I used CP on a chevron fade for the first time last night. I did a search today.......wish I had done it before I applied the CP!!! I just got too excited about trying something new. Anyways, I was using the flex coat CP and it seemed a little thick so I thinned it with water per the intructions on the bottle. Now I see that you can thin it w/ 30% denatured alcohol. For some reason I thought the alcohol was used just to check for saturation after it dries (I read Doc's post regarding this a few weeks ago). Is there a difference between thining with water and alcohol?
Also, I see sugested in past posts that you should 'wick' off the extra CP. I used a paper towel to do this because I just thought that I shouldent leave excess. Does everybody remove the excess? If I used a really thin batch, would that eliminate most of the 'puddling' and just require more coats?
One more.....Quite a while ago, I recall a post regarding use of CP on metallics. I remember that they do not need CP, however, the metallic is part of the chevron and it is used as trim elsewhere as well. I tried to use the edge of the paper towel (thick, semi lint-free kind from work) to pull the CP off of those areas. Is it really that big of a deal?
I lied. ONE MORE......In the portion of the blank that is exposed, will the CP that got on this area affect the way the blank looks after finish is applied? It is a graphite with a gloss finish. I tried to only get CP next to the thread and that lead to little 'ridges' of dried CP on the blank. I wonder if I would have been better off puttin CP on the entire area and gotten a little more of a uniform look.....
Thanks alot for everything....I didnt even know what CP was until my third rod. I thought I just had to start with lighter colors!!!!
Steven

CP is no NEEDED on metallics, but doesn't affect. On open wraps, I always CP the whole wrap, open areas and all. CP will be clear under finish (many always apply CP over decals to seal it against finish lifting edges) This is just my opinion, but CP would have to be pretty darn thick before I'd thin it. I've never quite understood thinning it. It's the solids in CP that seals the thread so by diluting it you're just thinning out the solids that you want.. The idea is to coat and seal surface of 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 with the learned gentlemen named Barkley! lol I just finished a rod for a friend, and it has an open wrap diamond wrap over a graphite blank, and there's plenty of CPon the blank, and it just disappeared when the finish was applied. I don't know how that happens, but it does. The stuff is fairly forgiving, I believe. I've used a few different brands, including the one you mentioned. I used to thin it a bit, but don't bother any more and I haven't had any problems. I believe you are more apt to run into difficulties by using too little rather than too much.

The only problem I ever had was one time I used quite a bit over a long wrap with a lot of yellow Gudebrod NCP thread in it, and the yellow sort of puckered and lifted up. Other than that one occasion, so far so good.
Chuck

Is there a difference between thinning with water vs alcohol? I don't know. Why are you thinning your CP in the first place? All thinning does to CP is reduce the effectiveness of CP. Put it on, let it soak in for a few minutes, and wick/pull off the extra "milky" CP. When dry, I may use another coat of CP if I'm using PITA colors like yellow, tan, white, etc. The reason for using two thin coats instead of one thick one is for consistency. Multiple thin coats are better than a single thick coat, no matter what you are finishing, be it a thread wrap, a piece of furniture, a gun stock or a car paint job.

CP is not required on metallics. However, it doesn't have a realistic negative impact so you don't have to go nuts trying to wick CP off a trim band.

CP on the blank will not affect anything. The blank will look just fine.

CP gets a very undeserved bad rap by a lot of builders. If I had the resources, I would dip my entire rods in CP before finishing. There is no effective downside to CP, outside of cosmetic effects.

On the few open wraps that I have done, I found that 3 coats of CP hold everything together well enough that I can cut away the masking tape and trim the ends of the threads, before I start the finishing wraps.