I've scoured the articles in the library and run a search here but found very little, so I'll ask my newb question here.

I get that the best way to apply finish with a brush is not to brush it on but to load the brush, touch it to the rod while its spinning, and let the finish flow onto the wraps. What about between the feet of a double foot guides with under wraps? I don't want to finish the underwraps separately and then wind on the guides over that layer. Would rather do it all at once. What's the best way to apply the finish evenly between the guide feet?How do I do that without brushing it?

My apologies if this is obvious or has been answered a hundred times. As I said, I looked...

Kevin

Two words, slip clutch.

We have a couple videos I want to point you to. They are short and to the point.

[www.flexcoat.com]

[www.flexcoat.com]

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

Obviously you cannot rotate the brush through the guide ring so for that short area you place the brush under the ring and onto the underwrap, starting with the ring away from you to the back. Get the brush down next to the rod rather than on top of it. Then rotate the rod as usual. By the time the ring comes back around in contact with the brush you will have completed a revolution that applied finish to the entire underwrap. This is easier to show than to state with text.

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I agree with john, slip clutch

Hi Kevin,

Have you wrapped over unfinished thread before? If you start having problems with the overthwrap biting into the under wrap, try a larger sized thread. Coming from the other direction may work, but isn't always manageable or possible.

I've always finished my underwraps, the few times I used them. I'm sure others will chime in.

Take care,

Chris

Tom,

Let's see if I'm understanding what you're saying. Guide to the back, reach under the ring, so that the brush is touching the rod on the far side of the guide and down below it? If the guide were pointing to 3:00, the brush would make contact at 4:00 or so?

The brush won't make contact until the ring is all the way back around and at 12:00. If you've been able to get the brush far enough under the ring, you will have completed a full revolution with finish. And if not, you can always do it in two parts - under the ring and around as far as you can, then under the ring and around as far as you can in the opposite direction. It takes only seconds.

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Stop the rotation, dab a little finish in the area, spread it with the brush and, then start the rotation again to complete the remainder of the finishing. Any brush marks will even out. If you have any old rods laying around cut the guides off and put them back on for practice. It takes a little time to figure out how the finish flows and how you can move it around. This practice should really help.

As Steve said Kevin, just stop the rod on either side of the brush and apply some finish in a sufficient quantity to let it flow back into the tunnel. Then rotate the rod enough to get to the other side and repeat.

With the control that you have on your wrapper, you will have no issue to stop the rod in any orientation. You may need to have it at a 2,3,4 or 5 oclock position to have the finish flow where you need it to flow. Then, just repeat on the other side, finding the correct position for the finish to flow nicely into the other side of the guide. During both of these operations, you can also get the finish to the under wrap for each half of the guide foot as well.

Just take an old rod and tie on a test guide and do some experimenting with rod orientation, and you will quickly find the orientation that works best for your finish application techniques. Each person is a bit different, but all techniques can all work equally well.

Be safe