This is my second fly rod and no problems with the first. I wrap the guides with thread in a cup and thru a book to maintain tension. This time I used a Gutebrod thread that was ncp olive green and after the first coat of thin flex coat finish the wraps looked and felt rough like there were little thread fibers that had been raised by the finish. I didn't have this problem with the nylon thread used on the first rod. I didn't coat the top rod section and am thinking I need to rewrap the guides on both sections. What do I need to do to protect the rod blanks finish and clean up for the new thread on the bottom half of the rod? Will I have to make the new wraps a little longer? Is the NCP thread more fragile or did I use too much tension and cause the thread to fuzz? Any and all information or suggestions welcome and appreciated.

Loren,
Start by looking carefully at the thread directly off the spool (no tension, not stretched). Every once in awhile a "bad" batch of thread gets spooled from large, industrial bobbins to smaller spools. On any wraps that do not have epoxy on them you can singe the threads by holding an alcohol lamp or butane cigarette lighter near them - just be careful how close you get --- definitely not closer than 3 inches (4 is better).

Loren,
Most likely you have a bad batch or spool of thread as Ken pointed out.
I would throw this spool of thread away to prevent future rods from being hurt.
In the main time, you can let your first finish coat dry completely, and then use 220 grit sanding strips to sand down the bumps on the wraps. Wipe well and then apply a 2nd coat of finish. You will likely be fine.

Good luck
Roger

Thanks Roger, I pulled off about 15 ft of thread and it looked good comming off of the spool but as soon as I ran my fingers along the thread you could see some fuzzy spots showing up. Seeing as I didn't epoxy the wraps on the top section of the rod I will remove the wraps on the butt section and start over. Any suggestions to keep from damageing the blanks finish while cleaning up the old wraps?

Put on a 2nd coat and see what you got......

DR

Thanks Ken, there are only 3 guides on the butt section to remove and the way my luck is running lately I would end up ruining the loomis blank if I tried to singe all the wraps on the top. I am not in a hurry to get this rod finished so will clean up the bad wraps and start over. I only epoxied the wraps yesterday and am hopeing they come off without too much trouble and I will pay closer attention to the thread when I wrap it next time.

Loren,
Since you recently coated the guides, the finish should clean up pretty well.
Just use a bit of gentle heat, and a straight edged razor blade to scrape off the finsih and thread - with the blade held at right angles to the blank.

When working on a rod like this, I like to take masking tape and put about three wraps next to where the finish ends. That way, if the blade slips, it only hits the masking tape and does nothing to the blank.
Then, if there is any difference in the blank where the finish was- compared to the new blank, just extend the wraps enough to cover any flaws that might have been caused by the guide removal. The masking tape will limit the amount of damage that might be caused by guide and finish removal.

Roger

A LITTLE heat on the epoxy.... razor blade across the wraps on top of the guide foot, towards the ring to avoid cutting yourself and the wraps should peel off easily. If you can "catch a tag end" on the wrap below the guide foot they will unwind and pull the epoxy off with them. Clean up the edges with the edge of a piece of plastic (old credit cards work well) you will not damage the blank at all.

ken and roger thanks for the good tips, I will clean up the blank in the morning but am off to a fly tying class this evening.
thanks again. loren

I do most clean up with a little heat from a hair dryer and thumb nail. That finish is fresh so it should just pop off.

A light sanding and 400 over any bad areas then a second coat and you should be good.

Bill - willierods.com

I want to thank everyone who helped me solve and fix the problem I was having. I did try another coat of the thin epoxy after sanding down the raised fuzzy areas but it was still ugly. I tossed the NCR thread, stripped the guides off and the wifes hairdryer really helped peel off the old wraps. You almost couldn't tell the blank ever had epoxy on it but my thumb nails have a groove in them. Thanks again. Loren

Loren -
an old plastic credit card (or something similar) will save the rod blank = and your thumb nails