I have had this issue before, but not as bad. I have three spots on this wrap that just won't take finish. 2 coats light, 1 coat high, and 1 coat light with sanding between the last two coats in the problem areas and the finish is still repelling. Now the wrap is starting to look lumpy where the finished has repelled away. So how do you get the finish to stick when this occurs? I've had this issue before and usually a lite sanding resolves the issue. After 4 coats on this one and one more being needed I just filled the bad spots in with TM1 and no rotation. I plan on block sanding once it dries and recoating with TM lite. Anyone have any ideas or a better resolution than the one I am using now?

Brandon,
The only thing that I can suggest is to sand a bit more than a light sanding.
Since you are getting finish that is not sticking, you have some sort of contamination on the blank and or wrap. When, the contamination will be completely sanded off, your problem will disappear.

By the way, if the problem all happening on the same spool of thread? If so, I would throw away that spool of thread on the assumption that something has contaminated the thread.

And - do you wash your hands frequently when wrapping a rod?

Also, do you do a very good clean up of the blank, before you start to wrap? It is always a good idea to do a very good wipe down with DNA before ever starting to place guides and to wrap. You want to be sure that the blank is completely free of contamination's.

Then, before you start placing guides, do you wash your hands again, to be sure that you don't have any skin oil on your guides.

It is surprising how little contamination is required to end up with a finish problem.

I also assume that you do NOT do any wipe down of the guide wraps after wrapping do you? If so, this is a big no no. Never wipe down the wraps with any sort of solvent after wrapping.

If you like, you can do a tack off with low tack masking tape. I commonly tack off with the blue painters tape to get any dust off of the wraps that might have settled before applying finish.

Good luck
Roger

I don't know why this happens on Dec WRaps, but it's all too often a common problem. I have a rod on the dryer now wiht the same problem as you have, and I have no clue why these 2 particular spots have a fisheye/dry spot but they do. How to fix....my mthod is opposite what others say to do, but it works. Sine you've already done the sanding routine and see that it keeps coming back, you need to add one mroe step to your prcoess. Use Acetone or DNA, and don't be shy about dripping it right into that area where it's contaminated. YOu MUST make sure the epoxy is set up good, wait a day or 2. After you wipe and drench that spot with solvent, let it dry for a bit (hour), then try putting the next coat of epoxy.

Other things I have done - I've sanded and put a small drop of finish in the spot. Jus tto cover it. Let that set up, then coat the entire rod (after 3 or 4 hours).

Are you heating the epoxy? I think that brings teh contamination, which is probably silicone to teh surface of teh thread, right through the CP and first coat of epoxy. Which doesnt' make sense but that is exactly what happens. If you are trying to fix the problem try to apply a really thin coat of finish without any heat.

The only thing I do not like about using the solvent is when you get a foam spot and slice it off. THe solvent sometimes leaves a white residue, and if you see that on your wrap you have to clean it so it's not there anymore, because the epoxy isnt' going to make it disappear.

It is definitely weird that even after sanding the spots still repels the finish. And yes, I did use heat on this one which I normally don't do. It was only a couple passes of the torch while the rod was rotating though. Maybe I had some grime on my hands. This wrap was actually small open diamond and I had bad spots on and off the thread. I am currently doing like Billy smentioned and filling in the bad spots while the rod is not moving I will then block sand and recoat. It sure is a pain. I post the results tomorrow and get back to the basics on the next rod.

When i use Madeira thread with cp(chromaseal) and apply finish, the silicone as Billy stated seems to come through the cp and into the finish when you heat it up creating pits - repelling. But, i don't worry about that happening because i always apply a thin coat of finish first so when i heat it up the pits that form from fisheyeing are shallow, if you put the finish on thicker then they will be deeper. But, whether shallow or deep, when i apply the next coat it covers perfectly - no repelling when i heat it again.

Jersey, Channel Islands. (U.K.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/2012 06:38AM by Steve Mcleod.

On occasion I've seen a fisheye forming immediately following epoxy application over a previous coat of epoxy. What I do is take a fly tying bodkin (essentially a needle point) and use the point to scratch the area in the center of the fisheye. The still wet epoxy then flows back into the crater.

Jeff
Whitehall, PA

Jeff - do you mix another batch of finish? Do you wait 10 minutes, or 2 hours, or 5 hours?

Brandon, I jus tput the final coat on the rod from yesterday, here is exactly what I did to fix it.
1. There was 1 fisheye, I put a LOT of finish on the wrap (closed on a 20-22mm blank, after 3 coats I had more than enoug on there for a glass smooth finish if it werent' for the 2 issues, so I have a lot of finish on ). When I saw the fisheye (after my initial propane torching) I hit it wiht the torch again. I saw teh epoxy bubbling like seltzer. I grabbed my MH Bubble buster, and sprayed it 3 or 4 times right on the spot. Still fisheyed after 3 minutes, hit it with heat & BB again. Then I SCRAPED teh finish off with my spatula, heating the excess finish in my mixing cup, and put a dab in that area. I waited a couple of minutes, and put more on in that area, spreading it out slightly, and slightly heating with thetorch so it thinned out and flowed with the epoxy that was already on the wrap. When this cured it was 100% perfect.

2. Teh foam. This shows up as a cloud of bubbles which look like foam, it's about 10mm in diameter. I did the same thing with the BB & epoxy, but it still kept coming back, so I scraped all the finish off in that area and left if dry. The epoxy cured with a crater. I took DNA, wiped it a couple of times with a paper towel. I took 320 sandpaper, and scuffed the area, making sure to scuff the deepest part of teh crater. I then rewiped all the stuff off the wrap with DNA. Applied a light coat of finish, and it's turning now and it looks perfect. I did not sand the finish so there was no crater, the crater is still there but it's not filled with epoxy, so after I coated the entire wrap there was a low spot and I put an additional drop of finish there. It's turning now, 100% smooth and flat.

I have had some success in these situations by coating the whole rod, and then coming back and hiting the fisheye with a little more epoxy that has thickened up a bit. Sometimes this thicker epoxy has just enough hold to it to keep the fisheye from reforming. I have had less of these since starting to be really careful about keeping my hands and tools clean. I use the orange gritty soap made for auto mechanics and was my hands several times during wrapping. Wipe down new razor blades with alcohol, and above all else keep my wife out of the room when she goes on one of her dusting and cleaning sprees.

Mike Bradfrod
R.M.B. Fishing Rods
Nampa, Idaho

Never touch the wrap and try to finish your wraps within a day of completing them.

I managed to save the wrap by filling the bad spots with TM1 while the rod was not rotating. I then block sanded the wrap and got a final coat of finish on it. These where not normal fish eyes but some large areas that just wouldn't take finish. Must have got some contamination, but no matter how it got there I am sure everyone has experienced it. Now I can fix it if it happens again and I am sure it will. I think next time I will try and repair it with some partially set up TM lite after the it has been rotating about an hour. This should save the step of block sanding. On this wrap I had no choice but to block sand because so much finished repelled it pooled up.

Sorry Billy, just noticed your post. I'm referring to the application just applied, and a fisheye that is obviously forming while the epoxy is still flowing. I scratch the inside of the forming crater and if successful the soft epoxy flows back into the void.

Jeff