To all,

Just thought I'd share a few thoughts on my experiance with how well ThreadMaster epoxy has faired in an actual on-the -water <> Hard fished enviornment.

I've had several field rods (a couple dozen of them) build with the ThreadMaster in the hands of many anglers now ever since Andy released it.

My field rods are rods that I send out to clients to try out prior to purchase.

Most anglers will try the rod hands-on for a few weeks in real fishing conditions.

When finished, they pass the rod on to another awaiting angler for his/her evaluation...Then on again to another angler <> etc etc

I will often not see these rods for 6 months at a time, and they are fished hard in the interim by a diversity of anglers.

Some of these rods have literally been around the world, going from the Skeena , tribs in BC with one angler, off to the Kola in Russia with another, then on to the Rio Grande in Argentina <> Etal.

... A few have been at Lodges in BC and Argentina going from hand to hand for the entire season, perhaps going through the hands of hundreds of anglers.

My point is: The rods have been fished hard and put away wet for a long time.

I have gotten a few of these rods back into the shop now this Summer for tune-ups prior to shipping out again.

Upon inspection of these rods I have found that the epoxy has endured extremely well: Guide seperation from the blank has been non-existent.

No cracking or peeling, and minimal UV ambering <> In this regards actually much better then I expected.

These are fly rods up to 16' long , consistently delivering in excess of 1100 grains, and at times heavy T-14 tips up to 20' long for months at a time, fighting and defeating fish in excess of 50 pounds....Tossed around in jet boats, thrown onto beach rocks for the quick photo, banged against tree branches.

.... All normal fishing stuff.

I did replace the inevidible crunched snake, or de-ringed ceramic stripper as per normal, and upon removing these: Found that the epoxy pentration through the threads was fully adhered to the blank...Yet easily removed with light heat from a hair dryer <> All plus's from a repair stand point.

In short <> From my perspective the ThreadMaster has performed well in the extremely un-friendly real world fishing enviornment.

In truth <> If the ThreadMaster had not performed well; I probably would not have said any of this, and would have gone back to my previous epoxy and let it be.

... But being as how it has proven to perform so well ; I thought I'd share this, and will continue to use this product.

ThreadMaster adds to the credibility of my rods, and ultimatly increases my sales... Plus is easy to work with in the shop.

The perfect combination.

Good job Andy...};^)...!!!

Bob Meiser

I'm really curious about "...epoxy pentration through the threads was fully adhered to the blank...Yet easily removed with light heat ...". In an earlier post, I think by Bill Stevens, I think it was mentioned that removal was not easy. I dont recall if heat was used but as I recall, CP was NOT used. Did you use CP on these?

This post by Bob is really more of a real time test. My experience was totally different. I was working with a huge tuna stick with extremely long metallic thread underwraps on an unfinished blank surface. I also added acetone to the first coat of Threadmaster and flamed it. Bob, I am curious to know did the thread unwind by tearing through the finish layer when you removed it or did the thread keep breaking without cutting through the old layer. One of the things I desire in a finish is for it to maintain a slight amount of flexibility with age on multiple layers of thread. I was glad to hear the non yellowing comment - I am using some TM over white underwraps with colored water slide decals that I hope will stay clear for the long haul.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2006 08:53AM by Bill Stevens.

Guys,

Real quick here...

I NEVER use CP on ANY guide system <> Only on cosmetic wraps.

It has been proven to me time and again that CP and working guides are a bad combination.

And please ... Not to start controversy here: Just my experiance.

I do not add acetone to any of my epoxies to acheive desired flows or alter cure times <> Rather I prefer to use flame friendly epoxies to acheive this.

I do not alter epoxies in this fashion simply because I do not understand their chemistry...Ralph is much more knowledgable at this sort of thing then I'll ever even wish to be.

So this sort of question should be addressed to the more knowledgable.

I flame the ThreadMaster quite a bit <> Usually two or three times in the total application process at various stages of cure set-up to acheive my desired flows and assure thread penetration and tunnel fill.

I will always use a bubble popper for this.

For an average two handed rod say 13' or longer <> Complete with a detailed butt wrap and feather inlay:

I will mix a 10 cc batch, and do the entire guide system, ferrule wraps and priliminary under coat butt wrap for the inlay in one sitting <> Leveling the final cure stage of the epoxy with flameing.

Then left alone to turn and cure.

For me, this can generally be done to a finished, and very level coverage of the entire rod in the average working time allowed with ThreadMaster; which is about 15 to 20 minutes ... Perfect.

My second sitting will cover the then applied feather inlays and hand written personalizations etc.

As far as thread removal from guides etc. for repairs ?

I have found it true that the ThreadMaster may be just a bit less fexable then other brands I have used.

... But when slightly heated with a hair dryer, I can easily spin off the thread no worries. Easily pulling away the epoxy coating as I proceed without breaking size "A" thread.

In any regards <> I'd never enjoy removing an entire butt weave regardless of the epoxy used...Never a fun thing...};^)...!!!

Ambering from UV exposure is a given with any of our present epoxies; eventually ambering will happen to some degree <> But I must say again that the ThreadMaster has minimized this problem for me...Surely FAR better then other epoxies I've used in the past.

I am sure that there are epoxies that will acheive many of these same goals and outcomes for the individual rod builder, as there are no doubt several excellent finishing products out there in this regards.

....This is just my experiance with ThreadMaster, and for me it covers everything....No pun intended.

Bob Meiser

I did a test stick with treadmaster and two others all were white wraps with half of each wrap covered with aluminum foil the other half left exposed set out in the sun from Feb until middle of July. Threadmaster had very faint yellowing, LS had moderate amounts and Aftcote was very yellowed. I also have had no problems with removing thread and the finish a little heat and it comes off. I'll try to post some pics of the test wraps.

The only thing I would mention about flaming finishes is that it tends to create a situation where the epoxy over cures and thus ends up being far more brittle than the formulator ever intended it to be. It is not a good practice although I know many do it and have been doing it for years with what they feel are no ill effects. I suspect it contributes to any supposed cracking of finishes as much or more than anything else.

Now anyone who needs to apply a gentle heat from a flame held a few inches below the wrap, for just a very few seconds in order to aid bubble release, is probably not going to run into trouble here. But the flaming and torching of finish that many do is certainly detrimental to the properties that the epoxy formulator intended to build into the product.

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

Thought I'd piggyback with a question on threadmaster here. If not OK, let me know and I'll ask in a different thread. Did not want to want to clog up this board with too many threads - trying to pace my questions here.....:)

Wanting to have white silk wraps go transparent. Lacquer works. Would Threadmaster epoxy work to make silk threads go transparent/translucent?

Thanks,
Mo

Good advise Tom, and probably a good generic practice as you described when using various finishes.

...But I did do a bit of research, and discussion with ThreadMaster prior to utilizing my heat application process, which in truth is actually very light and quick in practice.

I think my very point was that after 9 months in the field now with ThreadMaster <> My process of heat application seems to not have adverserly affected the finish, nor it's ability for easy repair.

I guess I'll have to see what an additional 9 months will reveal, and indeed 9 months after that <> As I'm sure I'll be getting more rods back for various repairs in that interim.

I'll report this as well....

Bob Meiser