Just finished stripping a rod for a rewrap. I am left with some traces of epoxe under where the guides were and ridges at each end of where the guides were.
What is the best way to remove the excess epoxe so I can start the re wrap.Any input or suggestions are appreciated.

Thank you,
Tom

If they are going in the Same Place you can heat them up with a hair dryer and Carefully scrap with your Thumb or a razor blade

Bill - willierods.com

I would say no to the razor blade. That's just me.

I have had great success using a Popsicle stick. With moderate pressure, rub the edge of a craft stick back and forth (fast) over the epoxy you want to remove. The secret to this is based on the principle of starting a fire with two sticks. One of your sticks is graphite. ;) Things can get pretty warm doing this - no need for any other heat source. If you want, you can speed things up with a hair dryer, or heat gun set on low.

_________________________________________
"Angling is extremely time consuming.
That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2011 04:07PM by Chuck Mills.

That is why I said Carefully The popsicle stick works also Soft or even some thing plastic with a V'ed end

Bill - willierods.com

Your method will vary depending on your blank material. If your working on an eglass blank or even a solid glass blank you can be a little more agressive. On eglass blanks I'll use a little heat (much the same way I would heat epoxy while on the rod) and then use my thumb nail to scrape off the epoxy. Sometimes I'll use a small tipped (or pointed) pick or spatula to grab the epoxy and "push" it off the blank. Take care not to wedge the tool between the epoxy and the blank. This will open the door to blank damage.
On more delicate blank material I try not to use any heat. I'll also keep the rod on my work table rather than in the lathe. This assures me that if I do press down on the blank it will be completely supported rather than only supported by rod supports on a lathe. I'll use only my finger nail. This will keep the blank from getting scrathed or dinged with a tool.
So far I've had success using these methods.

Good luck

Nick Brunetti
Boynton Beach, FL

I bite my finger nails so that one is out for me. I use some light heat from an alcohol burner and use a plastic thread burnishing tool. The plastic tool will get beat up and worn out with use but it will not scratch the blank. Give it a try.

Tom,
I do as bill suggests.
I use a heat gun to heat and soften the epoxy.
Then, I use a razor blade, held at 90 degrees to the blank to scrape off the epoxy. As long as you hold the blade at 90 degrees to the blank you have no issue.

As you are doing, I always remove all of the epoxy where the guides are located. The main reason is that in many cases, especially if it was a factory wrap, I will often locate guides in a different position, when I rewrap the rod.


Be safe and clean.
Roger



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2011 06:37PM by roger wilson.

Since I prefer the look of bare unfinished graphite, I get more aggressive and remove all of the old epoxy and finish and start fresh. The best tool I have found for scraping the old finish off is one of the small utility knives that are designed so that you snap off about a quarter of an inch of the blade as you use it and the tip gets dull. When you extend the blade all the way out you have a couple of inches of scraper and a nice handle to hold on to, the knives and replacement blades are also very cheap. Hold the blade normal to the blank and scrape away, finish with a little scotchbrite and you have a really nice looking bare blank to work on.

Mike,
When you say, "hold the blade normal to the blank", I assume that you mean to hold the blade perpendicular or at 90 degrees to the length of the blank?

Roger

I guess I can add a few more tips to Mikes H. Process of removing finish from the blank. I also use the razor to remove old finish and epoxy. This may seem to aggressive for most, but it is very effective and conservative in removing all the finish and epoxy from the blanks on my bench. I think this should be mentioned how ever...It is not for the weak and non dexterous folks here. You can make some disastrous mistakes in using this procedure! Practice on some old rods that are not worth anything to you. Once you have developed a technique with the razor blade and you feel confident with removing the finish and not removing the glass,graphite etc. You will find after practicing you can remove all the finish entirely from the blank without damaging the blank in any way! I have done many refurbish jobs on Loomis,LGlass, St.Croix,North Fork blanks. The graphite blanks are highly resilient to the blade and you have to really try to create any damage to the surface...but you can damage it if your not paying attention. I am in hopes that any who try for the first time will practice first before touching a customers rod.

The next part of my procedure of removing finish and epoxy is the Scotch Brite stage. I have two kinds of Scotch Bright, one is more abrasive and the other is more refine. I have a small dish with warm to hot water and I cut small squares and pre-soak them for a 10 min. I also add a small drop of dawn dish soap or equivalent to the water. This will provide lubrication between the surface and the scotch brite and make the sanding less aggressive (It also cleans the blank surface and preps the rod for adhesion purposes as well). You want to do this because you will find dry sanding with scotch brite will remove graphite in excess and could compromise the blank or even change the action of the rod if not done with care. Again I remind you that you should practice this first as I did on many types of rods before attempting a actually customers blank.

This should be enough to get you going on the concept and carefully removing epoxy and finish from your blank. If you feel you want more insight on this just respond here and I will help in any way I can. I see many folks ask this question and there are many good procedures out there as stated above. Find a process that will work for you and your confident in that procedure! Hope this helps and happy refurbishing I love it !

Rick H.

rwheil@msn.com

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I have a dull throwing knife when I want to remove all the finish off a blank

It is not razor sharp so it takes finish off with out cutting the blank -- of course be careful -- Then after all is off a quick 400 and water sand then 600 And it is as smooth as a baby's bottom

Bill - willierods.com

Yes normal to the blank means perpendicular. I haven’t used the trick of putting soap in the water I use with the scotchbrite, I will have to try it.

