Hi all, new guy question:

I am wrapping my 1st rod (4 piece 9' 8wt), After reading a number of posts here, I decided not to use color protector, and to apply Flex Coat high build finish directly to the wraps. I applied a relatively thin coat (I have no motorized turner and some of my test wraps sagged), and see very small "whiskers" sticking through the finish. Should I do something to attempt to knock these town (like lightly sand with 400 grit sand paper), or just apply additional coats until they are covered?

Thanks in advance,
Steve

Got to knock them down before you recoat or they just get more pronounced.

Ed! Unhide your email. whoops, ment Steve

Ron Weber



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2011 10:51PM by Ron Weber.

Thanks, Ed; I'll do that. Is this a common thing to have happen? It has a kind of pattern that suggests that it has to do with thread wrap tension.

Steve unhide you email

How do I do that?

You do it in your control center, or you can send it to me at info@southwestcustomrods.com

Ron Weber

I think I figured it out

Steve,
If you have nubbies sticking up from the finish, I use a single edged razor blade, held nearly perpendicular to the finish and scrap the nubbies off of the finish. Just be careful to not go through the finish or you will cut into the thread.
I find that the razor blade is easier to control to knock down the nubs, rather than using sand paper.

Good luck
Roger

Sand with wet/dry 400 sand paper. Works well. If you can sand the sags Carefully and try to knock them down.
baby sit your rod for a longer time

Also it would be better to put -thin - coats on. I do two sanding the first after set overnight.

Bill - willierods.com

Your thread shouldn't be fuzzy. Check your thread routing hardware to find out what's damaging your thread. This isn't normal.

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Tom,

I read somewhere the the thread tension should be "just below where you're worried about it breaking". I am thinking that that is too tight, and maybe if I back off the problem will go away. Hopefully, not a bad spool of thread. I've only done the ferrules so far, so I'll see how the other wraps go.

Thanks, everyone, for the input.
Steve

What kind of thread? This reminds me of the reason I use color preserver... it knocks down any fuzz.

If you are putting tension on the thread and going though that device that squeezes it that may be why you are getting fusses.
It is better to put tension on the spool itself

Bill - willierods.com

Pull a couple of feet of thread directly off the spool and look at it under good light. Some thread when it is wound from the larger diameter bulk rolls onto the smaller 100 / 450 / 650 spools that many of us use does get frayed. This seems to happen most often NCP thread. IF the thread looks good then check for anything on the thread path that can be abrading the thread. Regular nylon thread can be wrapped very tightly without "fuzzies" appearing above the finish. One solution to "fuzzies" is to singe the thread wraps with an alcohol lamp held off to the side (not directly under) the wrap. That will melt the thin nylon threads. For where you're at now you would be best to hold a SHARP razor blade at 90 degrees to the coated wrap and carefully knock them down & apply another thin coat of epoxy.

Steve,

That sounds like something you'd read on an internet forum.

No, you only want to wrap your guides snug, not tight. Once wrapped, you should be able to shift them by hand to align them. If you can't shift them with moderate pressure, they're too tight and on thinner walled blanks, can actually contribute or even cause a failure.

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The thread isn't passing through anything, it's tensioned with one of those cheap gizmos that uses a bolt, wingnut, plastic and felt washers for tension. The reason I started thinking it was a tension issue was that there were sections of my wraps that had no fuzzies - I must have inadvertently used the correct tension there. I did use a flame to try to singe them off, and wound up with very small "spines" sticking up perpendicular to the rod. I used Gudebrod CP on some of my test wraps, eliminated most of the fuzzies, but had other problems. I'll wrap with less tension and see what happens. I'll post the results in the hopes that someone else can learn from my mistakes.

Steve

Steve,
As one of the other posters suggested, you may have received a bad spool of thread. I have used many many spools of thread and have only run across a couple of spools. I did have the bad luck to get a nice rod wrapped with the bad spool I was able to use the razor blade, knock down the fuzzies, and recoast with no issue.
Then, I threw the thread in the garbage.

Take your current spool of thread, and do some wraps very tightly on a blank or a dowel. Then, look at the wraps under a very bright light with a good magnifier.

If you see any fuzzies popping up off of the thread, take the thread and pitch it into the garbage. You have a bad spool

Roger

Just a question from a rookie, could working the thread too aggressively, like burnishing too much or too hard cause this?
Bob

Only if the burnishing tool had a rough spot or ridge.