Hi all!

I am looking for advice on what is the best way to preserve thread color on a sage fly rod blank. I am fairly fussy with how this one turns out, and it is probably about the 8th rod I have built. I have two questions:

1) I hope to use flexcoat, as it is available here in town. Does anyone have any experience using the 'lite' or the 'standard' products? ARe there significant differences in how much 'build' results on wraps?

2) At this time, I have been unable to find color lock/color preserve in my hometown. A friend suggested I simply use nail polish to preserve the color. Does anyone have experience doing this? Would it result in 'yellowing' of the finish? Does it affect adhesion of the epoxy to the thread? Should I thin the nail polish? Does Sally Hansen hard as nails work for this?

Thanks in advance for your help on this one!

Cheers

Shane Smith
BC, Canada

The depth of finish will be determined by how much finish you apply, not the type or version of the finish you use. The hi-build formula allows you to put on more per application, without running or sagging (but still being rotated), than will the lite version. Other than that, which to use is personal preference.

I'd hunt down some acrylic CP such as Flex Coat's own brand. I have heard some say the nail polish works fine, but I haven't tried it and it harkens back to the old nitrocellulose CP's of days gone by. In many cases they were more trouble than they were worth, in my opinion.

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Thanks for the advice Tom. You are not the first person that has warned me about issues with color preserve and the integrity of epoxy finishes. Many have told me that by using color preserve, the epoxy finish invariably does not bond to the blank properly, and that the only way to get a good result is not to use color preserver. Even if I use new flexcoat preserve and epoxies, will I have this problem?

Or should I start over and re-wrap the rod with a lighter shade of green, to get the color that I want without using CP?

Shane Smith
BC Canada

Wraps made with CP do not allow the epoxy to penetrate to the blank's surface, but so what - the CP bonds to the blank's surface. I've done tests and have built more rods than you can imagine and can assure you that wraps made with CP are more than strong and secure enough for use on any rod, including 130 lb class IGFA rods meant for daily use for many years.

The use or non-use of CP is primarily a cosmetic issue. Not one of strength. In our tests for an earlier article on color preservers, we found wraps made with CP to be at least 90% as strong as those made without. Strength is a non-issue.

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