I have given up on getting the perfect finsh on my guides. I am thinking of securing my fly guides with black electrical tape. I think if I am real carefull I could maybe do an inlay with another color. How will the weather effect this sort of finish? Should I just cover the threads with tape or should I have a bit of overlay on the blank? How many wraps of tape should I make for a perfect seal?Should I give it a second wrap if I find bubbles? How long should I let it sit after wrapping before use? I think it will be much easier down the road if I need to reguide the blank. Has anyone tried this before? What kind of electrical tale is the best? I think I am on to something here. Thanks for any help or suggestions.

I'm hoping that you're joking.

Perfect epoxy finish is simple - put the finish on and leave it alone. Don't mess with it, don't heat it, don't move it around, don't labor over it. Leave it alone. Note the epoxy left in your mixing cup - I'll bet it's perfect, smooth and level. That's because you didn't mess around with it.

If you have RodMaker Volume 9 #1, read it. It will put you on the simple path to perfect epoxy finish jobs.

Beyond all this, if you're still not convinced, go buy a small can of exterior grade, clear gloss urethane. Put on 3 or 4 wet coats about an hour apart. You'll have a nice looking finish job and it'll hold up for at least a few seasons (perhaps longer) before you'd need to recoat or anything.

............

Tom, a little humor is always good!

I have seen low-end factory rods at the big box stores with guides secured by shrink tube. It wasn't pretty.

TOM NAIR:

Ensure you use 5 full turns of Scotch Super 88 and not the 33. I have used this method for nearly 30 years and it works quite well; no reason for all that fancy thread wrap. And, Scotch makes all different colors now to appeal to all of the color challenged folks.

Get creative too; I do. Take several different colors for that fresh off the dimestore look.

All too much work. Just dip the feet in Rod Bond, position them on the blank, and you're ready to go. TRUE invisible wraps...

Have you tried the Bugs Bunny bandaids for the kids rods?

Ohio Rod Builders

Canton, Ohio

Forget the tape, go with the good stuff and use two turns of #69 nylon to hold the guides in place and cover with JB Weld

Ok..heres my last shot...

Multi-colored zip ties...small ones are great!

Tom, for me if use color preserver, then u need to go on to the blank to seal the thread....if no color perserver was used, then just covering the thread will suffice. I rarely use color preserver and usually just cover the threads......except for the 18 inch mark and the base near the handle......

As for the finish.....try 70 / 30 with thread master and flex coat (both lite).....coat the non moving rod and wick the excess.....for me...NO BUBBLES and perfectly level.....THANKS MARK GRIFFIN,......

Terry

Thanks for the smile. Always welcome on a Monday morning. ;)