OK, Gotta have a rod done by saturday, and I am out of CP (18 month old daughter dumped it). Cannot drive 65 miles to little Rock to buy some tonight. Any household chemicals that will work? I considered diluting some elmers glue with water will that work, has anyone tried it? I usually order everything I need but this just came up. Gonna finish it with perma gloss if that matters.

Thanks,

Cody

By the way, It is my rod, so if I have to tear it down later on, it isn't necessarily acceptable to me but if it will look good and the rod will hold together for the weekend I will be happy.

OK, Sorry to be so persistent, but I found the post on elmers glue, but what about spar urethane? I know it won't hurt the rod any but will it bleed the colors on the thread?

No, Elmer's glue will not fare well as a color preserver. Don't buy into that nonsense. Spar Urethane will not function as a color preserver. You need an acrylic product.

Go to your local craft or hobby store and ask them for something along the lines of an acrylic product used for protecting and sealing photographs. Or a sports type outdoor store that has a product for sealing and waterproofing maps. That will put you close. In fact, "Map Seal" is U-40 Color Lock.

...........

It's your rod so just build it without using any CP. You won't
hurt anything except that the thread color will be darker and
translucent. You may not care for the look and then again ya
might like it after it grows on ya.

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

I have some clear acrylic in a spray can, could I spray half the can in a cup then brush it on. I really don't want the thread to darken. My resources are walmart and ace hardware here, I live in a town of 3500. exactly in between memphis and little rock. Nothing is close. I think I will call the owner of macks prairie wings in stuttgart and see if I can get him to start carrying rod building supplies.

They aren't likely to be able to sell enough rod building supplies to make it worth their while. Don't be disappointed if they decline. Rod builders do not occur in great density anywhere.

Try to find a local source for AquaSeal Map Seal. That will do the job for you.

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

Call one of the sponsors and get them to overnight a bottle of ChromaSeal to you.

Yeah, it will be expensive, but it will eliminate all the nonsense with the "substitute" stuff that won't work.

Or, don't use any on this go. As you said, it's your rod, so you can tear it down later and start over.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods

A substitute is liquid floor wax such as Johnson's. It has the same milky white color as CP when it's in the liquid state but dries clear. You will not get as good a bond between the thread and the blank as the real thing but it will give you nearly the same visual effect as genuine color preserver. Note that I said nearly - the floor wax will leave your wraps about a shade darker than genuine CP. I'm not recommending that you use the floor wax but since you asked what else is available.............. I share the opinion of the other posts and would either apply the finish without CP or alter my plans and wait until I got the genuine article. You can find useable substitutes for certain items but experience has taught that you will get the best results using products that were developed, tested and refined specifically for rod building - adhesives, CP's, and finishes in particular. In most cases it seems like hurry-up, panic finishes and substitute materials cause problems and regret at some point.

Sam Stoner

You are correct, and I have not built a rod yet for myself that I was happy with the first time. so I figure this one will be no different. I appreciate all suggestions and agree that the color preserver is pretty much indispensable if I am going to use it. I will probably go without. I put several wraps on an old rod and tried several things all that I have mentioned and more and have not been happy yet, so I am going to go without. One last question, is it safe to put perma gloss over madeira.

go to a hobby store and buy some clear aerogloss. its a laquer product. if applied in three coats it will do a very good job of color preserving. be sure and put a droplet in the guide tunnels on each coat. let it dry ovenight. i have also usede OLYMPIC WATER BASED URETHANE. i say olympic because not all water based urethanes have worked well as a colore preserver. the olympic is a milky white product. let it dry well between
the three coats. guide tunnel filling is critical.

Cody

I have used "Future Floor Wax" in a pinch. It's a clear acrylic.

Rog

OK, Thanks Roger, I didn't get it finished before today but I will be finishing it Monday or Tuesday, I am going to memphis tomorrow so I am going to try to get some color preserver while I am there, if I can't I will try the Future. I knew I was going to the Little Red River today to go fishing and I wanted to have the rod done so I could use it. I ended up getting sick for the last few days and haven't been able to motivate myself to finish it before last night, at which point it was too late, at 9:00 last night I decided I was not happy with the wrapping job on some of it so I just decided I would make sure I have it right before I put the finish on it. I knew that if I went ahead and put the finish on it that I would still not be able to fish with it before this afternoon and I would have been up till two this morning doing it. All that would have added up to 2 hours of sleep and a miserable day fishing.

So, I took my other 3 weight and had a decent day but didn't catch much . I caught only 3 fish, and tried every fly that the local fly shop had on the board for the day. However one was a 5 pound brown trout and that made it all worth while. Not a trophy brown by any means but the biggest I have ever caught. I appreciate all replies and suggestions.

Cody,

Your email is hidden or I would have replied by PM. I thought of this post yesterday when I was in our local Academy Sports (large sporting goods retailer similar to Dick's Sporting Goods). Perhaps you have access to one. I noticed that they carry a small quantity of rod building materials. Among the products are Flexcoat color preserver and Flexcoat epoxyies (both the adhesive and finishing varieties). If you have acess to one of these retail stores you may be able to pick up what you need and not need to wait for a mail order.

Sam Stoner

Yeah Academy is where I usually get color preserver and some of my thread. Appreciate it though.