Hello,

1.What is the best product to restore a high gloss finish on a graphite rod?, that does not create a higher profile for the attended area, ie. I only have to do small parts of the rod.

2. To remove bubbles in two part finishes over guides, its recommended it the Q&A to use a alcohol lamp or butane lighter, is there any problems in using a hair dryer on a low setting.? It seem to me it would create the heat to thin the finish and the 2nd benefit a light blowing action, maybe I'm way off with the hair dryer Idea.

Thank you for your replies and sharing your experience and knowledge.

Cheers,
Greg

For the finish and small area repairs Permagloss type products work well. As for the hair drier It can blow dust on the finish. I use a propane torch to work my epoxy

Try exhaling on the bubbles or lightly blowing through a straw across the bubbles before applying the heat. Some finishes are a little more tolerant than others of direct heat. Too much heat just adds to the bubble pandamonium.

Greg,

Lumiseal will give you the high gloss finish your looking for. Its a 1 part urethane finish that is very durable and easy to work with.

Blowing thru the straw as Jim suggested above works for me, alcohol lamp if needed with quick passes under the finish.

Mike Thompson
Thompson's Custom Rods

It is impossible to make anything foolproof, because fools are so ingenious!

U40 Permagloss is a hot urethane finish. This means it has an fast drying additive. You lonely have one chance to get it right. That means one swipe down the rod. If it is messed up wait 2 hours lightly sand and do it over or take lacquer thinner and wipe it off and redo. do not wipe back an forth

Good Wraps Bob

Greg,
1. One problem with using a hair dryer is the possibility of dust being blown onto and around the rod.
2. The straw works well. The alcohol lamp may be easier to use than the butane lighter as using the lamp gives you the use of both hands as opposed to holding the lighter in one hand and maneuvering the rod with the other.
3. As a result of a post here I have been using wahoo wire for dripping/dropping wrap finish into the guide tunnel. Lately I have also used it to pop bubbles in the wrap finish. If poking a bubble leaves a depression in the finish you can alway dip the wire in the finish and apply a very small drop into the depression. Rotating the rod will level out the finish. The wire I typically us is 27lb to 44lb which corresponds to 0.011" to 0.014" in diameter.
Bill

John and Bill,
Yes a heat gun can blow dust into your finish, if you have dust in the shop.

That is one of the reasons why I do everything that I can to keep dust out of the shop. i.e. no grinding, turning or sanding is done in the wrapping and finishing room.
All of the grinding, turning, and sanding is done in a different building to keep all dust out of this building. After turning, grinding, and sanding, all components are blown off with high pressure aire, to again remove as much dust as possible from all components.

In the finish area, prior to and during the finish activities, I have a high speed filter running to trap any circulating dust that might be in the air.

If I use the heat gue to heat finish - as I do with every rod, I make sure that the gun is turned on and blowing before ever being directed toward the finish. i.e any residual dust that might have been around the gun would have been blown away from the gun before ever getting to the finish.

I do agree that you have to be careful in this area and that dust is not nice to get into a finish.

One of the issues that I have with any open flame - i.e. alcohol lamp, butane torch, or propane torch is that the heat is really much too intense and it is very very easy to overheat the finish.
Granted, I am sure that practice will make it perfect as I see folks using some of these items every day during a build cycle. I do use the alchol lamp for flashig the waps after wrapping so am no stranger in the use of the lamps.

As with anything else, it all comes down to what a builder is comfortable with. If a person wants to blow bubbles with straws, or if one wants to use another method - go for it, if you are comfortable with it and if (most importantly) it works.


Take care

Roger

Some finishes you can use heat like FC When I use my torch I always keep the flame moving. Also I use my hand as a heat point , placing my hand in front of the flame, I just want the heat from the flame just to warm my hand if it gets hotter than that the flame is to close.. One recommendation from FC is you can add a couple of drops of Acetone to a one oz. FC mix. This well also thin the mix and retard drying time. Like any thing else practice before using this on a good wrap.

Good Wraps Bob