Thanks for all the valuable input.

Here is a post (to be continued) detailing the construction of a Dan Craft sig V 5wt.

Keeping It Light...

@

[www.theworriedshrimp.com]

cheers!

tws

The pic under the heading, "Sweet vanishing Valkyries!" shows a phenomenon that I have seen on light colored nylon thread before - It appears that the edges of the finish-wettted areas become darker than the areas more evenly and uniformly wetted. That this is happening on this rod is plainy evident in this pic directly under the application tool you're using. Sometimes the thread retains these shadowy "edges" even after fully cured making for uneven color. Did the wraps on this rod retain these darker areas, or did the thread eventually become uniform in color?

To help mask and reduce this I try to apply finish in "bands" around the cirumference vs. applying it in dabs. The darker areas still sometimes form, but they follow the circumference of the blank making them less evident.

Lou

WoW! Lou

thanks for the feedback.

the shadowy edge is not evident now...

however, it is not completely cured...

this is my first time using klass kote.

so far so good.

this first THIN coat appears to have soaked to the blank. the ridges on the miniscul silk wraps are clearly evident. i reckon the second (and last) coat will finish nicely.

< fingers crossed/>

thanks for the tip.

marc

Thats the beauty of silk threads, white especially, when finished correctly will be entirely invisible. Try white finished with permagloss or alchemist amber varnish underneath a feather inlay....... brilliant!
Silks are even more brilliant in any color applied to a cane rod, you can see the grain of the rod very clearly underneath the wraps when finished. A word of caution to you tho. I know a lot of people use the tension of a heavy book to wrap silks, be warned tho that no matter how clean your hands are your wraps can get screwed up by way of metalic oxides or ink inside the books. When using silk I always use a traditional tensioner but do not clamp the thread, clamp the spool instead to not remove the natural twist of the silks.
Rod still looks great tho!

Thanks,
Kyle

I welcome your advise Kyle.

using silk brings into play an entire host of new issues of which cleanlyness only one.

i was suprised to discover the strength of these pearsall gossamer threads. i fear i did get some thread twist in these my first silk wraps.

i'll perfect my technique this summer when i shall build a 4wt blank.

thanks,

marc