I used a rod 6 1/2 foot MF jigging spinning rod for the first time last week on some pretty good walleyes and late in the week I noticed the bottom two single foot Amtek titanium guides had what appears to be frosty/cloudy looking "crazing" in the rod finish on the bottom side only. The finish is Cabela's rod finish that I have used for years-it comes in little premeasured packets so I can easily get the right ratios and have usually enough for a rod. I used one coat over color preservative-treated candy apple Gudebrod nylon, A size. I have never had this happen before and am stumped as to what could have caused it.

The guides higher on the rod are not affected. The only significant difference I can think of is that the higher guides have shorter windings, so don't see as much "bend" down the length of the winding. It appears that the crazing is caused by rod finish that couldn't take the flex, although I am not sure. If it is cracking, it is of such fine size that you really cannot see any cracks. It just looks cloudy.

Any ideas? thanks, Mick

That's Flex Coat finish, we know it to be a quality product so that's not really your problem.

Nor is the flex in that part of the rod the problem. I wonder if you could post a good close up photo of it on the photo page here so we can see exactly what they look like.

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

Tom Kirkman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That's Flex Coat finish, we know it to be a
> quality product so that's not really your problem.
>
>
> Nor is the flex in that part of the rod the
> problem. I wonder if you could post a good close
> up photo of it on the photo page here so we can
> see exactly what they look like.
>
> ............

I'll have to go into the instructions and find out how to post a photo-will have to wait a couple days-I have a lot I need to get done in the next few, but will post a photo. Thanks Tom for your fast response. I knew you or someone would know the source of the Cabelas product.

The reason I think it may be flex oriented is that the rod was perfect until the trip, then a few days into the trip it had the problem. I cannot think of another issue that would bring it on that fast. We had a lot of rain and temps between about 50 and 90F, but I wouldn't think either would affect the rod finish. The windings were completely covered, no skips in the finish, one coat. The rod was finished in my house last winter, normal temps and humidity.

Will be back with the photo asap.

Mick

Micheal,

A couple of my factory rods' finish will cloud up when faced with rain (the finish doesn't appear to have any flaws, but it still allows moisture in). I believe the culprit is moisture finding a way under your finish. If the haze goes away after a day or so, the problem is moisture getting under your finish. To get rid of the problem rewrap those guides.

Joe

Sounds like you may have had some water wick into the wrap on the bottom side, but we'll wait to see the photos to be sure. Check to see if you extended the finish past the wraps and on to the blank a bit.

Terry

I think Terry is probably spot-on. We've had this happen with several different brands of finish and it's always us, not the finish. It means we didn't purge all the moisture in the wraps before we put the finish on, or else we didn't seal the wrap 100% all the way round the guide. When we repaired it, and took extra care to make sure we covered both possibilities, we never had any more problems on those wraps or guides.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods

I've had the same thing happen before. Turns out that mine was due to moisture wicking into the wraps because I didn't extend the epoxy far enough to seal it off (or maybe I extended the CP too far). I've also had trouble with water entering the wrap at the guide ring for the same reason.

I fixed it on the next rod by being careful to only put CP on the threads, not overlap onto the blank. Then, when I finished over the CP, I extended the finish just a fraction further than normal.

Obviously, when not using CP, it's not a problem.

Not sure this is your problem, but sounds like the same thing.

Mic hael,
There are a couple of thoughts.
1. You may have a delayed chemical reaction, casued from something in the blank, finish, or solvents that may have been used during the rod construction.
2. The finish itself may have been a bit on the dated side when applied and had a bad reaction during curing.
3. On outside possibility may be that due to the thickness of the butt wraps, and the finish on the first guides, that the finish itself may have not cured as well as it should have.
4. Again, due to thickness, or mixing issues - there may have been a humidity issue with the finish.

About the only thing that I could suggest would be to strip the rod in the area of the problem, rewrap, redo the affected guides, and use "fresh" finish to overwrap the guides.

Good luck.

Roger

Those of you who suspected moisture were right. The upper guide is clear after a couple days and the cloudiness on the first guide is about 1/2 of what it was, so it has to be that there is a discontinuity in the finish somewhere.

Nice to know the Cabelas rod finish, in those handy little packets, was not the problem.

I'll try to send the photo anyway so anyone interested can see what it looked like.

Thanks to all who responded, and thanks to Tom for sending the photo instructions web site to me.

I now have a photo as requested posted in the guide windings category - look for key word "crazed" or my name, Michael Danek. It has a bright yellow background.

I shows the appearance after a couple days, when the condition had moderated to some degree.

thanks to all for your help in figuring it out.

I still am not sure how I allowed a discontinuity in the winding because I had finished past the end of the thread on both ends. Most likely I missed a spot at the ring end of the guide.

Mick