I wanted to share something that I've recently tried in my finishing that really works for me. Maybe some of the newer folks on the forum can save themselves from the years of irritation sub-par finishes have caused me. I'm sure many of you rod buiding vets already have discovered this.
When I went to ICRBE back in February, I was looking for a workshop on finishing. I have been to many such workshops before, including a one-on-one session with Tom Greek, and learned great info at each. However, in spite of 10+ years of building rods (albeit in fits and spurts until recently) I still was unhappy with many of my rods' finishes. Anyway, at ICRBE, I didn't see any finishing seminars that I thought would give me what I was looking for, but after handling a rod with a foam core carbon fiber grip, I decided to go to Mike P's seminar on creating these grips. The seminar was great, and I promptly bought a kit from Riley Rods, but what struck me was how quickly Mike turned the grip when applying epoxy. The light bulb came on. I have always applied epoxy using the dry function on my lathe, which spins the rod quite slowly. It takes a long time to get the wraps covered with finish at this speed, which gives the finish time to congeal. Not good. Also, application on a single wrap often was uneven and hilly. Since seeing how Mike applies his finish to his grips, I have been applying finish using the wrap function on my lathe at a pretty fast RPM. Since then, I have been as pleased as I ever have been with my finishing. The speed seems to help the epoxy go on more evenly, and finishing is so much faster that I don't have any problems with the epoxy thickening up. Also, I have had little to no need to flame my finishes since increasing the rpm's. Thanks Mike for renewing this idea for me! I hope some folks will find this helpful!

Ralph O'Quinn also spins his rods at about 200RPM and applies finish with a spatula. Myself, I turn the rod by hand and it still only takes me a few seconds to coat each guide - just one revolution per guide (two perhaps if the guide wrap is a long one) and it's done. What too many builders attempt to do, is pick, poke and paint the epoxy on. There's no reason to do that.

The trick is finding the finishing application technique that suits you. Refine it and then stick to it each time.

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Seems like the best control would be to get it down by hand?

I've done that too. My early rods were all finished while rotating the rod by hand. However, I'm not one that can "just let it go". If something doesn't look right, I can't stop myself from the poking and prodding Tom is talking about. He's absolutely correct in saying that overworking is the death of many a finish. If you can do it quickly by hand that's awesome, and you will have supreme control. For whatever reason, I can't get the stuff on quickly enough rotating by hand. Finishing is like every other facet of rod building: very individualized. Best of luck!

I should add that this new to me method is not a panacea. I just completed a 5 rod order, and on 1 of them, I put the first coat on at too high an RPM. The centrifugal forces slung the finish towards the middle of the wraps, creating a "football" in the middle and dry edges. I "thought" I corrected it, but after drying and a second coat, the center of the wrap is still bulky and the edges show some thread texture. Learned my lesson and slowed the rpm's down a bit and the remainder of the rods are really nice.