The directions to Devcon 2 ton epoxy says to roughen up the surface before applying. In the past I have not but I wonder if a light sanding of the blank might help with the adhesion of the epoxy. Thank Bill

Look in the library under surface prep and you will get all your answers.

Bill, I have not experienced any handle failures. I avoid conducting any surface prep except for a thorough wiping of a soft cloth dampened with alcohol. The reason I avoid any sanding is to allow me to keep my opitions open should I decide to change components.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2007 07:15PM by Patrick Vernacchio.

I break the shine of a glossy blank with ex-fine ScotchBrite and do nothing but clean a matte blank. I clean any/all blanks and only break the shine under grips & reelseats. Ralph

If at first you don't succeed, go fishing, then try, try again.

The best bond will be obtained with a water-break-free surface. All you'd want to do is a very thorough deglossing/scouring of the surface with some Scotchbrite or very fine sandpaper (600 grit or higher). Deep scratches and gouges actually weaken the bond.

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The water-break-free degree of sanding is always the way to go., Am I wrong but, has technology advanced such that this process might not be as effective as it once was with the advent of STAY-PUT epoxies? The old style epoxies were much thinner and closer to the viscosity of water so it could actually be drawn by the proper prep of the mating surfaces..whereas now with them being so thick they produce there own breaks as it were?

Not really, the water break free test simply indicates a good surface condition for any epoxy. Granted, some "wet" the surface better than others, but in terms of what we do with fishing rods, most all adhesive specific epoxies will bond more than good enough for our purposes if the surface exhibits a WBF condition.

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Yes on a prepared WBF mating surfaces where adhesive is applied, my point is the creep to get to other surfaces that might have been inadvertantly missed. I like the notion of the adhesive being aided to self penetrating/spreading drawing to these possible missed locations, aided by the chemical reaction which produces heat and expansion, inhanced by a surface that urges its spreading via an adhesive whose viscosity can more easily spead, might be equally favored to that of one that stays put. No one can debate the fact that these adhesives work where appled to properly preped surfaces, traveling to where they are not is suggestion here. Dark side, it might spread to where you don't want it.

If the surface hasn't been deglossed, it won't likely adhere very well.

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yes a deglossed surface, a given I stipulated too in a previous post. Considering that and concentrating on the difference between the new stay-put thick epoxy, and the old thinner drippy epoxy and how the thin epoxy's has an ability to migrate over this prepared surface (to areas that haven't been coated) while the thick stuff will not? Has not the new thick epoxy negated the ability for the epoxy to self spread over this prepared surface to an area possibly missed in the adhesive application process? While the thin epoxy is able to be drawn by this prepard surface to areas possibly ommited?