Hello, everyone! Just a quick question for you all.

I have a couple of rods with very nice long decorative butt wraps upon which the rigors of party boat fishing has taken its toll. In other words, scratched and generally ratty looking. Luckily, the epoxy is thick over the wrap. Any problems with sanding down an old butt wrap and redoing it?
These were, I believe, done with Aftcote. I've sanded down during the building process itself, in order to level out lumps, etc., always with good results, but haven't tried it over older, fully cured, epoxy. Any advice welcome.

Thanks,
Chuck

Charles...I can't imagine that not being fine as long as you follow the old rule...stop before you get to the thread! Might clean it up well with soap and water before starting, rinsing well and drying afterward.

no need to sand it, just use a scotch-bright pad so the new sticks good to the old

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

I have coated over some pretty ugly stuff, and it has always turned out fine. Clean the old epoxy well with alcohol before you skuff it so you dont grind conaminants into it.

Charles:

I would try buffing the scratches out with Burchwood @#$%& Stock Sheen. This is very fine polishing compound. I have used it to buff scratches out of plastic lenses on car headlight covers. I just finished cleaning up a fairly nasty looking Fenwick Glass rod using it. If this doesn't give you the look you want, clean the area with alcohol, scuff the area with a Scotch Bright pad, and recoat it.

Thanks for the advice, folks. Great as usual!
Chuck

Aftcote is the worst finish to use over Dec Wraps. IT has teh habit of picking up paint and turning white when rubbed on aluminum rails, and it is extremely "soft" when compared to other finishes resistance to scratching.

Dpending on how deep the sratches go, you might find that coating them will not remove teh scratches...as some of teh scratches might actually be paint from the rail. Not hard to tell, if you put some water on teh wrap th scratches should "disappear", the same way it will when finish is aplied over it.

Billy, I thoughtyou liked Aftcote? Or do you mix it with a harder finish like Threadmaster? I can't remember. I like Aftcote primarily because in my case, at least, it tolerates heat well, and, rightly or wrongly, I tend to flame my wraps a bit heavily. I found that the Threadmaster was clear and very hard, but when overheated, atleast in my case, left a sort of "grabby" finish. Maybe that's just how it is, though, I haven't really used it a lot.
I may try it when/if I sand this one down, assuming it will goon over Aftcote.

The scratches in this one are pretty deep, like the blank probably got tossed against another one,or dragged or something. The deckhands on some of the boats out here are a bit less than careful when handling rods. I cringe when I see them grab a handful and just toss them in a rubber trash can when the scrub the blood off the walls. I try to get mine away from that action. Probably should start using rod socks on the ones I have grown sort of attached to.

BTW, a couple of days ago I learned that it is NOT a good idea to fish for yellowfin tuna using 15 pound test and a very light live bait rod. An hour and 20 minutes after hooking him, my 58 year old bicep, small on the best of days, felt like it was going to burn off! LOL I landed him, though, about a good 35 pounder. (Most were about 15 pounds so I thought I'd have a go at it). That's my story and I'm sticking to it.


CH

I never said I used Aftcote on Dec WRaps, only on guide wraps. And yes, even on teh guide wraps I mix it wih TM. On Wraps its' 100% TM. I also heat, and ften overheat, but I dont' run into that problem. I use a Propane torch and sometimes smoke will come off and the epoxy will drip, but never do I get the excess bubbles from boiling.