Happy new year rodcrafters, I'm having a little trouble with my finish coming out real lumpy, I have a room in my garage that has been pretty cold this winter so I've gone to putting the flex coat Light in warm water for around 30 min. and it starts out fine. I have the rods turning in a 36rpm motor and I've made sure the rods level, could there be something up with my flex coat since it did get pretty cold.
Please help
Gordon Glover



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/05/2006 09:09AM by Tom Kirkman.

If your FC Lite is getting lumpy, you're likely putting too much on??

Putter
Williston, ND

That's my guess as well. Lumpy finish is almost always the result of applying too much at one time. Flex Coat lite, in particular, cannot be applied in a heavy application.

..............

I think 36 rpm may be a bit fast. some folks prefer 3 rpm and i hand turn mine 180 degrees at a time. i get perfect wraps hand turning. i don't mean to say that i sit there and turn the rod. i turn 180, pull off an sag with a spatula and let sit 5 minutes and turn again. i eventually work up to where i am letting the rod sit for a half hour. by that tiame it is done sagging. i only do one rod at atime and do this in the evening while watching television. that may be impractical for you. i would get a much slower motor and as others have said not put too much finish on at one time.

Hi Gordon,
I get the best results by applying finish a bit heavy then "wicking off" the excess. No waves or bumps.
However, I use high build instead of the light stuff.

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

Gordon, I use LS Supreme, and I also have a 165 rpm and a 40 rpm finishing motor, and have very little problem., I have them setup on a pulley system, that I only have to switch belts, which takes only a few seconds. One thing that I do is especially on the butt wraps where the finish tends to get ridges, is that when I have put a coat on, while the rod is spinning, is use a wide paint scraper held under the rotating rod, and that helps to take off the excess finish. I just wipe it off the paint scraper, and make sure any other areas, including the guide wrap areas are not having too much finish on them and take that off also. Oh by the way I use mostly a spatula, and also have a heated drying box with temps to 90 degrees. My house too , is cool, and it takes so long for the finish to dry beyond tacky. When using lite build, more coats are needed to get the desired finish. I sometimes do 3-4 coats, depending on the rod. Just my take on things.

When it's cold like that, the finish won't sag on the bottom (not very well, anyway) showing you that you have too much on in one area and such. The cold does contribute to your problem in this manner.

You'll need to ensure that you have a nice thin coat all the way around with those cooler temps; how you do that is up to you. On longer areas such as butt wraps and decal areas, I use my finger to apply it and can 'feel' the thickness by doing it that way after 20 some years of doing it this way- my finger = my spatula...

Putter
Williston, ND

so again, what's the fix for lumpy finish? i just had that happen to me on the butt area using a credit card. the card was wider than usual but still maybe only i/3 the length of the finish area. FC lite build formula. my memory says wet sandpaper then finish again. i do the butt area first so it hadn't dried much and although i saw some ridges i had hoped spinning at 6rpm would eventually settle the finish. i did try to remove some excess finish after application. actually, for the first 30-45 minutes, i hand-rotated 180 degrees 3 times, then turned on the power.

eric
fresno, ca.
who will check the archives too for the answer...

I haven't tried the ol' spatula method, Eric. My guess would be that at the ends of the card, where the card "wind rows" the finish, would be where you're getting the wavy, lumpy looking finish?? Just a guess. The fix? Don't know. Maybe working out a method of using the spatula that double covers, triple covers all areas and doesn't follow the same pattern of where the card is put onto the rod to remove excess? I haven't tried it so I'm not sure, just guessing here.

Putter
Williston, ND

thanks putter. my thoughts exactly. i think i once suggested to another to use a wider length of card, equal to the area where finish is applied. i should heed my own suggestions. smacking head with hand...

eric
fresno, ca.

LOL!! Been there, done that ("knock on wood" is what I call it!)--with a "dooooh" right behind it!

I think Doc emailed me a 'pollock' joke on this one, maybe he'll email you with it-funny!!

Putter
Williston, ND



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/05/2006 04:11PM by Randy Parpart (Putter).

Eric,
Try a deck of cheap plastic coated playing cards. 52 custom spatulas for less than a buck! Just cut one to the length of the wrap and hold it close enough to the finish to level and remove excess. Make sure that the rod is PERFECTLY level

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

You know, I don't think I've read on here where anyone actually describes how they use these things to do this? Maybe someone could do that some day. Like run card over area several times and 2 rotations each time, etc, etc. Might be nice to know other than just using some form of spatula to do it with. It's gotta be the method more than the instrument?

Putter
Williston, ND

IIf I'm not hand turning, I put the rod on my dryer (4rpm but probably doesn't make any difference) and with the rod turning away from me, I hold the playing card (cut to size) behind the blank, towards the bottom, making contact with the finish. The card sort of acts like a squeege leveling and removing excess epoxy. Excess finis will kind of load up on the card so I just wipe it off on the newspaper that I use as a "drop cloth" under the blank. I don't run the card over the blank, but let the blank rotate against the card until it is nice and level.

This being said, When possible, I still feel that I get the best finish by hand turning!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Newspaper drop cloth??Why didnt I think of that!I just started making spatulas fron the plastic Liciense plates that dealers put on new cars before the tags arrive.They are huge compared to a credit card and can be cut to the length of a butt wrap.Working at a dealer I have an endless supply of these.

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

Hey rodcrafters thanks for the reply, as normal I found it helpful and full of humor as well

I will attempt to describe my system of application, I use an applicator stick about the diameter of a Q tip and drip the LS Supreme on the rod as it is turning (3-6 RPM). I work up the rod and coax the finish gently by working the stick back and forth over small sections of 1-2 inches at a time. I make sure the finish covers all arond the rod and there is no blank spaces then I work the next 1or 2 inches until my butt wrap is covered. I do the eyes the same way using a tooth pick to fill the cavity under the eyes. When the whole rod is done I go back and whisk off the excess with the same stick, I may have to repeat the whisking process until I am satisfied with my results. I also check to see that the finish is flowing smoothly and if there is any areas of the finish that have dimple or blank areas I may have to add a drop of finish and watch to see how it levels. All this is done while the rod is rotating and before the finish starts to set up too hard. I have used this method for years and have very little problem gettin g a level wrap. I also use the stick as a way to give me a nice clean end to my finish , by just holding the stick against the end of my thread and letting the rod turn I can bring the finish about the diameter of the stick beyond the thread . I think the secret of this method may be the small diameter and the shape ( round ) of the stick. Don't know how it may work for others but has worked for me for a lot of years.