I am finishing up a spinning rod with a two piece handle. The rear handle will have a marble inserted in the very end (butt) and it will stick out a little but most of it will be below the end. I will epoxy it in but then I want to coat it with finish epoxy to seal it up and protect it. The rod is one piece 7' long. How do I put the epoxy on with out it pooling up around the bottom and not covering the top part of the marble. I think if I put it in my rod dryer horizontal it will run off the top of the marble and I could hang it vertical over the stairs but I think it would pool around the base of the marble. Guess I should have figured this out beforehand. Any ideas?

Daniel,
You can take a piece of wax paper and wrap the wax paper tightly around the base to from a resin dam.

Then, hang the pole perfectly vertical.
With the handle end properly prepared, just pout the resin into the wax paper dam with the exact correct amount of resin and let it harden.
Remove the wax paper and you will be good to go.

If you wish, you can then use fine sand paper to sand a very slight contour into the edge of the resin to help prevent any chipping.

Note:
When I say the exact correct amount of resin, I mean that you want the correct amount of resin to cover the marble and the amount extra that you want to use to cover the rest of the butt cap.

Be safe

Several very thin coats. Let the epoxy set up slightly to thicken it enough to slow its desire to run.

Daniel,
Rather than using finishing epoxy for this job, use casting resin.

Casting resin is the material that is used on bar tops and other transparent finishes. This is designed to be used in a single casting.

[www.dickblick.com]

If not all of the guides are on the new rod, take a piece of scrap rod, or an old piece of blank and lock it in the chuck.
Mask the tip of the new rod and insert it into the scrap blank. If they make a tight fit, mask up the good blank in the area of the junction.
If not, make a tape arbor to give yourself a good fit. Apply your finish while your rod turns backwards.
If the rod guides are on, remove the tip and do the same thing, on a small scale.
This isn't ideal, but you can apply the finish carefully and you only need to turn the rod at drying speed.
If that doesn't appeal to you...
Put the rod on the stands backward and apply the finish. Turn the rod every few minutes for an hour.
At some point the rod will be dry enough to put the handle partly into the chuck and finish drying it that way.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/2014 03:06PM by Garry Thornton.

Can you buff out Flex Coat with a buffing wheel?

If I understand your question correctly you're trying to seal the marble to the butt and are worried about uneven coverage at the "seam" between the butt and the marble. You don't need to coat the marble to protect it as it is harder than epoxy. I suggest you use fast set rod bond or equivalent and use your fingertip to put the epoxy where you want it, then clean up with a paper towel wet with alcohol to leave the paste only in the seam where you want it and not on the butt or the marble's exposed surface. The paste epoxy will not run and collect heavier in one position than the other, and you can have the cork or whatever the material is clean, and the exposed surface of the marble clean, and yet the interface is filled with epoxy.

What I am trying to do is cover the marble with epoxy. The marble has a logo on it and will come off if rubbed to hard, I also want to seal the area around the marble and the composite handle. I want to coat the marble but don't know how to keep it all from running off.

Put the butt grip on last, from the back end. When I have put stuff in butt grips, I stand it vertical, butt facing up, and put finish over my item. There are several on here that have done pennies, etc, you can find in the photo sections. It's just that you have to slide the grip on from the rear.

If you need the marble covered in epoxy, then I think you'll have to stand it vertical. You can wait a while to get the epoxy more viscous than normal to help keep it in place.

If you need the marble covered in epoxy, then I think you'll have to stand it vertical. You can wait a while to get the epoxy more viscous than normal to help keep it in place.