I’m refurbishing a 60s vintage rod for a friend. The guides and wrappings are in great shape. I assume the coating on the thread is varnish; it’s in pretty good shape too. Can I put a coat of epoxy or varnish over the old coating without removing? If not, is it possible to remove the old varnish without damaging the thread? I don’t want to re-wrap the guides if possible. The thread is a variegated thread that is no longer available.
Any advice would be welcome.
John

John,
Go ahead and take a picture of all of the wraps on the guides. That way, if you do have to rewrap, you know what you are trying to copy.

Go ahead and recoat the old finish , after making sure that the finish is nice a clean. It wouldn't hurt to scrub them a bit with a scrub buffer to put a slight matt on the finish.

Recoat, let dry and see how it works.

Worst case is that something unusual happens and you have to remove the finish and wraps and retie and refinish.

Certainly worth the effort.

It is not likely that you can remove any old finish without taking a heavy toll on the wraps.

Take care
Roger

We would clean the wraps with soap and water very clean, and after they are dry use 2 coats of color preserver as per the brands instructions.
Wait 24 hours after the 2nd coat and then coat with epoxy finish of your choice.
I would use something on the thinner side, like Flex Coat Light.

Best wishes,
Ron Schneider
Schneider's Rod Shop
Mountain Home, Arkansas
[www.schneidersrods.com]
mtnron40@yahoo.com
870-424-3381

John- If you take a picture of the type thred and post it on the photo page,maybe somebody just may have a spool of that type thread collecting dust on a shelf . So if you might have to rewrap,someone just might be able to help you out. <<<<DON>>>>

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my question.
John

John,
I am old enough to remember using varnish. If your blank itself does not have a finish coat, then it is possible using small amounts of acetone to remove the old varnish. The blanks I remember that were very resistant to acetone were Sila Flex, Harnell, and the Conolon (later Garcia-Conolon). The problem with varnish is that even if the varnish looks fine, there old micro cracks. These are most easily detected by getting the wraps wet with water. if tiny lines appear, they are the cracks. I have just such a rod built by a custom rod builder in the early sixties and it has been "retired".

If you don't want to face a rewrap, Ron's idea will work fine. I would use either varnish or PG )(or Lumiseal) for the finish rather than an epoxy. Good luck.

Mike Blomme