Okay folks I'm sure this is basic but . . . . I have never used fish hawk thread. I have always used gudebrod NCP. I bought some fishhawk at the expo and put the underwraps on my rod in the 221 orange color. My question is, do I need to use color preserver on the fish hawk thread? Again I have only ever used NCP and have not used it before, so any advice would be great.

Thanks ,


Craig

If the thread you used is not NCP or metallic you need Color Preserver.

NCP does not require it, no matter if it is Gudebrod or Fishhawk. But you can use it if you like - the NCP will stay even truer to color if you do, particularly on very dark blanks.

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

Guess I need to buy some color preserver. The fishhawk I have is regular nylon and not metallic or NCP. Thanks for the replies.

Craig

Craig,
I'm pretty much a newb as well.......I've used a couple different CPs and I've found the chromaseal to work really well. I brush it on fairly thick (it will drip if I let it sit), wipe the brush off, then brush it all off the thread so that the thread looks wet with no milky white layer.
I have used both one coat and two coats with no change in results. I'm not in any rush so I use two coats now just because I read so many here do it that way and I might as well play it safe.
I have found some additional advantages to using CP as well. I find that I get hardly any bubbles anymore. I build mostly offshore saltwater stuff and use underwraps, using CP on the underwrap prevents my guide wrap from digging in. Sometimes I have to walk away from a rod for a while, one time was a month. I used CP on what I had completed and when it was time to get back at it, I just blew the rod off with my compressor and there was no dust, hairs, etc stuck in the thread. I have also messed around with some cross wraps that have random direction changes and sharp turns where the thread just will not stay where I put it. So, I have used a pin dipped in CP and put a tiny drop on the thread and then hit it with a hair dryer to make it stay put. Works pretty good.
I'm sure I'll find more uses as I continue to try new stuff and run into more problems. Like I said, I'm a newbie to so take all this with a grain of salt. (anybody know what that means?)
Anybody else have any other uses for CP other than its intended purpose as a color preserver?
Steven

Craig,
There is no need to put color preserver on any thread that you use.
There is only a need to put color preserver on a thread which is non NCP and which you want to keep the colors closer to the color on the spool.

I personally prefer to use NON NCP thread with NO color preserver. I like the look of the thread, and I like the way that the epoxy finish penetrates the thread much better with non NCP style thread.

However, if you want truer and or brighter colors - then the use of color preserver makes sense.

It is simply a matter of taste.

There is really no benefit - except for color preservation in using cp, and no real penalty in not using CP except for the different color of the finished product.
i.e. there is little to be gained either way with respect to strength or bonding - except for personal rod builders preference.

Take care
Roger