I have a novice question. I recently did a repair on a G Loomis. I really like the flat graphite look. I stripped a painted blank i had and plan on keeping it naked. is it ok to leave a blank with no finish whatsoever.or Do they need some sort of finish to protect from sun.

Thank you to all who respond for the advise.

J Scott
Englewood, Fl

No.

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Tom, No you don't need finish or No it is not ok to leave unfinished

You do not need anything over the bare graphite. Wax it if you like, or apply a coat of "Old Gold" furniture polish to facilitate cleaning it. Don't get either on the male ferrule, however.

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Thank you for the quick answer. You are the man.
I love how the experts are willing to help the noobs.
Now off to the garage to start stripping......don't sound right but you know what i mean.

J Scott
Englewood, Fl

I use a mixture of Polyeuthane satin clear finish cut with paint thinner

Before

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Stripped w/tool used to strib

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Re-Finished

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Thank you whoever you are

WWW.WeSeekHerRods.com

Happy Easter Jim, I hope the Easter Bunny brought you a tweezer and a magnifier in your basket, you may need them while removing that finish. You can get that same flat finish with P G if after it cures, all you gotta do is scuff it up with a fine Scotch Brite pad. You can make it as dull as you want, from a semi gloss to complete flat by how much you buff it.
A chemical peel will not remove all the factory finish without some sort of scraping. Even if you use Scotch Brite to remove the finish down to the bare blank your going to end up with blotches where the finish took a good hold. Your gonna have to get those blotches out in order for the blank to look uniform. So, that means more effort, and with effort opens up the possibility of breaking the surface of the blank which in turn causes the use of those tweezers.
The best advice I can give is to finish with PG after you remove the old painted finish and scuff with a fine Scotch Brite pad until the desired effect.

Dennis J. Danku
(Sayreville,NJ)

Good lighting can be your best friend when stripping a blank back to naked graphite. I use a dull knife edge or dull single edge razor. Hold it a t 90 degrees to the blank, and just scrape it off. I dow short sections at a time, rotating as I go. Holding the blank at an angle to the light after you've done a full pass round will show any bits you've missed. Only after I've done the whole thing and inspected it do I break out the ultra fine scotchbrite and finish up.

I stripped the blank Sat evening. slathered it with Citri Strip and went to town with a popsicle stick and dull razer blade. Took about an hour not including waiting for the CitriStrip to do its job. Then hit it with a very light sand with 400 to even it out. Came out Great! This is the third blank i have done like this and no big deal.

Mr. Cullen -your finished product looks great. Wonder if a light spray coat of Satin Kryon clear would work also.

Thanks for the reply gents.

J Scott
Englewood, Fl