Hey Guys,

Just thought I'd post a warning concerning clear coating over inscriptions and decals. I lightly scuff sanded the rod blank (St. Croix Legend Ultra) and then wiped the area clean with denatured alcohol. I then mounted the factory decal after which I inscribed the blank with a DecoColor "Liquid Gold" opaque Paint Marker (Xylene based). The marker worked exceptionally well and dried very fast. I let the rod dry a further 16 hours. Following some advice I'd gotten on clear coating before the epoxy coat I bought a can of Krylon Workable Fixatif to seal the inscription. This product is widely used to coat over paints and pastel chaulks to keep them from smearing. I did a test over a spare piece of PVC pipe that I had written on with the pen the day before. After a few minutes the product was dry and the lettering did not smear. At this point I felt it safe to proceed with spraying the product over the blank. I then sprayed over the decal and inscription area with a smooth and even coat, paying attention not to allow the product to run or puddle. I put the rod on the wrapping stand to let it dry. When I returned I got the shock of my life. The entire area was frosted white. I immediately went to work with the alcohol to try and remove the Krylon product. It didn't work as well as I had hoped, so I ended up having to sand the entire area with 600 grit paper to remove the Fixatif along with the lettering. I've re-done the lettering and applied a new decal. Now I need to decide if I'll try CP, Shellac, or Urethane to try and seal this thing. Maybe, I can get by with just the LS Supreme as the paint pen seems very tough. Wish me luck!

Mike

That Krylon is interesting stuff to use. You may have put too much on at once. If you do that, for instance, it will take letraset letters (the rub on kind) and give thime a wrinkled crackle finish. It seems to have a bad reaction with a lot of other materials when appiled thickly. The trick is many very light coats. I don't use it much now to fix inscriptions as I try to use a waterproof ink/paint to do them.

The Krylon 1311 Matte Finish (will not affect the clarity or gloss of the epoxy finish) is a much better product to use in this instance. It typically does not frost the way the fixitive can. I use it on computer generated inscriptions with excellent results.

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