Been lurking for a few weeks as I gathered materials for my new hobby. I must say, this is the most helpful, congenial forum I have ever read. Everyone is polite and informative. I hope to learn enough about custom rod building to make a positive contribution one of these days. Until then I will USE all the secrets you are willing to part with!

I just finished my first project, CRB 6' spinning rod using Flexcoat and Prowrap Colorfast thread. As far as the build goes I'll rate it as fair for my first try. Need to pay a little more attention to the details and learn a few more techniques to make the details better.

Question is... Why can I see the guide feet through the wrap? It looks as if the finish turned the thread translucent. To me it looks awful since the blank and guides are black and I filed down the feet for a better fit and they are shinning through.

Materials for my next build are on the way and I don't want to make the same mistake.

Thanks for the help!

Sounds like you did not use color preserver on the guide wraps. When you don't use CP the wraps do exactly that which is desired on a lot of rods. If you want the thread color to come through, you either use NCP thread or use CP on your regular nylon thread. If you file the guide feet and end up with a shine in some places you need to use CP or color the guide feet back with a sharpie marker or paint. But always test whatever color you are using with a coat of finish to make sure the finish doesn't take it off when you apply it. Hope I explained this so you can understand it.

I take a permanemt black marker to cover where i filed the feet down and I found out on here to use color preserver on all thread wraps

The wrap epoxy coat does make nylon thread somewhat transparent, so the feet will be visible. Three ways of correcting this: 1.) use color preserver on the thread before the epoxy 2.) use NCP thread 3.) after filing the black guides, apply a black sharpie to the bare metal.

Thanks for the replies.
I ordered (checked the invoice) Prowrap COLORFAFT Assortment of thread. Mudhole PWCFA-AST No color preserver needed right?
Do the spools actually say "colorfast" nylon?
I'm wondering if i received the wrong thread. Is there a way to tell the difference between Colorfast and regular nylon visually?

Label will say colorfast.
The colorfast will have a red label while the regular nylon will have a blue label

Rolly Beenen
Rovic Custom Rods



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2014 12:28PM by Rolly Beenen.

Kent Tawes Wrote:
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> I'm wondering if i received the wrong thread. Is
> there a way to tell the difference between
> Colorfast and regular nylon visually?

Colorfast is a name chosen by American Tackle, The original name by Gudebrod was NCP.

NCP has a dull almost chalk appearance and the thread lacks sheen.

For a side by side visual comparison, you can go to our home page ( www.makoithread.com ) and click on the the button on the right labeled Go To - Color Matching Tool.

Don

Don Becker

Phil Erickson Wrote:
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> The wrap epoxy coat does make nylon thread
> somewhat transparent, so the feet will be visible.
> Three ways of correcting this: 1.) use color
> preserver on the thread before the epoxy 2.) use
> NCP thread 3.) after filing the black guides,
> apply a black sharpie to the bare metal.

For a little extra bling, you can over wrap the guide feet with metallic thread prior to overwrapping with nylon.

Don

Don Becker

Thanks Rolly

Blue labels - Mystery solved.


Don - I like the idea of nylon wrap over metallic, thanks! Sounds like the look I'm chasing... Elegant bling without being gaudy.

IF you have recieved the wrong thread call Mudhole and explain your situatiion and the invoice number and I am certain they will do good by you.

Rolly Beenen
Rovic Custom Rods

I don't use color preserver on threads securing guides - as I prefer to have one type of finish (usually epoxy) penetrating uniformly all the way down to the blank. Another thing you could do with the black footed guides is only file them on the bottom of the guide foot. This often takes a great deal of time and effort, but if you're careful, will result in a well-prepped guide foot with uniform coloring. Adding color preserver to a painted or marker-colored guide foot usually adds a little bulk to the tapered foot, defeating the purpose of having tapered it to begin with.

I find that when I use black sharpie over filed down guide feet, it comes off as soon as I handle it or start to wrap over it. I have let it dry overnight, applied Sally Hansen clear over it, but still doesn't work. What am I doing wrong?

I have used black nail polish it will stay on even while handling guide

Hello,

Regarding painting the guide feet, I like to use Rustoleum spray enamel followed by a couple coats of clear--thin coats work great.
I don't use sharpie-type markers anymore after I found out some of the ingredients in the ink can be corrosive to metal, especially chloride.

-chad

I wouldn't use a sharpie to re-color the ground off area on the guide feet. It may bleed back through the thread and make a dark spot on your wrap (no need to ask how I know this). I use black model paint / black nail polish / gun black paint pen. I have also heard that the sharpie ink contains some type of acid that may also affect the thread over a period of time.

Rog