Greetings. I use Rod Bond for my handle assembly. Great stuff but I don't like how the excess cleans up. I've used denatured alcohol and a swab but it seems to smear a thin layer of product on the cork and reel seat. Any suggestions? Thanks for your time....Kevin

I have teh same issue - you need to get the obvious excess off with a paper towel, then clean the small amount left with a paper towel with denatured. I go back, wipe off again with a dry paper towel, adn then once again with a denatured paper towel. This usually works well enough, but every so often there is a glistening leftover once the RB cures.

I wonder wht Black reel seat hoods change colors when I wipe with denatured. Anyone else notice this?

I use dentured alcohol and toothbrush. It cleans the threads on the reel seat pretty well. However, on my last rod I could not get a small amount off the last thread on the seat near the endcap. You have to look pretty darn close to see it. Rod bond is great stuff, I will use it no matter what. I could always scrape the thread clean with a sharp tool but probably wont.

Hi All
just thought i would put my tuppence into the melting pot.
When i put my fitting together with rod bond,rather than mask the area i dont want the rod bond on with tape threads and the wood barrel etc.
I smear a light coating of vaseline over the externals being very carefull not to get any where i want the two surfaces to glue.
once all the rod bond has dried you can then wash the fitting with soap and water removing the vaseline and the rod bond lying on its surface

just thought this might help.

Bryan

Billy: I was never in formulations or manufacturing, but my guess is that the black color of the reel seats is a dye added to the mix while casting the seats (or however else they make them). The denatured alcohol (strong stuff) leaches some of the dye out at the surface and just below. Try cutting the alcohol with a bit of water first, or try using 91% (or less) isopropyl alcohol out of the bottle.

What I do: I wrap the ends of my seats with masking tape first. I still get a little RB under the tape, but not much. Then clean it off much as you do, but with isopropanol. Cork is also wrapped, cleaned, then sanded a bit if necessary.

I wrap the adjoining areas with electricians tape before I start and leave it in place until the rod is finished. The last thing I do is remove the tape and clean any residual tape glue.

I wipe the excess at the "cracks" with a folded paper towel/denatured alcohol, then run a toothpick around and into the crack far enough to remove the excess rod bond that would be visible.

I will have to try the Vaseline method........

Thanks, Brian!! Will have to try the Vaseline!!
Mike

Wrapping adjacent parts of reel seats, grip edges, etc. with teflon plumber's tape gives a fairly good barrier ( soneone had mentioned this before). It works quite well. Denatured alcohol seems to work well, especially when viewed with an Optivisor - excess can be cleaned up with attention to detail & patience, but we all forget, get excited & screw-up on occasion.

Stan

The electricians tape hint is a great idea. It stretches and conforms to the threads on the seat. If the problem is Rod Bond on the cork grip and you are using rings, maybe you are putting on too much? Rod Bond works really well by putting it on the ring and wiping it off, if you have squeeze out, it's on too heavy. Otherwise, the electricians tape and alcohol should clean up any left over ooze.

I've switched to the plumber's white teflon tape since reading about it here on this great forum. It works great and there's no residue from adhesive on anything; I tried the black electrician's tape but didn't like the residue it left. The plumber's tape will stretch and conform to any shape; even the threads on a reel seat.

Putter
Williston, ND

Gonna give plumbers tape a try. I didn't lik eelectrical or masking tape because f residue & masking tape is just a bad choice since it doesn't stretch.

Getting excess epoxy on cork isn't a big deal at all, even if it dries you ca lightly sand it off with 400grit. EVA or Hypalon, is another story. Since the epoxy dries hard, and teh grip is not as firm, when you try to sand it off, the grip compresses slightly and you end up taking off more than you want. I learned this the hard way. You can still do it, just make sure you use a sandingblock and don't press too hard as the grip spins.

When glass bedding rifles in a stock we used Johnson's paste wax to keep the barrel from sticking to the fiberglass. I think that would be wirth a try and not nearly as messy as vaseline. It takes only a thin coat, but make sure the coverage is complete.

Had not heard of using teflon tape. I think I will try letting the rod bond setup up and use a razor blade on the excess. As always, excellent ideas! Thanks everyone.....Kevin

That's a bad idea, notice how nobody recommended that

I don't think that I would use a razor blade. Too many bad things can happen!! I think the best route would be to keep it off rather than have to take it off later. Teflon tape sounds pretty good to me.


Mike



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2005 11:42AM by Mike Barkley.

I,too, have struggled with the small Rod Bond glue line between reel seats and grips/foregrips, even after wiping with a denatured alcohol soaked paper towel.
My best "fix" for this was making a small scraper tool out of a dental instrument, thanks to my dentist, who lets me rumage through his broken tools.
The thing, the dentist called it a chisel, that worked was a double ended instrument , that had angled tips from the handle, both about a 1/16"wide, flat , and both ends broken that required squaring up and smoothing with a file and emery paper. Smoothing is a must, you don't want it scratching the rod parts.
In use, after removing the masking tape( yeah, I'm that sloppy) and cleaning off the RB with an alcohol soaked towel, trace around the glue joint , "gently" ,then wipe off the tool and do it repeatedly until you have no more glue. Works great in the threaded area and longitudional slot also. Sorry I was so long-winded on this post.

Heck, that's not long winded, Terry. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one going through my dentist's tool drawer. I just use a dental pick and keep wiping the tip off on the alcohol soaked paper towel as I go around the joint, just like you do, Terry. No problems with glue showing if I use the magnifying head band; it really helps my old eyes to see those little cracks and crevices.

Putter
Williston, ND

My suggestion to try a razor blade it to shave the harden Rod Bond from the cork. I like the teflon tape idea very much but I want to try to deal with this problem after it has harden. At least if it has cured, it can not be spread. I found removing the excess 5-minute epoxy I use for the rod tip is much easier to deal with once it has set. Just thinking out load it may be easier to do the same with the Rod Bond.

Razor blades and cork do not mix. Tha twill equal having to sand down - rather than do that, just clean it with one of teh 8 differnt methods described here, adn you'll be all set. You're scaring me with teh razor blade.