I remember reading somewhere that after grinding and shaping the feet on guides that its not a good idea to use a black sharpie to darken and help hide the shine of the bright metal foot under the the wrap. I've been doing it that way for awhile and don't seem to have any problems with finish although I also usually use a heavy flood coat of CP on the wraps of the (mostly SW) rods I build. What am I missing and what's the downside of the quick and easy sharpie solution?

Paul. if it works for you then it works. This is CUSTOM rod building, there are very few hard and fast rules. you'll worry yourself mad if you care too much about what others think.

Sometimes you just to take some things with a drop of saltwater. Robert couldn't have said it better.

The problem is some "prominent" builders of years past used to tell people that the Sharpie protects teh guide from rust.

I have been using Sharpies for years to darken guide feet works really well just make sure its indelible ink. I tried black paint once wasn't able to pack the thread. It kept pulling the paint with it. I went back to the sharpies.

Hi,
I use black nail polish on black guides, silver nail polish on chrome; quick drying, and the brush is in the bottle.

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble.It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." Mark Twain
John in Wethersfield, CT

Some things work and some don't. You never want to hide 2+2=5 as being correct and just another of many ways to do math. There are some answers in regards to custom rod building that certainly are either absolutely correct or absolutely wrong. Fortunately in your case here, it's not one of those instances.

Having said that, Sharpie colored guide feet won't necessarily cause any problems. If you allow it dry and then coat with CP or epoxy, you should be okay. The only problem might crop up when you hit it with a solvent based finish such as PermaGloss or similar. If you don't use a product that contains a solvent that will undermine the Sharpie ink, and most CPs and solid based epoxies won't, you're okay.

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who's the judge of what's correct and what is not? If it works and your happy then it's all good. If it doesn't work then you just don't do it again and everything is still good.

SOmetimes there atre just better ways of doing things. If you wanted to travel from FLorida to Texas, you could drive West, or you could take a boat around 90% of the WEarth andland in Cali, then drive East. YOu'll end up in teh same place going both routes.

good thought Billy.

PS - I'm not sayign that hte Sharpie is not a good idea or there are better ways, I was just saying in general. My original point was answerring the question what possible downside there might be usingthe Sharpie.

I think some may have missed the point of what I was saying. Using rubber cement for gluing an EVA inlay into a grip would be wrong. Heating PermaGloss in the microwave to try and thin it would be wrong. Using Titebond to adhere foam or cork to a rod blank would be wrong. None these will work and at least can be very dangerous. There are indeed absolutes in rod building just as there are in anything else. The list of things folks often do and then have trouble with would fill a good sized textbook. And yet many defend some terrible practices (some of which can have dangerous consequences) as simply another way to do something with there being no right nor wrong involved.

The guy who called me last week about the fire in his shop was torching PermaGloss. He was upset because he read somewhere on the internet that you could do this with supposedly good results. He had a hard time believing that something he read on the internet could possibly be wrong. But it wasn't just another way to do something - it was absolutely wrong and he nearly paid a dear price for it.

If you look at what I said above, using a Sharpie marker to color guide feet isn't one of these instances. You can use it or not. It's neither right nor wrong. The only time you'll run into trouble with it is if you use a coating on the threads that can dissolve the Sharpie ink. Some can. I listed one above.

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ANother major problem with the internet is half answers to questions. THat is a major reason why there are so many "oops" posts. THis is a great example of one of them - Tom points out a BEWARE of using a sharipe - had he not experianced this himself, or know someone else that did - the door is open for many people to run into this same problem. THisis the main reason I tell people over and over to take anythignyour rad on any internet forum with a grain of salt, and use that as a starting point for your testing.

I've used a Sharpie to touch up guide feet on black snake guides on dozens of bamboo rods with the wraps finished with spar varnish and never had any sort of bleed thru problem, I've even done it on wraps done with white thread and finished with varnish to make the wrap clear , still no problems.. If you smell most permanent markers like Sharpie and other brands you'll notice that they smell like denatured alcohol, not a common solvent for many finishes other than shellac, any finish that has a different solvent base will work fine.
john

There is a CP on the market that will make a permanent Sharpie run like Usain Bolt being chased by a hungry tiger.

Almost every method has pros and cons. Some techniques work for some and not for others. I can guarantee that techniques I use in Tampa, will not work the same for Billy in NYC ... humidity, temperature and lack of grits all have an effect.

Personally, I prefer Testor's paint markers. And guess what? You can run into problems with them too ... LOL.