After much research, I'm ready to begin building my own custom graphite fly rods. I would appreciate any input as to which bonding agents and finishes give you veteran rod builders the best results and are the easiest to use? 1)Generally epoxy for reel seats, cork grips, tip tops? Does the Flex Coat Thermal Plastic stick for tip tops work better than a good two part epoxy for attaching a tip? 2) For finishing wrappings, Flex Coat High Build or Dura Gloss LS Supreme? 3) Flex Coat Color and Thread Preserver or some other brand? I hope to order these items within a couple of days. Thanks!

They all seem to be good and all have their supporters. You really just have to try them all over a period of time to see which one you prefer. Rod Bond is maybe the best epoxy for mounting seats and grips as it does not run. Hardware store 5-minute epoxy is the best for tip tops. Glass Coat finish is best for thread wraps. I say best, but that's only for my own use. You may find other products you like better.

My adhesives and finishes;

-U40 Rod Bond for seats grips and anything that should be permanent.
-5 min epoxy for the tip so it can be removed if need be
-LS Supreme or Glass Coat for finish

Brian

The problem that I have had when using 5 minute epoxy for small tips such as 5 or 4.5 is the tip also melts when I apply heat to remove a damaged tip top. I have not had any problem when using Flex Coat tip top adhesive and I am talking about the clear yellow stick glue. You also have to be careful when heating a tip after being glued with epoxy, it comes off like a bullet.

Peter, I've never had any problems with using the local hardware store's 2 ton epoxy (the clear stuff) for mounting reel seats and grips to blanks. If I am gluing cork rings together, I typically use flex coat rod builders epoxy glue (not the 5 min. stuff) applied sparsely. For tip tops I use the flex coat tip top adhesive so that any future need to remove will be easier and safer. I cut slivers from the stick and insert into tip top tube, heat, then install on a sanded tip. Never had one come loose to this day. I've recently tried dura gloss ls supreme for threads and like it better than flex coat or glass coat. It is much thinner, and will require one or two extra coats, but it gives much more time to apply to more threads and more time to level and remove bubbles than anything else I've used.

Gudebrod 811 for the colour perserver.
Glass coat or LS sumpreme
Rod Bond

I'll be the contrarian...

1. Devcon Two-Ton epoxy (not the 5 minute stuff) for seats and grips.

2. That clear stick hot glue stuff for the tip top.

3. Min-Wax Helmsman Spar Urethane (gloss) for the wraps.

Keith