I inherited a rod that had guides re-wrapped by the previous owner. He did not do a very good job of wrapping--he applied very thick and uneven epoxy over the threads of the rod guides. The dried/cured epoxy is very thick in some places (in excess of 1/16 inches and up to 1/8 inch thick in some spots), and the epoxy was unevenly applied.

Sometimes I have two left feet/hands, and so I am afraid that if I apply heat to melt/soften the epoxy, I may damage the blank.

Is there an alternative to heating, maybe sanding down the dried epoxy until it reaches a desired thickness and smoothness? Most of the archives on this board seem to discuss the heating option.

thanks in advance

I'm just guessin, but if he did that bad of a job, he may have done just as bad a job on the thread. I think that I would do a complete rewrap. Heat from a hair dryer or small heat gun should not be any problem as long as you keep the heat source moving. I warm up the guide wrap and with the guide facing up, I use a single edge razor blade held horizontally against the guide foot and cut from the edge of foot to the guide leg, staying on top of the foot so that you can't accidentally cut into the blank. Pull the guide off and hit with a little heat and you should be able to actually unwind the wrap. Any left over residue can usually be scraped off with a finger nail or back edge of a plastic knive or burnishing tool

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!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2006 02:18PM by Mike Barkley.

I re-built a rod my Grandfather just couldn't do without Christmas before last. What prompted me to build it for him was a re-tie on a guide he had broken. He and I live a couple hours apart so he carried it to a local tackle shop for a new guide. Not only did the guy put on a guide with a blue shock ring (complete 180 from what the other guides on this rod looked like), but he finished it with 5 minute epoxy! I use 5 minute on my tip tops so I know what a pool of it looks like when cured. This wrap was completely covered with bubbles (millions of them) and wasn't exactly the most level finish I've ever seen. You should have seen the thread work underneath.

Do yourself a favor and to a complete re-wrap. In the end you'll be much more satisfied knowing you did it and it was done right.

Jay

A friend of mine wanted me to redo a Fenwick HMG flyrod someone built for him.The finish job was the worst I've everseen.It looked like the ice does on a lake when the wind piles it up.I tried scraping it off.Several thinners/solvents.Nothing seemed to work.I tried a little heat from a heat gun and the rod got soft and broke in two.
The guy understood and had me order a new kit to build for him.I redid a All Star rod of mine last year and did not have much trouble.I think if you use color preserver it makes it much easier to tear down and start over.