I just got a fly rod in for repair and I have never seen this kind of finish before, the entire rod blank looks like some one wrapped it in A - black thread. The blank is not wrapped in black thread, but the finish looks like it, would anybody have an idea what kind of blank it might be?

My guess is that its an unsanded blank. The spiral resin leftovers are often sanded to give a smooth finish - other manufacturers leave the blank as it is, but someone can explain this better than me in english :-)
Take a look at Scott G, HP, G2 and X2 (I think) rods - they have the same spiral finish
Some consider it a classic look and believe that they are more durable.

Found this on FAOL explaning about the spiral finish

"After the graphite is wrapped or rolled around the mandrel (linear fibers running lengthwise, resins on the outside), cellophane is wrapped around the graphite to hold it together while it bakes. Cellophane won’t melt, that’s why they use it. The graphite covered mandrel is then placed in an oven and baked at closely monitored temperatures for an exact amount of time. As the rod blank bakes, the resins liquefy and penetrate throughout the graphite and scrim. If you ask a rod manufacturer how long they bake the blank and at what temperatures, you won’t get an answer. They guard their secrets very closely.

Following baking, the blank is removed from the oven and cooled. The cellophane is removed and the rod blank is usually sanded to remove the ridges caused by the cellophane. Several manufacturers don’t sand their blanks (Scott comes to mind), leaving the ridges caused by the cellophane on the finished product as a trademark. Most manufacturers sand the blanks, feeling the resin ridges serve no useful function and only add weight to the blank."


Peter



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2007 08:44AM by Peter Mulbjerg.

They will tell you what temperature and for how long - it's not a secret, but that's beside the point I guess.

When the resin softens in the oven, the cellphane tens to compress the outer surface and when removed those ridges are left on the surface. Some companies used to state that they didn't sand them off as sanding could compromise the surface integrity off the blank. That's partly true, but if done properly such sanding only remove excess resin and perhaps a 1 mil thickness of out fiber which has been somewhat compromised anyway. Often you'll notice that even on sanded blanks the tell-tale ridges are still in place near the tip - an area where the manufacturer didn't want to risk sanding into any of the power fibers.

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