I have assembled a couple of MHX rods recently. I left the blanks "naked" as it came from the manufacture. Now I'm curious about what products are available for achieving a glossy finish over the entire rod. And, when are the products applied, before or after wrapping? Will these finishes improve durability and resist "bruising" that can occur on the un-finished blanks? How much weight will be added?

Thanks in advance for your input.

The first thing you'll want to do is check with the manufacturer to ensure that coating the blank won't affect the warranty.

If you wish to proceed, read the online article here about blank refinishing. You want to try and keep the your coating very thin and light. Urethanes are ideal for this. PermaGloss and Lumaseal are among the best products going for clear coating a blank with a thin, lightweight, high gloss finish. You'd do this prior to wrapping, giving them about a week to fully harden. Just a couple thin coats quickly swiped down the blank with a foam brush will do the trick.

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Thanks for the info Tom, but I am curious...........Will these finishes improve durability and resist "bruising" that can occur on the un-finished blanks? This is the only reason I am considering finishing the entire blank. Aesthetics isn't the drive here.

Not really, no. The urethane itself is very hard but it's not going to add any protection to the rod blank itself it we're talking about impact damage or that sort of thing.

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Mark,
I order all my blanks from CTS unfinished. Many do because it even has a model # - P2000. It produces the lightest blank possible. Paint weighs a lot - especially in the tip area. I use wax with as much carnauba wax as possible. I apply after the rod is wrapped and finished. Wait a few days, at least, after applying thread finish to wax.
Of course - never apply wax before you wrap and apply thread finish.
Herb