste. I loved the stuff - It not only made the rod shine, it also prevented fish scales from sticking to the rod. Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate anyone who has it in stock. I used to buy it from Angler's Workshop, but they do not carry it anymore.

It was more of a wax, rather than a grit based polshing compound.

John Mantele (aka: @#$%&)

1. Correction: It wasU-40 Diamond Plate. I checked U-40's website and they do not list this product any longer.

2. How do you edit posts on rodbuilding.org ?

@#$%&, hit the Edit button under your post. It doesn't show up for every single post, only for the ones youmake.

I think tom has the right idea... I have used a auto polish called Cleanbright liquid ebony on cars and plastics... even gives dull plastics a glass-like shine. I purchased it in a bennet auto supply store in Florida. I don't know if it's still available. The manufacturer is: Cleanbright manufacturing co., inc. 1324 herscell st., Bronx NY 10461 718-597-5000

U-40 Diamond Plate contained absolutely NO abrasives. It was made to shine with mere rubbing, and to act as a repellent to scales, bait, etc. It works fine, I use it on my own rods all the time. Unfortunately it did not sell, and since business is business it had to be withdrawn. I know it would sell with a better marketing approach, and probably a different name. (whats wrong with Rod Wax? Thats what it is ) So would several other products which I market, but don't know how to market. Thats the real problem with us folks at Trondak---- We can invent the stuff, make the stuff, but none of us knows beans about how to sell it. Diamond Plate should be in every tackle box, so should Fast Cast --- but how do you get it there?

Ralph

Ralph what's wrong with your marketing, looks like you worked out what the problem was it's name. Re name it and try it again. l'm sure I would try it.

John you nailed it and thanks Ralph,
Bummer that I can't get Diamond Plate any longer. It was the ex-owner of A Anglers in Dana Point California that was the one who told me about this stuff a long time ago.
Being I am not working with dark colored blanks I went ahead with a product I found at the Hardware store I work at. It's a floor polish applicator called Lambswool. I used a small cut after knocking off the loose hairs and pulling at them for a little while to free what could come loose on the blank when coating. I had a glitter coat, one two part coat and two more coats of Permagloss on with the last being applied with the Lambswool applicator piece, then I did a very light block sanding with 600 grit to knock down the bumpies I made with a coating tool that went south on me. I let this dry in the heat of the garage for a day and night. Touched up with some very light hand sanding and then tack clothed. I held my breath; rubber chucked the blank in the wrapper and spun it slowly while holding the blank in another cut of the Lambswool moving the length of the blank. It did turn out to be acceptable although not the completely flat mirror finish I remember seeing in Dana Point California. I’ll have to try it with a fresh blank and not the rehash I was working with.
The Lambswool applicator could just be the rod builder’s alternative to the buffing wheels. It's Ace Hardware Part Number 10558 for the size I used and costs $2.99 for what looked to be an eight inch square.

Thank you gentleman and Ralph I feel your pain,



Tight wraps and lines,
Wylie

Sorry bad post,
I knocked down the bumpies with the 600 grit then went to the Lambswool for the last application of the Permagloss then buffed with a fresh cut of the Lambswool.
My bad!


Tight wraps and lines,
Wylie

Ralph O'Quinn Wrote:
> but don't know how to market. Thats the real problem with us folks at Trondak---- We can invent the stuff,
> make the stuff, but none of us knows beans about how to sell it. Diamond Plate should be in every
> tackle box, so should Fast Cast --- but how do you get it there?
> Ralph

Hire someone who is good at marketting. Gotta spend money to make money.

I do a lot of painting, and finishing. Everything from cars, to golf club heads. The finishes range from two- part poly; basecoat/clear coat; to lacquers. It depends on the intended use of the fiished product.

The color sand and buff phase are the same with all three- but the relative hardness of the materials make some a quicker process to finish.

Once the finish is applied it is color sanded (term for blocking (because you use a sanding block) the surface smooth), using first 600 wet, and following with 1000 wet. This will render the surface smooth, and remove imperfections like dust, etc.

The 1000 grit (wet) cuts so finely, that's there's a nice satin sheen, and almost a gloss. On lacquer I'd go right from there to the final buff. With the epoxies, I might start with a more course glaze due to the surface hardness.

The finish glaze I like best is Meguiar's Pro Machine Glaze, "Mirror Glaze #3." I can tell you on a golf club head, that the finish is absolutely a mirror, and if you've done the color sand correctly, absolutely flat as well. The flatness contributes to the gloss in how it reflects light.

I prefer the lacquer finish because it is much "deeper." But it is the least durable.

On a rod finish, I'd use the power wrapper (if you got it) to color sand. Cut a strip of the sandpaper about a 1/2" wide- wet it and the finished wrap, and use the sandpaper like you would buff shoes. Keep it really wet at all times because it's the water which carries away the residue from sanding. Don't do this, at the residue will cut into your new finish.

On to the glaze (buff). I'd chuck up a two or three inch unstiched cotton buff in my hand drill. Appy a small amount (like two drops) to the wrap. Turn on the power wrapper, and gently hold the buffing wheel against the rod. There's no need to push hard. You might just cut the finish too fast, and have to reapply your clearcoat. Buff the first application 'til it's dry. Reapply glaze and do the same. You should be finished. Each wrap shouldn't take more than a couple minutes.

This can be done by hand if you don't have a power wrapper. It just takes a little longer. But, it's a lot less messy.

Meguiar's finishing products are available at most automotive parts houses- especially those that mix paint. The cotton buffs and arbors for your hand drill are available sometimes at the same store, and if not most well stocked tool suppliers will have them.