I want to keep the finish on my wraps as thin as possible while still maintaining sufficiant coverage. Can this be done by appling several coats to cover,of "thinned" epoxy? What is best used to thin the finish and how does thinning the finish effect the working life and cure time? I currently am using either Classic or Flex Coat finishes

Thank You

Scott

There are certainly bigger authoraties on this than me, but from what I understand, DO NOT thin epoxies. If you want something thinner, change finishes, but do not add to any of them. Crystal Coat is an excellent product and very thin. I have used for 6 years with great success. Just a bit thicker than water. LS Supreme, which I now use due to fewer coats to cover, is also thinner that the above mentioned. I really like Crystal Coat, but on some inlays it was taking up to seven coats to cover well, and this was too many steps for me. Now with LS I can do it in 2-3. Just my experience, I am certainly not as knowledgable in this subject as others, especially Kirkman.
elrod

Heat the epoxy in the Microwave a bit and it will go on thinner! Bubbles will rise out of the epoxy faster as well.

Sycreek, this is what works for me put on a heavy coat working from butt to tip then go back and pick up 99% of it with the brush what this does is seals all air pockets and prevents bubbling on next coats. When I say remove you have the rod spinning in a drying motor and hold the brush against the axis loading up the brush, making it look like you only applied color presever you should still have thread highs and lows works great for me.

I just put on less. If you use a stiff brush you will find that even the high build finishes go on nice and smooth. Put it on like you're painting a house and you should get a thin coating from even Flex Coat.

Scott,

I'm not anything close to an expert at rod building, but I have been using epoxies for years for many various applications. I routinely thin down Devcon '2-ton' epoxy glue with lacquer thinner to make a clear durable coating for lures and finishing wood items, and it works great.

I've taken 'standard' high build Flex Coat and thinned it with lacquer thinner for use on all of the rods I've built so far, and the results have been fine. I don't know if I 'should have' done this or not, I just did it because I wanted a thinner finish and have always just thinned epoxies to the consistencies I wanted for whatever application I was considering at the time. Now, since none of my rods built with this finish are over two years old, I don't know if by thinning I've somehow degraded the longevity of the finish, but so far it looks great and is holding up well.

Thinning epoxy, as far as I can tell, doesn't harm the final result.

Good Luck!

Thinning of epoxy finishes is not recommended, and does not do anything you could not do by other, better means. If you just have to thin your epoxy, use acetone. Acetone is quite volitile and will leave the mix quickly rather than being trapped in it.

Someone above, maybe more than one, mentioned that high-build finishes can be put on thinly. That is quite correct. You can use regular Flex Coat to get a very thin coating. Just put on less and brush lengthwise to remove any that you don't want on there.

If you want your finish to be a bit easier to work, just slightly warm the two parts (before mixing) by slipping the bottles in your pants pockets (you have to be wearing the pants for this to work) for a few minutes or by heating in the microwave, with tops loosened, for just a few seconds. 5 seconds to 10 seconds (tops) should do it.

Warm finish does work easier, but it also sets up more quickly than cooler finish. It's a double edged sword. The LS Supreme is very workable and has a long pot life so that might be the ticket for you. There are other finishes that also are a bit thinner out of the bottle and also have good pot life so you may want to experiement. But the bottom line is that your Flex Coat finish can be used successfully to give either a low or high-building coating. Your technique is just as important, if not more so, than the finish you use.

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I have gotten a decent looking low build finish with the Permagloss. The Permagloss does take some getting used to, though. Put on one coat on all the wraps. I found it was easier to remove the bubbles (DO NOT USE FLAME TO REMOVE BUBBLES OUT OF PERMAGLOSS) by taking off all excess finish. After you get done taking the excess off, I put on another coat to build it up a little bit. I let it set up for a while (I don't remember how long it was). Even after the 2nd coat, the finish didn't cover all the threads. The permagloss that I had poured into a cup to use had set up a little and was nice and thick. I applied a coat of the thickened permagloss and let that set up. I ended up with a level, crystal clear, low build finish.
Normally, it takes me more applications of the permagloss, but since the last one was thicker, it turned out quite nice.
Wes