Hi All, many threads on painting blanks but I could not find one on Aluminum blanks. I have an old Mitchell Rod and Reel that I am redoing for my cousin. It is a sentimental piece or I prob would not bother with it lol. So, I have the Krylon (leather brown), I matched it and tried it on an old blank so that is good.

2 Main questions then:

1) Should I prime the blank since it's aluminum?
2) Once done, should I paint the whole blank with Permagloss?

thanks in advance everyone!

Scott

"My biggest fear in life is that when I die, my wife will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it."

You sure it's AL??
I have seen spring steel - but never AL.
But assuming you are correct - it's not enough to prime. You will have to get an etching liquid/paste and etch the blank and then immediately coat it with primer/paint.
Herb

Hmmm, now you have me thinking Herb! I guess I just assumed. Anyone know if old Mitchells were aluminum?

Either way it looks like its too much to bite off, thanks so much for the info Herb!

Scott

In 60 years never seen one in al. does not mean one dosent exist,



Curt

Well, I am a rookie (4 years) so I will def yield to both of your opinions. If it was, you would have seen one by now. Thanks again guys, I think I might just try to clean it up.

The handles on some of the old Mitchell Abu Garcia rods were made on aluminum tubes and the fiberglass blank was glued Into it. Is it possible that the only the handle section of your rod is aluminum and the rest of the rod is fiberglass? If so you can rebuild the handle to hide the alu!minum, clean up the fiberglass blank and repaint it if you wish. Hope this helps.
Norm

magnet?

Magnet!!!! YES!!!
Now why didn't I think of that.
Herb

Brilliant! Well, you are all correct it looks like. Magnet didnt attract to any part of the rod at all. Looks like the handle is aluminum and the remainder is fiberglass.

This will be my first paint, I am using Krylon Leather Brown, is it usually just 2 coats? and then one coat of Permiglos?

You guys are the best, thank you!

Scott Backholm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Brilliant! Well, you are all correct it looks
> like. Magnet didnt attract to any part of the rod
> at all. Looks like the handle is aluminum and the
> remainder is fiberglass.
>
> This will be my first paint, I am using Krylon
> Leather Brown, is it usually just 2 coats? and
> then one coat of Permiglos?
>
> You guys are the best, thank you!

Scott,

I would do a check on the Perma Gloss being applied over the Krylon paint. I love Perma Gloss but it HOT and may attack the krylon paint. You might consider a automotive clear coat rather than the Perma Gloss. I have not tried applying Pema Gloss over Krylon; just thought a test case would be beneficial.

Don Campbell
don@sensorfishingrods.com

Great point Don, thanks!

G'day Guys,

Just to throw a spanner in the works, a magnet won't work. Most non-ferrous metals are not attracted to magnets, and aluminium is definitely one that is not attracted to magnets.

Cheers

Jason

So it is not an aluminum blank Is that not the whole idea

Bill - willierods.com

If you have a blank that looks like aluminium, and you hold a magnet up to it and the magnet is not attracted to it, that only tells you that the blank is not made from a ferrous metal. It could still very well be aluminium, or another non magnetic metal, or fibreglass that looks like aluminium.

Cheers

Jason

If you can find a good spot that you can scrap any paint or whatever off Then you should be able to tell what it is ??

Bill - willierods.com

I will try the scrape, thanks everyone much appreciated!

Scott - From what you have mentioned so far there is little question in my mind that what you have is a Mitchell Abu Garcia rod with a handle built on an aluminum tube with a fiberglass blank glued Into the handle. This was a very common way for rods to be built back in the 60's &70's. There is no such thing as an an all aluminum rod, so I'm sure some of the cork was chipped away on the handle revealing the aluminum tube that you noticed. So to refurbished this rod remove the rest of the old cork (and possibly the reel seat) and rebuild the handle using cork rings or a premade grip reamed to fit. Make sure the entire aluminum tube is covered by the new handle. After removing the old metal guides, you may be able to just clean up the fiberglass blank and rewrap. If the finish looks awful than you can scrape it down and paint it. Not sure how perma gloss may or may not react with the spray paint you are going to use, so make sure you test it on scrap piece of blank.
Norm

Great info, thanks Norm!