I am by no means a pro. this is only my 3rd rod but of all the trouble i have run into in those 3, finish was never one of them. My finish has always been crystal clear and level because I closely followed what I read and never deviated from that. This time however I applied A 2nd coat of flex coat high build and whenit dried, it looked like it has fog on the outside of it. Like it's extremely humid and i could just wipe this condensation right off but the finish is hard as usual and the fog doesn't come off. what has caused this? how can I prevent it from ever happening again, and can I fix it or help it at least?

Brandon

Most likely it is amine blush and occurs where there is a precise combination of humidity and CO2 present.

Best you can do is set the rod in a very warm place, even in the sun, and allow it to fully cure. Sometimes the blush can be removed by wiping few times over a period of a few days. But it may never fully clear.

Another possibility is that you didn't mix the 2 component parts well enough and the incomplete mix has a cloudy appearance.

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I mix by a timer- usually 3 minutes. It was mixed well I'm sure. You're other explanation is interesting bacause I do this work in my garage and on the day I did this it was kind of cool but nice so I had the garage door up. While I was finishing up it had warmed up considerably and a storm front moved in and started to rain. when i came back out of the house it was very humid in the garage and that's when I noticed it. What should I wipe it down with? Just a wet cloth or what? I'll sit it in the sun this evening. Thanks Tom.

Just let it cure and wipe with a soft cloth. This may help some, but it will not be a total cure.

.........

When I've had the same problem, some time in the hot sun cured the problem.

How about using a hair dryer? I've had a similar problem when I did not close up the gap in the tunnel under the guide foot and moisture gets in there. Just let it dry up and then redo the epoxy in the tunnel and problem fixed.

I had a similar thing happen to me about a week ago (I posted it on the forum). Tom suggested amine blush and it probably was.
Initially I was going to strip the guides and rewrap but I figured I had nothing to lose. It was only a cheap blank and I was building it
for my own use so I left it in warm full sun for a few days.
After three days it had improved quite a bit but the cloudy surface was still visible so I scuffed it off with1000 grit wet and dry sandpaper
and put another coat of epoxy on and it came up perfect, at least to my eye.
I can't tell the difference comparing it with other rods epoxy that did not have this problem.
If it was a high end blank for a paying customer, I don't know,maybe rewrap, but I honestly can't see any problem with the finish now.
Cheers, Greg

Greg,

You just scuffed it up then reapplied finish? doesn't that make it look scuffed underneath?

Well, when I say "scuffed it off" I actually meant that I sanded the cloudy (fogged) finish off.
1000 grit is pretty fine and after brushing any dust off I recoated the wrappings and no it doesn't look scuffed underneath.
I cut and folded a 40mm long and 6mm wide strip of wet &dry and just took care not to go down to the thread or onto the blank.
Worked for me.
Cheers, Greg

brandon edwards Wrote:
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> Greg,
>
> You just scuffed it up then reapplied finish?
> doesn't that make it look scuffed underneath?


Sanding finish is more common than you think . I usually dont go any finer than 400grit without any scuffs showing up in the recoated finish.

Brandon,

The only time you may see a dull looking spot where you sanded is if you do it over high gloss black. You WONT see any scratches, you'll just see a spot where the black doesn't look as black as it did before. I take my sanding down to at least 600 grit when needed and if I sand a spot with black under it, I sand the entire area for uniformity in apearance.

DR.

thanks guys you are all very helpful