I have been offered a 6' 6" Loomis rod that is sanded.
Why would you sand a blank.

Well...just about everyone sands their blanks. Long story short...during the blank making process small ridges of resin form on the blank and those get sanded off the blank to make the blank smooth prior to painting and/or buffing.


To the best of my knowledge, the GLX was the only blank coming in raw (sanded) form.

I couldn't comment on the factory built rods.



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Better to have and not need than to need and not have.

When you say it is sanded, do you mean sanded by Loomis or by someone else?

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How do YOU know it is a Loomis? There are counterfeits on the market.

Find out his - Return Policy - Guarantee

Bill - willierods.com

I am waiting for details from email I sent him.

Michael,
I would take the Loomis label - on the sale as highly suspect.
Lots of folks out there have a blank that they want to move and put a Loomis name on the sale to try to move it. Most of these blanks are not made by Loomis but just rather common inexpensive blanks that they are trying to sell at a higher price by putting the Loomis name with the sale.

It may be a genuine Loomis blank - but be cautious.

Take care
Roger

The North Fork Composite (Loomis) blanks do not have any finish on them. They are only sanded. No extra weight.

Amost all blanks are sanded. When "raw" the blanks are wrapped with a cellophane to hold everything together around the mandrel.When the blanks are taken out of the "oven" the cellophane is stripped off and this leaves ridges. The ridges are usually sanded off- except some manufactures leave them on. T&T leaves them on their Apex model. When you read that a blank is sanded it usually means that it is not painted - which adds weight. Bill is correct that NFC and the old GLX were sanded and not painted.
I only buy my CTS blanks in their P2000 finish which is also only sanded - not painted.
Herb

Now I'm curious. On blanks that are sanded only, no finish, should you clear coat them? Is there a problem with doing the build as they come?
Thanks for any answers.
Doug

I have stripped finish from many of my old rods and I always leave them bare. I have fished these hard over the past couple of years and have had zero issues. (Now, since I said that, watch me break one next week)

Thanks Scott,
I have built a lot of rods and have always built them as they come. I like the flat finish/sanded look as it makes the thread work stand out. Reading the above just got an old dog thinking, which can be dangerous. I built a couple of heavy cat fish rods for a customer who wanted them painted white. I had this done by Lamaglas for $25 each. I read a lot on painting ones' own rods but there does not seem to be a sure way unless you are really set up for it and the blanks won't fit in our oven, just joking.
Doug

I agree with Scott on this one.
I have also stripped many rods, and do a final sand with 600 wet and dry sandpaper and never put any other finish on the rod blank at all.

Take care
Roger

I just stripped some rods this past winter and even after doing all I could with the blanks, I just did not like the final looks of them. I tried this product I had for doing my pens on the lathe [www.woodturnerscatalog.com]
It is a satin finish and with just a coat or 2, it seemd to give me what I was wanting th see with the finished blank.

Thats interesting Mike, I will try that finish. I strip alot of factory rods and sometimes I need to apply some finish. In the past I have been using Lumiseal and have had great results, it would be hard to beat that product for that.

I use the urethane Gel on wood and cork grips and love it but never tried it on blanks

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

It was the first time I tried it on the blanks. It seems to be working well. I tried one blank with one coat and the other with 2 coats to see if it makes any difference. ROds will really get put to the test here in a couple of weeks, I have our IL B.A.S.S. Fed Nat state tournament and the rods will get a lot of use over 4 days. The main reason I tried it was I didn't like the looks of the blanks after scraping them down and finishing with the Scotch pads. I just put enough on to put a very light coat on the blanks.