From the posts on the forum since the original articles and the Riley directions were published it looks like the current state of the art process for wetting out the skin for the cable tie method is:

1) start with a sanded, clean, but unsealed core
2) install the skin dry. Do not put a coat of epoxy on the core before installing the skin
3) install cable ties
4) coat with epoxy
5) spin on a dryer
6) do NOT use heat
7) remove ties and sand
8) finish with coats of spar urethane

Is this right? is there a better way for a first timer to try?

thx

I like the information that was published in RodMaker Volume 10 #6 (this is where everybody else learned to do it). There was also an article close to that one that outlined the shrink tube method. It precludes any need to spin anything on a rod dryer and squeezes out excess epoxy so you have the least amount of weight possible.

....................

Got the back issue on order and have read the Riley directions. From previous posts, it seems a lot of folks have tried tweaks to the process. Trying to figure out if any of those are now considered the state of the art.