How long do you wait to put on the 2nd coat?,
Thanks, John

The first coat of epoxy thread finish can still be tacky or cured to the touch (hard and not tacky) when you aply the next coat of epoxy. It is a choice the rod builder makes. If it is still tacky the first and second coat will cure out together.

Generally we say to recoat within 24 hours. The reason for the, “within 24 hours”, recommendation is two fold. First, additional coats of epoxy do not soften or melt the previous coat to make the bond between the two. So by applying additional coats while the previous coat is still fresh and not totally cured you get a good bond between the two. Additional coats should cover completely the previous coat or you will see the edge of the additional coat. Secondly, you do not want any contamination to get between the coats and cause problems. To assure a good clean bond between coats is where the 24 hour recommendation comes from.

You can recoat as soon as the first coat has gotten firm enough (cured enough) as not to move as you apply the second coat. I have applied additional coats as soon as 45 to 60 minutes after applying the first coat, just make sure that the first coat is as I have said at the beginning. Please note that the first coat will be very tacky and if you are not very careful it will GRAB your brush and jerk it out of your hand as the rod rotates. This could lead to a mess to clean up. I use a brush to apply Flex Coat and do not know if a spatula would be grabbed by the tacky epoxy. The trick when using a brush to apply a second coat over a very tacky coat is to keep a good amount of fresh epoxy between the brush fibers and the tacky epoxy. You should use the brush to carry the epoxy to the wrap and flow it across and around the tacky first coat. Once you have the tacky coat completely covered with fresh epoxy then you can use the brush to remove any excess (extra) epoxy to keep the new layer as thin as possible or needed.

For repair, clean up, and restoration purposes there is not a time limit for recoating epoxy. Additional coats can be applied for different reasons with any length of time between coats. You have to take a little time to make sure the epoxy surface to be recoated is as clean as you can get it. Some builders recommend that the surface to be recoated should be scuffed up with a fine tuffy pad or very fine sand paper. Any dust has to be cleaned off before recoating.

John Anderson

Flex Coat Co., Inc.

John,
With high build, if you are reasonably generous on your first application to insure even no - sag coverage, there is generally little reason to put on more than one coat.

This assumes that you have a dust free finish, with no protruding thread ends or other things that might mar a single coat finish.

If I am putting on a 2nd coat, I generally wait at least 12 hours from the initial coat.

Take care
Roger

Thanks John A.

It's awesome when Mfgr's respond directly to posts. I wish it would happen more often.

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

John and his whole crew are great. I recommend that if you are having an issue with FlexCoat products, you give them a call. They are very knowledgable about their products. I was having trouble with fisheyes while applying a second coat of light build. I talked to a local rod builder, and he fed me some bad information when he told me you can't use light build over light build, but can use high build over light build. I finally called FlexCoat. I can tell you that I received an education on their products. I learned things like their hardener (yellow cap) is the same product for both the light and high build. You can mix both the high build and light build resins to make a medium build. If you use their syringes, you don't have to keep the ones used for light build seperated from high build. Finally if you are having trouble with fisheyes, the surface you are applying it to is contaminated with some sort of oil, but if you let the finish set up a little, you can fix the majority of them.

Great guys, great product.