Wrapping with white Pearsall Naples and needing a bit of technical help. Obviously if anyone on the web knows, it's you guys....:)

1. I want the Naples to go clear. Everyone of the few photos that I see silk going transparent, the finish is quite thick and fills the gap under the thread where the guide feet meets the blank.

In my case, I prefer a thin finish for minimal weight. I tried droplets of Permagloss which saturated the threads after I wicked up the excess. However, I did not put enough to fill the gaps as I did not want excess weight. The thread over the gap shows up to be translucent rather than transparent. This makes the wrap look somewhat patchy or uneven.

By the way, I never did get the fully clear transparent look on any part of the wrap that I've seen on some bamboo rods which leads me to wonder if Permagloss is not nearly as effective as Varnish in making the silk go transparent. The wraps are almost transparent but not fully- soft of like a very light milky film.

Must I fill the gap for that part to go transparent? Is there an alternative solution if I want minimal finish? As it is, I think my finish already weighs more than the thread or the guide.

2. If i finish the same way, would darker threads such as black or burgundy exhibit the same problems?

3. On some rods used for twilight fishing, I'd like the wrap around the tip to be a hot pink or fluorescent green. I'm thinking of trying to paint on the colors on the unfinished white silk.

Would this work and any suggestions as to what type of pigmented paint that I can pick up off the shelf?

Thanks in advance for your help. You guys are tops!

Mo

White silk wit a thin varnish is going to be the ticket for the utmost in near invisibility. I think you may be going just a tad overboard on the weight thing. Filling in the thread until it is smooth on the surface isn't going to require all that much finish, of any type. You could even use epoxy and just put it on super thin.

With the Permagloss, I think you can get the invisibility you want but you can't go in and wick or remove any. It's going to have to sit on and move down into the thread. Silk will absorb a liquid and you have to allow it to do that if you want it to go clear. Try a test stick and put the PG on it and let it stand without removing any. You can't possibly get much weight on there because PG is so thin to begin with. I'd think 2 or 3 coats will be sufficient to protect the thread and yet still be a very thin coating. The first coat, of course, will be the one that turns the silk transparent.

On the hot pink or green thing, you could tint your PG or varnish the color you want and use that. Or, a small wrap of NCP thread in the color you want.

........

Mo. I think I get your point about the accumulation of finish at the guidefoot causing a slightly different coloration. I would suggest that you try tung oil or a thinned varnish to see if you can't get a more even and invisible finish. The variation is not as noticeable under a colored thread. I am not sure as to whether you can leave the space alongside the guide foot unfilled. You can tip your wrap with a contrasting thread, but you can't tuck the tag under the white . If it the tipping does not require CP, you can varnish them together. Don

Tom and Don,

Thanks. Really appreciate you taking time.

A couple of quick response.

1. I did saturate with permagloss and did not wick until it is well saturated. I did try another wrap on a bamboo chopstick as a test without wicking. Just completely saturated but without filling in the tunnels between the guide and 'rod' - and it was a bit better, but not much. It also still look a bit 'filmy' all around the wrap.
2. Weight - actually, since I'm building UL, I believe that I can feel the weight of the finish. For example, recoils are .06 grams each. Thread is .03. The finish could be more than both if I put it on thick. It affects the recovery rate for very light tips. That's why I'm striving for lowest weight.
3. Based on what Don said, I may try colored silk instead and see if that's more even.

Would love any more comments from the forum....

Thanks,
Mo

The traditional way to get transparent/translucent wraps is to use thin (3/0-4/0) silk in white or light colors and spar warmed and mixed 50/50 with walnut alkyd (art suppliers carry it) medium for the first two coats, followed by straight spar. The reason for wicking the excess on the first couple of coats is to ensure that it dries and doesn't gum up. If you prepare your guide feet properly, the snakes should have practically no gap under the thread and the stripper minimal gap, but the gaps must be filled, not only to get the transparency you want, but also to keep moisture out. Some makers have been able to get fully transparent wraps with poly or epoxy finishes, but the few that have done so probably did a lot of experimenting (thinning, etc) to get their good results.

Mo,
Try Flex Coat Lite thinned 50% with denatured alcohol., even on Naples it will make it transparent with no shimmers. Gossamer will give you a finer wrap than Naples, but it is a PIA to work with, I like 3/0 YLI, it seems to in the middle between Naples and Gossamer as far as thicknes goes. Yes, you must fill the tunnels along the guide feet to have the wrap look right, otherwise it will show air pockets there.
john

Thanks to all.

John, I thought that Naples was 4/0 and thinner than YLI. At least that is what I read in the back post. I think you are finding that YLI is thinner than Naples? I think Angler's Workshop's silk is by YLI too. By the way, I don't find Naples all that thin and it is very easy to work with. After snapping a couple of times, it became second nature.

Thanks.
Mo