Hi Guys
I made my first decent wrap,did 3 coats of cp followed by a light coat of FC light.I used a lighter to flame finish a bit, looked good. came back in an hour or so and thread portion was full of small bubbles but none on rod blank.I wondered if the finish was to light or to thinly applied? any advice would be appreciated.
Bob

WHY did you heat the finish ????
The heat probable caused bubbles to happen
Put the finish on let it do it's thing Let it stay wet It will soak in and any bubbles will release
You will have to baby sit it
Too many use heat and get into trouble overheating and cause bubbles
If your place is above 70 Cool it down I like my finish wet when good then warm the place up

Was your CP dried at lest - Over Night Don't be in a hurry let things dry WELL

Once the clear is as good as it will get IF you see any bubbles Some and I use a Straw and just blow on it Or a light hair dryer -- Carefully

If you got bubbles the CP did not take care of them
Usually the CP soaks in and replaces the AIR in the thread I would think it was the heat that expanded the or any air in the thread which brought the air into the finish as a Bubble

Bill - willierods.com



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2016 08:34PM by bill boettcher.

Thanks Bill
CP was days dry but heat makes sense, It was the only thing I did to it.
Bob

Heat will expand the air in the thread -- which the CP should have gotten rid of ??? -- unless you got it too hot and just bubbled the finish
Next time no heat see if that and it should work better

Bill - willierods.com

Overheating can also boil the finish, resulting in bubbles. In your case, however, I suspect that the brief application of heat expanded any micro bubbles and some just escaped your attention or managed to rise while you were out of the room.

One thing that is sure to help with bubbles is an application technique that doesn't tend to create them in the first place. Go to the RodMaker Magazine Youtube channel and watch the finish application video for a good method to try.

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

Comments deleted



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2016 05:03PM by John E Powell.

Robert,

One thing that I like to do when building rods with respect to finish, is to keep a close eye on the finish for the first 30 minutes or so.

I keep very bright light and then use a head band mounted magnifier to carefully check each guide wrap from time to time as the finish is setting up. If, I find that a bubble has appeared, I will give it a touch of gentle heat from the heat gun and that will take care of the bubble.

But, under normal circumstance, things will just take care of themselves.

As you have seen, bubbles can develop over a bit of time, so if you see them develop, take care of them as soon as you see them appear and you will be good to go. If, however, the finish has cured, the bubble will be permanent in the finish.

Be safe

I haven't been doing this hobby very long, but I quickly learned what others have said. Heat is not needed, and can cause more bubbles to percolate out of the threads. Just follow the library doc on Improving Your Epoxy Finish and use a small stir straw to lightly blow on the bubbles and they will pop easily. Works wonderful, at least with the Threadmaster Lite I use now. When I started, I tried many brands and builds of epoxy to find one the was most user friendly in my chilly basement shop.

John Shear
Chippewa Falls, WI

John's method of blowing through a straw works with other finishes also.