Im having a bit of trouble with my latest rod. It's only the second I've made so I'm not expecting it to be perfect. What seems to happen is after fishing for a few hours, some patches on the whippings turn an opaque/white colour. I intially thought this was water seeping in through a tiny gap in the lacquer so I touched up the offending bits with a bit more epoxy.
But it's happened again.
Is this the result of being a bit too hasty to varnish the whippings after the sealer appears to have dried?

Once the "seepage" starts it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to reseal. There can be a long list of reasons that water is "wicking" under the finish. One reason that is often overlooked is that the rod finish or varnish in the area of the wrap was not prepared to the "water break" state. Water can penetrate the wrap under the thread between the thread and the blank and you will have a tough time sealing. An overlap of finish on the end of the wrap can sometimes keep this from happening. On the other end of the wrap where the frame starts its vertical run caution should be directed at not letting the finish "climb" too high on the frame. When the guide frame is loaded it can cause torsion in the area and crack the finish to allow water to enter. Any stickups that you trimmed off and did not get a continuous flow coat of final finish will "wick" water straight into the wrap.

The best way to combat this issue is to read all you can in the literature and on this board in the archives and build more and more and more rods - you WILL find what YOU did to cause this, adopt new procedures to stop it and will end up quite satisfied!!

Gon

If it clears up after a couple of days in a warm area it may just be water.
One thing you could do is after letting it dry and clear up, scoff the wraps and reclear making sure you wrap each guide completely. Go over the thread onto the blank to seal that, and make sure the post that holds the ring is covered all around it. Let dry well.

Did you use cp? How much? And did it cure completely? I once rushed a job and put finish over damp cp. Got the same milk look. Worse at the guide foot where more cp is absorbed. It was suggested that a thinned first coat dries quicker, and from the inside out. Hasn't happened since.

Bob