Hey all,
Thought I had the bright idea of putting down some masking tape towards the foot of my guides so I could get a straight line on my finish for each guide. However, the epoxy just soaked up into the tape and left me with a mess to clean up. Just wondering if anyone has used that blue painters tape and if that would work better?

Thanks,

Jon Meyers
Loon State

Best bet is to not use tape at all. It's very easy to get a square edge. Just use a support block under the heel of your brush hand, then with your fingers lower the brush to the edge of the wrap (however far past it you like) and rotate the rod one complete revolution. It's not at all hard to get a straight, crisp and clean edge this way.

................

Jon,

I recently saw a video from Flex Coat showing how they address the problem of keeping the epoxy edge straight. I was quite surprised to see they use a 200 rpm motor to apply the epoxy then move to rod over to a slower rotating drying motor while the epoxy sets up. I, myself, follow Tom's suggestion and just use a support to steady my hand while the epoxy is being applied.

Don Campbell
don@sensorfishingrods.com

One of the Flex coat videos shows someone using tape on a trolling rod. It's not really gone over in depth, but I suspect tape type, quality and degree of tension as it's applied are factors that contribute to how well it works (or doesn't).

The method Tom describes works well for hand wrappers as long as your hands don't shake too much. A power wrapper that can turn the blank at about 200 rpm or so will make things easier. If you have shaky hands like I do, minimizing your contact time is the key.

As I age the unsteadiness of my hands is getting really bad even with a hand rest and power wrapper. I can line up the brush okay but plunging it to the blank for a split second as it spins is dicey for me. I have to concentrate, hold my breath, and do whatever I can to minimize the shakes. I think I'm probably heading towards needing the tape myself (or maybe teaching the kid next door how to apply epoxy and giving him a couple bucks a rod to do it for me).

Here are links to the videos talked about in this thread.

[www.flexcoat.com]

[www.flexcoat.com]

Thanks for the reference.

Flex Coat Company
Professional Rod Building Supplies
www.flexcoat.com

If for some reason I do get an edge that is not straight I turn the rod at about 50 rpm and take a coffee filter with a little DNA on it and work it towards the edge on the bare blank. Squares it up perfect.

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

I have used 1/4 inch masking tape.
The secret is to take the tape off once the finish has been applied.
The longer you wait, the more chance the finish has to creep under the tape.

Thanks for all the help,
I do worry about the steadiness of my hands, however, I'm not rotating the blank very fast so maybe I'll give that a shot. I try to stay away from my power wrapper when applying epoxy as the rod seems to creep away out of the wrapper...Thought about glueing in the rubber holds to the wrapper but am not sure that's the best solution.

Auto pinstriping tape may be your best bet And sounds like you got one of those chucks need some rubber bands on the chuck to keep the rod in Many post here on ways to do this

Or a chuck upgrade A faster speed is the easiest way To apply the finish and do the edges The hand rest also helps a lot

Bill - willierods.com

Apply the finish to a quickly spinning rod and the finish has to be straight.

Be safe

If you do use masking tape do not use the crêpe back masking tape.
The crate pattern will allow the epoxy to see underneath.
If you want to use masking tape use the blue painters tape for delicate surfaces.
That uses a flat back paper it will not allow proxy to seep in.

I always use the blue masking tape without problems but be aware there are various types of blue tape, the last cheap spool I purchased was a plastic based ,wasn't game to try it on a rod build.

I typically use the method that Tom described with very good results. The key is to get enough finish loaded on your brush or spatula so you can have an even application in one rotation.

In the event that I miss a spot, I will take my spatula, loaded with a little more finish and turn it on edge for another rotation right against the wrap. This gives me a clean edge just past the wrap.

Terry