I built a few really nice fly rods around 5 years ago. I want to get back into it now. I need to do a small repair on a commercial rod that requires a guide to be rewrapped and finished. I tried using a small packet of unopened Cabelas guide finish (yellow/white packet) left over from the very first rod that I built, but it would not set up properly and remained tacky. I had to scrap off the mess and rewrap the guide. I have two used, half bottles of LS supreme hardner and resin that is probably around 5 years old, and I have an unopened package of the same product approximately the same age. Should I just throw out the used stuff and go with the unopened LS Supreme, or would it be better to order something brand new? And if so, these days, what is considered to be the best guide wrap epoxy for graphite fly rods? Your expertise is greatly appreciated!

There is no appreciable shelf life for any of those epoxies. Your Cabelas epoxy was, I believe, Flex Coat. It was fine - something else caused it not to set up.

All the hardeners will eventually yellow or amber. This has no effect on the properties of the epoxy.

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I had the same questions about LS. I understand that there is no shelf life in terms of it setting up, but if the hardener yellows, won't that make the epoxy less clear, esp if applied over a light/white colored wrap?

Bob

I have LS Supreme at least that old and the curing properties are excellent and better than some of the new formulas IMO.

The hardener will amber/yellow even after it's mixed and applied to the rod. It makes no difference.

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I see. Thanks. I have a fair amount left from a few years ago that I will use.

Bob

For piece of mind mix up a batch and do a test wrap.

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

Peter,
Just a couple of points:
1. Make sure your hardener - resin mix is exactly 1:1.
2. Make sure that you mix the mixture of hardner and resin for at least 120 seconds or two minutes. Many problems of finish not setting up can be traced back to insufficient mixing.
3. Make sure that you have adequate heat in the area where the finish has been applied. Although the finish will cure just fine in a cooler area, heat will quicken the process. It is nice to be able to keep the curing area at 70-90 degrees. p.s. if you have your curing area too warm, you may not have enough setup time for the finish. i.e. you may find that the finish is getting hard before it has nicely flowed out over the guides.
That is why lots of folks will use the general shop enviornment to apply finish, and then move the rod to an "oven" for final cure.

Good luck
Roger