I've done a couple searchs but wasn't able to find anything that related to the problem I'm having.

My finish is level in the center but not the ends. If it were just one end I would say that something is way out of level but both ends are larger than the center.

Any ideas as to what is going on?

darby

Very common for a rod that is not perfectly leve on centerline. Can't really explain why it happens but it does and is common to your description.


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Darby what are you calling finish - two part epoxy type or Perma Gloss?

If Perma Gloss is involved read -

[www.rodbuilding.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/2007 02:42PM by Bill Stevens.

You are never going to get a flat perfect cylinder. The thinner the viscosity finish you use the flatter it will be at the ends. All for the same reason that a drop of water is round. Surface tension.

Of course if you are REALLY spinning the dryer, centrifigal force will cause the finish to pool in the center as well. But you'd bave to be spinning pretty darned fast for that to happen I think

I believe he's having the opposite problem - his finish is thicker at the ends than the middle.

And yes you can get a perfectly level finish - you should be able to set a straightedge across the back of the wrap and see no daylight between it and the finish, anywhere along it's length. Not that it's necessary, but it can and is routinely done.

Generally, the "football" effect with more in the middle than the ends is due to applying too much finish. Thicker on the ends than the middle is usually due to a non-level rod.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/2007 03:51PM by Tom Kirkman.

"you should be able to set a straightedge across the back of the wrap and see no daylight between it and the finish, anywhere along it's length."

you mean put something with a straight edge on the butt side of the wrap and look from the tip side? this is the first time ive heard of this.

Sure. A nice flat, level finish will be almost perfectly flat. If you read the volume 9 #2 issue (I think that's the one) the key to getting perfectly level finishes will be yours.

In most cases, finishes that are lumpy, bumpy, etc., simply have had too much finish applied. Remember - all epoxies will level perfectly. Pour some out on a countertop and watch what happens. Lumps and bumps will not form. It will level, Anything else on a guide wrap is caused by too much finish being applied and when it sags and the rod is rotated, those sags are spread all around the entire circumference of the wrap.

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Just my 2 cents,. while the rod is turning an the finish has been applied, look at the bottom side of the wrap. Look for uneven finish lines. If you have to much finish in one area brush it into the low spots or just wick off the excess.
Good Wraps Bob

The finish bulges at both ends of the wrap. I've been using 2 part epoxy Flex Coat Rod Wraping Finish High Build.

I used a 1/4" steel rod, wraped one end with masking tape and put it into the drying motor and set up the way I have been. I put a level on the rod and wasn't out of level more than 1/32" per foot (length of rod 3') .

I could understand the blob on one end (or a finish that was like a cone one end bigger than the other) if it were out of level but getting a blob on both ends is perplexing to say the least.

From the replies I will be trying very thin coats and several of them and see if that helps.

Does High Build lend itself to light coats?

darby

Sense you are using FC. You can apply a little heat. The heat well-let FC flow off the wrap, also the heat well show you where the high spots are and you can wick off or wipe the high areas too the low spots. If you have never used heat before, you need to practice. I use this method. I use a butane torch, blue flame. I place the flame in front of my hand, I want the heat just to warm my hand without burning my skin, this is the distance you keep the flame from the finish. Remember to keep the flame moving. Never stop because you well fry your finish in a heart break.

If the rod is off level, the "blob" will form at both ends of the wrap. Don't ask me to explain that, but it's a common thing when the rod isn't dead on level.

Your rod doesn't sound that far off, but you might want to get even closer, if you can.

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Darby;
Are you applying the finish just to the threads or are you overlaping a tad onto the balnk?
If doing the first try the later in may solve your problem. Just a thought.

One end I could certainly understand,,, but both? Smells of uneven application and/or insufficient leveling. If level, should collect in the middle, if off-level should go to the low end.
What I was refering to on never being able to get a perfectly flat finish was at the ends. It will round. Not that you'd want them square anyway, but it won't be a perfectly formed cylinder.
But yeah,,, I read the opposite of the question for some reason.
Will say that I had the same thick at the ends problem for a bit, but it was my own doing. I had purposely been putting more epoxy on the ends because the higher wraps on the feet bled off finish. Soon as I stopped using the dryer from the start, and hand rolled occasionally as needed until it was fairly setup, and then used the dryer, the 'problem' went away.

Steve you made a good point. By allowing a small amount of finish to the blank it well allow the finish on the wrap to flow down.
Good Wraps Bob

All good Ideas and be trying them.

darby

When both ends are thicker than in the middle, the rod is off level on its centerline. You can just about count on it.

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Tom's correct. Nobody thought of the tie offs.
Good Wraps Bob

After going thru this, I was playing with a tiger wrap, on a dowel, and ended up with two fat ends and a low middle. It was not level,, ,but also I think the lands of the threads were acting like augers or screws within the epoxy. I was rushing and turned the dryer on earlier than usual, so the epoxy was far from setup when I did so. The thread acting like a screw makes perfect sense in retrospect..... especially the skip thread tiger.

I think if you raed my post on how I get my finishes to level it well help. Also if you let the finish cure. Then you can go back and lightly scrape the high areas where they are near the higth of the low spots the lightly scuff the rest of the finish, then re coat . I believe this well help elimenate your problem.
Good Wraps bob