I have another snake skin question.
Currently I am using Threadmaster lite and no matter what I seem to do, I cannot seem to eliminate the small waves that appear on top of my snake skin.
It looks good after everything dries but when you run your fingers over the finish it is easy to detect humps or "waves." It is probably not even fair to describe them that way since it is not drastic.
A better way of describing it would be to say that your fingers can easily detect an "uneveness" with the finish.
I am using 5 coats of threadmaster Lite for the Snake skin part of the rod and common sense tells me that this is probably not correct either.
I'm using a good rod dryer that I bought from one of the guys on the left panel and the rod seems flat and straight when it is rotating but I'll admit I never took a level to it. By the naked eye it looks very level as it is drying.
Any ideas that you might be able to share with me would be most appreciated.
Thank you.

I will offer two suggestions for you to try - 1. Use high build finish. 2. Dump the motorized rotation and do it by hand.

If you haven't read the article on finishing in RodMaker Volume 9 #1, you should.

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I don't think your problem is the finish. What kind of skin are you using and where did you get it? Not all skin is equal. Some have 'fleshy' lumps that are left over from the skinning process. If you don't remove it you will have lumpy skin which equals lumpy finish.

I would suggest moving to a high build finish as well. You can use a light finish but it will take more coats.

Can you post a picture?

jeremy

Also a higher RPM turner will hold more finish then one of those 6 RPM ones. If you can raise the speed do so

Plus the prep of the skin is important

Bill - willierods.com

Sometimes the skin has been compromised with some chemical in processing. I like to clean my skin off with a couple of wipes of denatured alcohol and let that dry before applying the skin to the rod. After it is applied and I put a coat of Cason's Waterbase CP on it and let that dry for 24 hrs before any epoxy finish goes on.

Be careful with DA around skins, some don't like it at all!!!

jeremy

Jeremy, I have never had a problem with the DN on skins but I will carefully watch for it now. Thanks for the heads-up.

I've had issues with lighter color skins. I accidentally got a few drops on some skins and it immediately turned them brown. Kinda like the reaction skins have to epoxy if you don't seal them with CP.

jeremy

Charles, I have only done one skin job. I used TM high build, 2 coats and hand turned the rod for 90 minutes, 180 degree per turn then went to the dryer. It worked fine for me. Skin came from MH.