what is the best product out there to get a perfectly level coating over a inscription, or decal?

Trevor,
Everybody has their own preference on which finish they like to use. I think they all are pretty much self leveling but some have different pot/cure times so it just depends on what your comfortable with. I presonally like Aftcote because it seems to tolerate heat pretty well and flows good. It has an extremely long pot life (compared to most) but I seem to get the best results with it. I routinely use it to cover my decals and it comes out glass-like smooth and crystal clear.

Don't apply too much at each application. the thinner the finish the smaller amount you can apply. If you apply more than the max for your particular finish it will start to sag and you will get the ripple effect.

i think you're asking about thread finish brands and formulas but i think one trick is to really get the BLANK level. i have a small bubble level i use when i first set up the blank in the dryer stands.

eric
fresno, ca.

Hi Trevor,

Im with Kerry on this.
Plan to apply two or maybe three very thin coats of your finish and you should end up with a nice even flat finish over your wrap
For the 1st coat I put a fair amount on my brush and keep pushing the finish along, working along the rod with the brush. When the wrap has reasonable coverage, i take my brush and wipe as much of the epoxy off, leaving a dry-ish looking coat. Then its just a matter of repeating these steps with the 2nd coat and i always end up with a flat even coat on my wraps.

I have only just finished a 2nd coat over a long butt wrap, weave and stripper guide on a game rod using the above method and it already looks very good.

regards,



Regards,

Peter.
Rods On The Fly,
Newcastle, Australia.

If you were to take any of the various epoxy finishes on the market, and pour each out onto a flat countertop - you'll find that they all level perfectly. So all the epoxy finishes will definitely give you a perfectly level finish over a guide wrap or an inscription on your rod. But, you have to do your part as well.

The rod centerline needs to be level. Make certain it is. Also make sure you don't put on too much finish - doing so means that some of it will run and sag to the bottom and then as you rotate the rod those lumps and sags will distribute themselves around the entire surface. This isn't a matter of a finish not leveling - they all prefer to level, but of putting on too much.

If you'll do a search of this topic in the archives here you'll turn up a lot of different tips shared by builders here over the years.

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I watched Ralph O'Quinn do a sample with his U-40 LS and get a beautifual level finish by not using a motorizied dryer. Being a hardcore power user, it was like pulling teeth to get me away from my dryer motor, but after seeing the results, I'll not go back to power unless I've got no time to tend the rod every 10-15 minutes.

Tom, when was the last time you built a rod shaped like a flat countertop? (OK, maybe you applied finish to one side of a Cape Fear at a time at some point, lol)

Certain finishes level better when used in real life situations. These situations include: non level blank, centrifical (I think) force from teh rod turning in the motor, too much epoxy applied at once, uneven surface to to large guide feet, bumps in the thread from fuzzies, etc. The quicker setting & thicker the epoxy is, the better it seems to level. The watery finishes, the lower build finishes which take a long time to set up, will not level as well - if one of the real life variables isn't 100% ideal.

No, they all level the same. If you pour them out on a flat surface, you will never have any lumps or hills form. That's because what causes lumps and hills and valleys, etc., - an uneven surface, has little if anything to do with the finish, and that's what the original poster was about - what product produces the most level surface. A better question would have been - "what technique produces the most level surface."

I use the countertop scenario to illustrate that it's not the finish itself that causes an uneven final product. It has nothing to do with leveling qualities or being better than another in this regard - it has to do with how much finish you apply, along with how and how often you turn the rod.

The thing is, there is not a finish out there that will level on the bottom of a surface - they will all drip and sag. When builders get lumps and bumps in their finish, it's not because the finish didn't level - all these finishes level and they do so perfectly. Any uneveness or sags, or lumps, or such, never happen on top of a surface - they all happen on the bottom of the wrap and then get spread around the rod as it turns. That was my point - uneven finishes are not the result of a bad finish or a finish that won't level - they're the result of finish being applied in too much volume and allowed to sag on the underside of the rod.

Thicker finishes can be applied in greater volume and yet resist sagging to a greater degree. Thinner finishes have to be applied more thinly as they won't support as much of themselves as do the higher viscosity finishes. This is the key to getting a nice, smooth and level finish (along with having the rod level to begin with) - understanding that different viscosities must be applied in different amounts. There is limit to how much of itself each finish will support. Finding that point is the means to getting that perfectly smooth finish.

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/2005 07:52PM by Tom Kirkman.

This is a great point but it is only natural that a new builder will tend to run from finish to finish in order get a level finish. He is going to blame the product before realizing that it is a matter of application technique and not the finish itself.

I tell people to stick with one finish long enough to learn how best to use it. If they just cannot adapt to it then look for another that might work better for how they like to apply it.

But I would agree that there is not a finish on the market that will not level perfectly. I have seen beautiful level finishes on all sorts of rods and when I ask the builder what finish he used it ends up being nearly any and every finish on the market. Good level finishes are turned out with each and every one. So one is not better than another in this regard but one may suit how you personally apply it better than another.

Very well put.

I've used so many different finishes over the years I can't really keep track of what various rods of mine actually have on them. Well, some are brown enough that I can pick out one or two. Beyond that when somebody picks up a rod of mine and asks me what finish I used on it, I just ask them what finish they use. Whatever their answer is, I just say, "Yeah, that's the same stuff on the rod you're looking at there." I know what they're after - the holy grail of finishes that gives perfect results no matter what you do with it. But that stuff doesn't exist. Not yet anyway.

One thing I guess I would add in response to Trevor's original post, would be that if it were me, I'd use a thicker viscosity or heavier finish particularly over a decal or inscription area. It just lets me get the job done with one application.

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