Hello atm am painting an old rod that wrapped since this is my first time painting a rod i have already coated the rod 3x and i still see small streaks and such and i was wondering if i have to still sand it more untill i get it perfect smooth or can i just apply the epoxy and the epoxy will hide it... painting it white

Here is a Search on that subject Plenty of info
I hope you are not using thread finish on the rod to coat it

[rodbuilding.org]

Bill - willierods.com

Not much information! What are you using, how are you painting, what is the blank?

Phil Erickson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not much information! What are you using, how are
> you painting, what is the blank?

i have no idea what blank is but is a 9ft medium heavy i guess is very stiff its a 2 piece and am spray painting it atm

bill boettcher Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here is a Search on that subject Plenty of info
> I hope you are not using thread finish on the rod
> to coat it

i have look thru the search still havent found anything and yes am going to erpoxy the whole rod i dont think it will do anything since the rod its very stiff already

I just finished the older thread. Has anyone tried "dipping" the rod? I know most big companies dip paint things and I have used that technique on many items that I build. I was thinking of making a small dip tank from PVC pipe (1 1/2" by about 4') to use as a dip tank. That would take about 1 1/2 quarts of paint. Do the same thing for clear coat. Think I'll do some testing on smaller pieces and see how it turns out.

Any ideas or thoughts?

Thanks.

I like the idea of spraying it
You can look at the automotive paints and primers and clears
Dupli Color is another that makes spray cans and mixable materials
If the paint on the blank is bad and chipping take it all off and start fresh

Bill - willierods.com

Jose,
If at all possible, please avoid coating the entire rod with rod finish. Rod finish is pretty heavy. If you paint the entire rod with rod finish, the rod will get very heavy and really change the action.

To avoid extra weight, I like to have the blank stripped down to the bare graphite or fiberglass. Then, I will use wet and dry paper, used wet - starting at about 320 grit and will continue sanding down to about 1200 grit.

The result is nearly a mirror finish on the raw blank. Then, normally two light coats of paint complete the job.

Good luck

I'm surprised more have not chimed in on this- Do this wrong and you will ruin the rod. If you look at commercial rods of high quality you will find that you can see right through the paint to the graphite (under bright light, like sunlight). This means the paint is very thin, giving a tint but not a thick opaque coat. Too much paint will definitely slow the action. You may end up with what feels like an old Ugly Stick. Spray it with only enough thin coats to give a uniform finish. Or do as Roger suggests and leave it without paint. The natural graphite is beautiful. I prefer to put a gloss coat on it, but that is not, as Roger says, necessary.

Then DO NOT use epoxy for a final finish. You will have a mess. Use Permagloss or another one-part polyurethane, also a very thin coat applied very quickly with a foam brush, put it on and leave it alone (it dries very fast and it's easy to mess it up by overworking it).

If in doubt, so some more research on the subject including applying Permagloss or equivalent.

Definitely do not use rod finish on the blank for all the reasons above plus it starts peeling off pretty quickly( I've done it trust me). I haven't used permagloss but I use something similar and it works very well. 3 coats should be fine
I've been to a blank factory here and they use a dip tank and run it through a round squigee so it comes out thin. Doing it for one rod seems a bit extreme.
Make sure the paint is compatible with the finish
Hope you post how it comes out good or bad

Thanks,

I missed the part in the videos where they ran it through a round squeegee. That would make sense. Guess spray painting, thin coats and Permagloss is the way to go. Has anyone tried spraying Permagloss?

I painted a 10ft surf rod that was a putred green that I sanded most off. I then built a spray booth out of of cardboard to catch any overspray from spray Rustoleum in blacjk.In order to paint the blank evenly I posirtioned my roller uprights on my lathe where the guides{stripper and second guide} would be and used those two spots to hold the rod while i rotated it. Turned the rod fairly slowly and put 3coats on, let it dry thoroughly and wet sanded it with 1200 . The next day I used a can of clear pray and painte\d it the same as with the black. Once dried it came out very smooth ans glossy. I believe the finish came out so good due to the 1200 grit wet paper. That is the same process custom painter use on custom cars.Go slow and you will love the results.

A custom CAR does not FLEX as a rod does Come back in a year or so I would like to know if the paint and or clear has cracked do to being to thick and rod being flexed
Like said any paint should be as thin as possible and the clear also - and flexible with good adhesion so it does not crack when flexed

That is why many have there blanks with no coating or just a THIN coat of clear

Bill - willierods.com