It seems like everytime I do an open cross wrap or any other thread work that leaves areas where a matte grey or black blank is exposed, when I apply finish to the wrap and put it in the dryer...the finish leaves a nice sheen on the threads but often leaves unfinished areas on the matte blank. Its like the finish wont "stick and stay" to all of the blank that shows through if it has a matte finish. Would it work to start by lightly scotch briting the butt and then put a coat of finish on the blank before I start the thread wrap?...then reapply finish when complete? I've tried Guedbrod rod finish and flexcoat. They both seem to do this here and there. I felt at first like the thread design "funneled" the finish away from the open blank areas of the design when it turned in the dryer... Anyone else ever experience this?...maybe I got too many finger prints on it by the time my wraps were done for the finish to stick well.

Jeff, I am not an expert on finishes, but I do most of my crosswraps as open, and also use mostly matte finish blanks, In my opinion, I think that it probably has to do with contamination from your hands. I always wipe the area with alchol before I start the crosswraps, and when finished, I almost always coat the open areas first with finish and a very light coat on the threads to keep them from moving, and then let it turn and dry, and go on to the next coats of finish. I have at times had fish eyes, and go back and sand them and recoat. I use LS Supreme and am used to doing multiple coats to get the desired effect. I am going to use Threadmaster finish on the next rod for comparison sake. But if it is contamination, skin oil, fingerprints, etc. it will happen with any finish you use. Just my opinion.