I have a Sage Xi2 saltwater rod that I built about about a year and a half ago. The guide wraps turned out beautiful. It was the first rod I used Threadmaster finish on. On the butt section, however, I put a fish decal on the opposite side of the Sage logo. I don't know if it didn't get clean enough or what, but it fisheyed a bit on a couple spots pretty bad. I tried to sand it down and level it out, which turned out to be a big mistake. I went too far and hit the decal underneath. My options at this point are to remove it altogether, including the wraps that sit on each side of the logos (also turned out awesome), or try to put another logo over the old one, and then finish over that. My preference would be to remove it all and start fresh if possible.

The concern I have is that I have removed finish/thread from St. Croix SCIV blanks before (the matte green ones) and it seems to lift the finish of the rod a bit. I don't know if that is unique to matte blanks, or if that would happen with my Sage as well. I am hoping that if I were to pull the finish off altogether, it would not lift up the areas where the Sage logo is at (and the logo itself), so that recoating it after putting a new decal down will be unnoticeable. Is this going to ruin my blank?

Thanks in advance.

Jason

You well not ruin the blank. Replacing the logo is where you may find a problem. I believe Sage silk screens theirs. Also if you remove the color sage finish you well find a black area under the finish. In the past St. Croix has had a problem with their coating

Good Wraps Bob

Jason,
There is a 50 /50 chance that the finish will go away when you remove the decal.
If so, just finish the rod in a different fashion. Certainly there will be no structural damage to the blank, but you may have to do a different finish in the area. If I have something similar happen to me, I simply cover the area with a thread wrap and move on.

Good luck
REW

Another thought.
Put a coat of color preserver over the old decall to seal it and apply a new one over it in the exact same place.
That should cover your mistake and then put another coat of CP over the new one and finish again.

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