My test wraps of Diamondite finish are drying as we speak. I'll go into that on another thread. But I have a serious contamination problem.

I made about thirty test wraps of Gudebrod and Pac Bay thread to use as a color bar. The wraps looked alright for this purpose. The trouble came when I applied the CP (Diamondite). I don't believe that's the problem. That just made it show up. Especially in the reds and browns. I have black streaks running around the wrap in a continuous band, in some cases in from the left side about 2-3 mm and also about 2-3 mm wide. Right about where I snip the pull thread under the wraps. In some wraps, the streaks are more continual, and not as wide. I cleaned my nippers in isopropyl, put on vinyl gloves; etc., nothing changed. If anything it got worse.

I put finish over them anyway, it's a test after all, on an old rod blank. (cleaned that again too.) I'll take some pictures tomorrow after I finish with the Diamondite and post them. So far, I am quite pleased with the Diamondite. There is a bit of a learning curve. It certainly is different from working with epoxy finish (at least for me). One really good thing is that the CP does dry quickly. So I was able to wrap another few wraps of Ruby Red; one after each different thing I tried to make the streaks go away.

Does anyone have a clue as to what may have caused this? Or, what I should try next? Thankfully, it happened on this test rather than on my new rod...

Thanks for any replies... RON.

I assume it's happening on both brands of thread, so we can rule out a bad spool? And it's not there until you wrap it (spooled thread looks fine)?

What's the thread feeding THROUGH? Perhaps a dirty tensioner or ceramic thread guide?

Mark Griffin
[]
C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2007 09:52PM by Mark Griffin.

Just a guess, bt when you are pulling up on the pull though to cut it, are you leaving a gap?? Are you burnishing/packing AFTER you cut the pull through? Look at the streak with a magnifying glass and see if it might be the blank showing through. Sometimes CP relaxes the thread

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

I agree that it sounds more like a packing issue. Along with what Mike is saying, I've found that if you do a great packing job through the wrap, do a tie off, pull it tight and trim without first doing a final packing, you can get a small band that isn't as packed as the rest of the wrap, which will show up dark. Getting a consistent pack/tension is a friend.

I've deliberately contaminated wraps with various things before CP/finish to try and duplicate dark streaks that show up now and then. Interestingly enough, all contaminates I've tried actually made the finished thread lighter, not darker. Which makes perfect sense if you really think about it.

I also agree it sounds like a packing issue.When you think its packed tight enough pack it again.

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

THANK you all for helping me solve this dilemma.

Mark, (don't you ever sleep?) Yes, both brands-- mostly reds and browns. One of the things I changed was the thread path. Taped on two ceramic guides to insure clear, clean path. (A 12 and 10 from your clearance bin, really nice by the way.)

Mike, Mick and Fred: Sound advice as always. You are right about my packing and wrapping job. For this purpose (to try out Diamondite and develop a color bar of my new Pac Bay thread) I didn't labor over the wrapping. I did burnish, did try to do a decent pack job, but was not too finicky about it. That was a lot of wrapping for me to do. You guys could do it in your sleep...

A poor pack and burnishing job does explain some of the streaks, especially on some of the lighter colors. I did look at them through a magnifying glass. I do have some gaps where the blank shows through (root beer brown). BUT, that does not explain a continuous black band almost an 1/8" wide around the wrap. My packing wasn't that bad... At least, I think it wasn't...

I only had one color in common in Gudebrod and Pac Bay: Candy Apple Red. I wrapped the two adjacent to each other, to see how they differed. I did take a couple shots of those pre-CP. Unfortunately, I didn't shoot any just after applying CP. I will shoot some tomorrow and post those.

I am going to post the pre-cp photos, right now, under "miscellaneous", and you can see exactly how good or bad the wrap job was. I beat down the urge to spot out the dust spots-- it's 80 degrees outside, no A/C, the patio door stays open. Please stick with me on this one; I'm dazed and confused...

Thanks, again RON. I don't think I posted those pictures correctly. Haven't a clue what "URL of page to parse images from" means. When I hit submit, it takes a while, says "done" and the screen goes blank...I'll try again tomorrow.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2007 03:33AM by RON NIX.

If it is not a packing pronlem. Look at your tension device for cotamination
Good Wraps Bob

Make those same wraps over a very light colored blank and your "streaks" will disappear. What you're seeing are minute gaps where the dark blank is showing through. I suspect the advice about packing your wraps tighter is on the money.

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

I've seen that problem if I hadn't applied CP correctly and consistently. Some finish seepage into thread that isn't sealed will show up dark.

Dave

Bob, you could be right. I use a thread bobbin with a ceramic tube. I wouldn't think it would be contaminated, but who knows? I'll clean it.

Tom, I looked at the wrap through a magnifying glass with a strong back light. The blank is translucent root beer brown. I can see the blank through those gaps that I do have. This is a stain, looks something like black mold, in a 3mm wide band all around the wrap.

Dave, you could be right too. My application technique may be poor. But, I know it's not from finish seepage as the streaks show up just as the CP starts to dry.

If I could post some pictures it would help tremendously. I can get to the upload page, pick a category, browse to my picture, and get the file to come up in the window. After that I'm lost. I hit submit, wait awhile, and a blank screen comes up. Would someone walk me through it? I'm pretty much computer illiterate.

Thanks for your help. RON.