Another thing that works well to keep the mess down is to do the blank sanding wet, in either the shower or bathtub.
That way, you can keep all of the splashes and wet stuff in the bath or shower, and simply flush it all down the drain when finished.

Otherwise, wet sanding can flip quite a bit of wet sanding goo around the shop.

Take care
Roger

You should heat it several times to keep it soft

Bill - willierods.com

I suppose I should touch a bit more on wet sand...Wich I have done plenty of in my time in the automotive industry. Wet sanding can be messy and in general for those who have done allot of this know the ins and outs for techniques. Most wet sanding is done by hand and if your in the industry they have special jitterbugs that are only available to the big boys Toyota and many others that can machine wet sand (its a tricky technique when using a machine). It is also a very important step in finish repair and fixing imperfections that don't require a complete redo in the finish application. Wet sand paper is also important and you can get this at a local Napa or Auto store it comes in 1000 grit 1500 up-to 2000 grit. It has this grit rating for good reason. There are certain grit scratches that machine buffing compounds will remove those scratches in the surface you repairing to a final finish. Most buffing compounds can remove 1000 grit and above but for that real shine you should wet finish sand with a 2000 grit for optimum finish results.

I wish I could do demo video of this process because it dose have it tricks of the trade which I am taking the time to share a bit here. I use this process in repairing customers rods my own imperfections and (booger ups! as I call them). I want to make it clear now you CAN NOT wet-sand epoxy finishes it will just smear and create another procedure (applying another coat of epoxy). I use this process on the U40PG urethane base finish, it is in comparison to auto clear finish. The U40PG can be wet sand to a perfect OEM finish with very little effort and mess. I use the same procedure I listed above and I do this process on my CPW machine with no mess and very very little clean up. You do not have to be messy in this process in fact you want to be clean as possible with no contaminates in your bowl of warm water.The use of dawn or Joy dish soap is a common ingredient to the wet sander, (I am sure they have a spacial lubricant soap made just for this technique now days ). In my time it was moms kitchen soap LOL (JOY was her preferred kitchen soap). I will have to mention pre-soaking your sand paper this softens the paper to help make it pliable to the surface your working on, for this I soak till the paper bundles to a roll in the bowl. The soap will also help keep the water on the blank and not on your machine, speed is not a crucial element to wet sanding but for this procedure you must maintain a lucrative wet surface and low steady speeds don't allow the build up to begin to cake the surface, if this happens it will begin to create heat and then damage your finish coat, keep it wet with a little sponge or dip your paper to clean away the build up. It only takes about an hour to completely wet sand your finish to a smooth OEM finish like our Industry counterparts.

I use this process for refurbishing sections on a rod as well and even spot repair I have folks bring there Croix's in just because the don't want to turn it for a warranty claim or deal with replacing a rod that just has blemish repairs and it performs with the action they desire. I have picky customers I suppose! Also this goes with the Finish application procedure I posted a while back (just do a search on my name I am sure it will pop up. If you put these two Procedures together you can do almost any repair on those high dollar rods. It works for me and keeps me very busy with this rodbuilding addiction fun! Good day I hope I helped.

The next process will be cleaning up your wet sanding job with some buffing compound. But I will save that for later. I have things to do today Elk season is on tomorrow for me!

Rick H.

rwheil@msn.com

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Rick

I have done body work for 32 years This is not like refinishing a custom paint job

It's a fishing rod And if the clear is being sprayed and does not lay out like -- Glass -- your doing some thing wrong I used to paint Lacquer over An enamel paint No problems There is a certain way and certain materials to use
One can sand finish after 24 hrs and put another coat on -- no problems Even 12

Wish I had the room for spray equipment Blanks would shine like a mirror

Bill - willierods.com

Well I am not sure what to say Bill B. I am just sharing my experience and what I have learned from my days as a Painter and detailer. I am not here to waste my time in typing all that stuff up out of thin air! I am doing it and I have plenty of customer rods finished and on the work bench to do! No skin off my back if you cant handle the information sir ! Good day!

Rick H.

rwheil@msn.com

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I did not mean any disrespect Rick I was just saying that after scrapping off finish that 4 - 500 wet paper is more then enough to sand and refinish a blank maybe 800 as a finial sand and polish or compound will give a bare blank a beautiful finish without any coating

Bill - willierods.com

Sounds Good its forgotten already! I meant no disrespect as well. I agree with your procedure , and like many others out there will too. I spent allot of time removing orange peel, and the dreaded runs for painters who couldn't lay down there clear so well and instead of a redo they would send them to me and say (Rick can fix it ) and well I got really good at it and you understand how painters are paid for there work! I did not get paid the same so my talents went else were in the industry(long story short how ever). There are so many methods for finish work and repair and I don't keep up with the latest a greatest any longer. I am sure some one out has an even more convectional way of doing it, my schooling in the industry was in the late 80's to the early 90's and there was a big movement with environmental safety back then and allot of new products hit the market. I apologize for the strong feedback again no harm no foul here ! Good day to everyone.

Rick H.

rwheil@msn.com

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I graduated a Technical School in 66 so I am bout the same time in it
The first shop I went to work in told me to forget all I had learned and they would teach me the right way

Its all in the short cuts

Bill - willierods.com