First some observations...

Finishing a Leonard Duracene 2/1 4wt blank, and (first) doing test wraps using CP w/ or w/o Perma Gloss and spar varnish & CP as well. All wraps packed and burnished. CP'd wraps tend to show no gaps at all - as if the CP expands the threads, while straight Perma Gloss on the wraps shows every thread weakness you can find. Strange! Stranger that that? My Permagloss is all coagulating on one end of the wrap - the left side, leaving a thin finish on the RH 9/10ths of the wrap. I realize that I am just supposed to build many THIN layers of finish instead of the Flex Coat method of one thick one come @#$%& or high water - AND I THOUGHT I WAS. But lo and behold the goop shifts stage left. JUST HOW THIN DOES EACH LAYER OF FINISH NEED TO BE?

The work station is level, the applicator is completely sober, the room is 68 degrees, and the motor is 36 rpm. Too Fast? Any ideas? I want to get this figured out - I have spent too much money and time on this rod to not have the wraps look nice.

I have messed with perma gloss once and then when I opened the bottle second time everything was setting up inside of bottle, so that was last time for that.. My first question is it dont sound like rod is level.. I use Spar varnish on all my bamboo rods and I dont have a problem like that, if I did I would just wipe off the extra finish where it piles up.. My first coat I put on with brush then I wipe off extra with finger, I feel like when I do this I am forceing varnish into threads.. I also rotate rod by hand on bamboo rods then I have 2 turners one 16 rpm and one a very slow barbercue motor and I just use them on graphite rods and useing Dura Gloss on graphite I determined that a slow rpm works best on LS Supreme.. Only thing I can say is just keep brushing level while rod is rotateing.... Thanks Dave

Dave - Thanks! Please forgive my newness to cane. I should mention that I dont think (really dont know ???) wiping off the excess spar or other varn with my finger will work here - correct me if you think I am nuts but I dont want to be smearing the blank (a Duracane) with varn of any type, right? - I am not dipping this rod so it wouldn't be covered up later. Wouldnt this be hard to clean or manage?

Permagloss is a wonderful finish. If you are having to rotate it to keep it from sagging or dripping, you are putting on way to much. I just used some on a heavy saltwater rod and never had to rotate it at all. You should find that it tacks up very quickly - so quickly in fact that one pass with the brush is about all you can do. Any more and you end up dragging brush marks all through the finish. I would think that about 5 applications would give you the depth you need for that type of rod.

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