I've read a lot here about the pros and cons of permagloss. Mostly for refinishing rod blanks. I decided to try it on guide wraps just to see what was what. I read about it in Tom's book and he made it sound like a good alternative for those who wanted something other than the common epoxies. For those of you thinking about trying it or who have a hard time with epoxy here is my personal experience.

I just finished a new bumper wrap spiral rod for myself. It's a freshwater rod wrapped with size A thread, scarlet and tipped with gold metallic also in size A. I loaded my brush by just dipping the last 1/8" of the tip into a jar with some permagloss in it and then lowered it to the wrap starting at the edge away from the guide. Once contact was made I s-l-o-w-l-y roated the rod away from me for one full revolution, then rotated it back towards me the same way for one full revolution. Then I reloaded the brush with permagloss and moved over one brush width and repeated these same steps. By rotating the rod slowly I noticed that the permagloss had plenty of time to transfer from the brush to the wrap, turning it a darker but uniform shade. I got very few bubbles and the handful I did get either popped quickly on their own or I could just touch them with the corner of the brush and they pretty much disappeared. So far so good.

The amount I put on was not enough to pool on the wraps so any rotation on my dryer was not necessary. I did spin the rod back and forth for maybe 3 or 4 minutes though.

After a couple hours I applied a second coat in the exactly the same way. Because the threads were sealed after the first coat, I rotated the rod a little bit more quickly. Just making sure to get good coverage everywhere.

After a couple more hours I repeated the steps and added a third coat. Then a couple more hours and added a fourth coat. At that point the threads were nicely coated but without the build up that most epoxies give. That's okay though as I sort of like the retro look this rods has now. It reminds me of the rods I grew up fishing with as a kid in terms of the finish depth. I know I could add more permagloss and build it up to any depth I want, but I think four coats is enough for protection and it sure looks nice. I might go just one more, maybe, but that would be it. The threads are just about top coated to the point where you can't feel them but not at all like the build up you get with epoxy.

My experience with it has me pretty excited. I had to spend time doing 4 coats but they were easy and fast to do. I didn't have to worry about running out of pot life or rotating the rod afterwards. No bubbles to speak of and just very easy to apply. The only thing I would say that I didn't like was the fumes. After coating the rod I felt like my sinuses were fully open and on fire! Probably need some outside ventilation if you're going to use much of this stuff.

I'm not throwing out my epoxy yet, but for freshwater rods with A thread permagloss may be my new finish of choice. I have to say I like it a lot for lighter rods with small diameter thread.

One unusual thing I notice with the Permagloss is that with NCP white thread on a dark blank, even without the use of color preserver the white stays brilliant. With epoxy it will tune down a few notches to a cream color unless you hit it with color preserver first. With Permagloss it stays right up to the same hue as it is on the spool. Odd. I have used it under regular epoxy just for this reason.

I may have to do my next bass rod with just Permagloss and see how I like it. It sounds like you are a believer at this point?

Go to the hardware store and get a cheap respirator that will handle the fumes from organic solvents and you won't feel that way. It's a small price to pay to take care of your health.

If you go much more than 4 coats or so you will find that the Permagloss does start to build depth similar to epoxy. But it won't be the same smooth look as epoxy. It's shinier, but not exactly flat. It's got more of a faceted look like an eggshell surface. Great gloss though.

For those that like the older look of varnished wraps where you can still see and almost feel the individual threads, Permagloss is great because it won't yellow or crack. It's great for the low build old style finish look, but for larger rods and higher builds I'd stick to epoxy.

Except for the one difference, I use an 18 rpm. motor to turn the rod while finishing, we use the same methods to apply perma-gloss. I like it very much for freshwater spinning and fly rods. Perma-Gloss is a great finish. Ralph

If at first you don't succeed, go fishing, then try, try again.