Hello,

A friend asked me to restore his vintage fiber glass St. Croix spinning rod and I have a few questions.

The factory finish was thin and appears to have worn off. Is there a noninvasive way to remove the rest of it? And can Flexcoat light be used to refinish them; or does fiber glass require varnish?

Thanks in advance,
Steve



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2006 07:10AM by Steve Dyczkiewycz.

Do you mean off the wraps or off the blank?If it is already peeling you may be able to scrape it off with a plactic butter knife.Are you trying to save the original thread wraps??If the finish will peel off you may also be able to get a finger nail in there to clean up arond the guides.Yes Flex Coat lite will work.

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

A good restoration usually means removing the guides and a re-wrap.
Cut the old wraps off by using a very sharp blade along the top of the
guide feet. Pop the guides out and put them aside for cleaning and prep
if you are going to re-use them. Peel of the threads and most of the old
finish will come with it. The rest of the finish can be removed with a plastic
scraper,thumb nail, scotchbright pad,elbow grease and sometimes a little
heat. DO NOT SAND! If you are planning to re-finish the entire blank. There
is an article in the library here you should read.

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

If you find it necessary to re-finish the entire rod blank, then as Ray Adams suggested, do some reading before you go much further.
There are 2 RMM Articles in the RBO Library that warrant study:
(The Library Button Link is at the TOP Header of each RBO WebPage)

RBO (RodBuilding.Org) Library - List of Articles,
mostly from RodMaker Magagzine (RMM)
[www.rodbuilding.org]
LOTS of good stuff here, on a variety of topics.

"Surface Preparation" by Ralph O'Quinn
[www.rodbuilding.org] [RMM-5(2)]

"Refinishing Rod Blanks" by Ralph O'Quinn
[www.rodbuilding.org] [RMM-2(3)]