I just finished building a rod for a friend. I apparently was not very observant as I was putting my second coat of epoxy on the guides and it is totally uneven. In some spaces like I didnt even put enough on the guide so you can see a definite line and layer difference. I didnt notice until today when I was loading the rod to bring it to him. Is there any way to fix this other than pulling off the guides and starting again? Any advice is very much appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

Scuff the affected areas up and put on a thin coat.

scotchbrite pad or high grit wet dry sandpaper?

did you turn off the rod dryer befor the FLEX coat set up ???????? I did it one time,, set up a test dot for your testing spot on a pice of foil an test that spot frist to see if it is set up befor moving it
off the dryer simple but a lot of new people don't do it [ I know I for one ] there will be some flex coat left in the cup when finished an use that for your test dot

William Sidney
AK

did you turn off the rod dryer befor the FLEX coat set up ???????? I did it one time,, set up a test dot for your testing spot on a pice of foil an test that spot frist to see if it is set up befor moving it
off the dryer simple but a lot of new people don't do it [ I know I for one ] there will be some flex coat left in the cup when finished an use that for your test dot

William Sidney
AK

I have done that before, but this was not the case. I think I just got into a ruish and did not cat as well as I should have. I am still relatively new to this...I have only built 2 other rods.....

At least you didn't do what I did, I made me a nice butt wrap and used flex coat for the first time(other times I used pro kote) and it set up too much before I could level it off so not having an alcohol torch I broke out the heat gun trying to level it off and overheated it and ruined the wrap. Hopefully I will be able to cover it up with black thread but I'm not sure yet.

At least you didn't do what I did, I made me a nice butt wrap and used flex coat for the first time(other times I used pro kote) and it set up too much before I could level it off so not having an alcohol torch I broke out the heat gun trying to level it off and overheated it and ruined the wrap. Hopefully I will be able to cover it up with black thread but I'm not sure yet.

Don't despair things like this happen to nearly everybody when they first taste the addiction of Rod building .The good news is that they will become fewer & fewer as your experience increases & you will have learned some valuable lessons

Regards Baz

Bundeena
NSW Australia

You can certainly sand down the epoxy finish to level it out and recoat. There are two main things to watch out for. First, make darn sure you don't abrade the guide wrap thread. Second, make sure you get all the "sanding dust" off before recoating. I advise wet sanding for this reason.

FWIW I find it easier to use a file. I can "feel" things better and helps me make sure I'm only hitting the high spots.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Just per my experience
I would use sanding blocks such as the photos below and wet sand them while using the power wrapper as a lathe ...Aways start with the smallest grit sand paper yet at high speed just lighty over the uneven coatings. ...This will allow you to scuff parallel to the rod ...but not suitable for the humps on the guide foot...

Its best to have a sanding block that are padded ie; sandblock with a thin padded sponge .This will allow flexibitiy and control on the high spot area...always wet sand them as Russell mentioned to control the heat produce from the high speed lathe ...


takes a few trial but it will get you back level and even in no time ...then its back to a light coat over horizontal stroke of the brush with dabs of epoxy ...shall get you back to the glass shinning looks...


Hope it helps

Zai Kwan
zackantzcustoms
www.zackantzenterprise.com