Against my better judgement I put the second coat of finish on my wrap late at night - with less available light. During the final "wicking" off of the finish with my spatula, I must have gotten too close and knicked the wrap with my spatula leaving a hole or pock mark right on the top of the finish.

I think third coat is going to make the wrap look too thick so sanding down the diameter of the wrap first seams to be my only option other than stripping the wrap and starting over. I'm sure trying to fill a small void in a perfectly smooth surface isn't going to work. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

I have the exact same problem with a couple of my finish jobs. We will not talk about the one that got soot in it somehow while I flamed the bubbles with a butane lighter.

Watching this thread with interest and hoping for a solution myself.


Derek L. McMaster
Rohnert Park, CA

Born to Fish, FORCED to Work

Wraps are not difficult to sand and smooth. However, it can get tricky when you have to sand a wrap that is holding a guide - working over and around the guide foot is tough.

You could lightly block sand just the area with the imperfection and recoat that one wrap. Shouldn't hurt too much and you're only talking about one wrap, right?

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

Two thin coats are better than an thin and a thick coat, because it still leaves room for another thin coat to cover a thin void in the 2nd coat, furthermore this extra coat might only be preceiptable to the trained Rod Makers eye. I fill tunnels on the 1st coat, but I don't really go onto the blank until the second thin coat, achieving unform width around the blank with a spatula edge

Two relatively thin coats is one answer. Check for thin spots and good leveling every little while during the first hour of turning/drying. If you see the bad spots, fill them then, blending the extra fininish into the previously-applied stuff. Rather than fool with a wrap over a guide by sanding or some other approach, I think (and have done, many, many times) I'd strip the wrap off ,and re-do it.


Uncle RUss

checking for voids is a good thing early on, I shine a bright ligth at just the right angle to check the coverage shortly after the thread have been coated, voids, spaces become easily visible and there is still time to do something about them whcih will meld into the finish as Russ noted