I am currently building my first few rods and have not begun the finish process yet (waiting for the dryer in the mail). I was curious if anyone has used polyurethane instead of epoxy finish on the thread work. If you did what were the results and is it worth the effort to use the epoxy. Any responses would be appreciated. Thanks.

I may get bombarded for this but in my early days I used Polyurethane on guide wraps, about three coats each and they came out looking as good or better than anything I have ever done with epoxy. They are still holding up fine. I only moved to epoxy because I can get by with one coat. Just my two cents worth.

POLYurethane is for indoor use.

SPARurethane is for outdoor use.

Bill

Ohio Rod Builders

Canton, Ohio

My main concerns are two:

1. How do you who use epoxy deal with dust? Understandably, you can't keep a room completely dust free.
2. Then there is the chance of a power interruption which in our neighborhood, we get from time to time. Not frequently, but then there is Murphy's law.

I do everything I can to keep dust down in the room I do my finish work. I clean often and do not move around much when applying the finish. I know other also use a drying box, so the rod is enclosed as it dries the finish.

John,
A bad idea.
I few years ago, I finished a bird feeder with Poly and after about 3 years in the sun, the finish had completely burned off due to the UV rays of the sun.
If you want an exterior finish, use spar varnish.

But, epoxy guide finish has been specifically tailored for use on the special needs of fishing rods. That is, excellent adhesion, smooth flow out, excellent reistance to US and excellent resistance to the rigors of long term outside use.

There are exterior polyurethanes too. Mine have held up fine so far.

What if I use the poly, as some have recommended to saturate the threads and eliminate bubbles and then overlay the wraps with epoxy. Is this worth the extra effort and ar there any compatibility issues to speak of?

I'm pretty sure what you will find is that the thread will become transparent - and stay that way. If you want to keep the bright color you should use a color preserver. A good color preserver will also go a long way to eliminating bubbles.

Sorry I forgot to mention that I already have 4 coats of flex-coat color preserver on the wraps.

Put LIGHT finish on. It is easier. Two coats.

Bill - willierods.com

John,
Give it a try and see. I know a few people that have used an outdoor polyurethane for their thread and have been happy with it. I prefer something thicker like Permagloss, but that's just me.

TC

Permagloss is as thin as water. If not, it's partially set up.

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

I used to use polyurethane (and before that Gudebrod Rod Varnish) even into the early days of rod epoxies. It worked just fine and the rods I finished with it, now over 30 years old, are still holding up just fine. The only major drawback was that you couldn't even THINK about using it over white thread. That said, beginning with Gene Bullard's Diamond II, the epoxies totally surpassed polyurethane in ease of use, leveling, and non-yellowing. Poly will work just fine but epoxy is SOOOOOOOOO much easier and easier to achieve good results.

1) Epoxy has been the preferred wrap finish choice for around 25 years now.... probably because you can finish with as little as one coat... and that's why I like it too.

2) Dust - I finish my rod in a shop which sees multiple uses and is quite dusty... It does not show up in my finish, never had a problem with it.

3) Power outages... it has not happened yet, but I suppose if the lights go out right in the middle of finish application, I might be throwing that rod out. That said, people sometimes worry about things that will never happen. Don't take one rod build so seriously.

power goes out - Light many candles and hand turn

Bill - willierods.com

john backos Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My main concerns are two:
>
> 1. How do you who use epoxy deal with dust?
> Understandably, you can't keep a room completely
> dust free.
> 2. Then there is the chance of a power
> interruption which in our neighborhood, we get
> from time to time. Not frequently, but then there
> is Murphy's law.

The room need not be "dust free" ... just clean. Obviously, you don't need your cat in the room AND you don't want charcoal dust. You won't even see normal light household dust.

In respect to power outages ... think battery backup. My dryer is a wall-mount Flexcoat, it plugs into a 550VA UPS (about $50-60) and then into the outlet. That provides PLENTY of runtime and protection against those nasty surges and lightning storms.

After cleaning you could get a spray bottle with water in it and spray all around the area which will help to hold the dust down.

Bill - willierods.com

I ended up using a coat of spar urethane with two coats of Flex-Coat on top. Dust was not an issue, since I hijacked the boss's dining room table. This was my first time with epoxy and the only issue I had was keeping the edge of the finish straight. I tried applying the finish with the rod turning. I think next time I am going to try applying the finish by hand turning and then when all is done placing it on the motor.