Hey Guys/Gals, This is a little off topic but, I'm curious and figured somebody here may be able to provide some answers. I was poking around on the internet just checking out US mfgs of rod blanks and came across a quick little statement that mentioned that resin impregnated graphite was subject to ITAR (International Traffic in Arms regulations) compliance. I was wondering if perhaps this had any bearing on why so many rod blanks are manufactured off shore. I was thinking cost would be the major issue but now I'm wondering if government regulations and compliance issues could be part of the problem. Perhaps there is a individual or blank mfg. on this site that could shed some light on this. Thanks.

George

It's not the reason that most blanks and rods are made offshore these days.

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Most of the regs regarding carbon fiber have to do with export, not import. Additionally, Japan is one of the largest manufacturers of carbon fiber materials.

What constitutes this "compliance?" I would be interested to lean if or how rod blanks fall under the category of "arms."

Its not the rod blanks that are subject to ITAR compliance. It's the technology used to build some of the high tech carbon fiber materials that is subject to ITAR regulations. (used in vechiles, rockets, weapons, etc.)

OSHA has regulations to establish permissible exposure limits. These regulations are directed to protect employee health and safety.

Thanks guys. From the answers I guessing that there is little to no impact on blank manufactures.

Not how you would necessarily think, my understanding is that due to its use in so many other aspects of industry, military etc. Is that all the good graphite goes to governments, extremely high dollar state of the art technologies space age stuff etc. and blank manufactures are the last on the list to receive the "good stuff" if they even receive any of it at all, due to it's limited availability and I'm pretty sure all the good graphite comes mostly from one place. The vast majority of regular rods come from the exact same factories.

I intend on trying it and will let you know. The problem that I see MIGHT be the quick set up time For me, the critical thing is to let the finish start to set and TM 1 starts to set within minutes. Being water based, I don't know how most pigments will work although Pearl X powders should work fine. Also, they are pretty adamant about NOT using any heat. (I like to use a little to diffuse the pigments into "cloud" like patterns

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!!