I have some questions about putting a Permagloss finish on a carbon fiber grip. I have watched Tom Kirkman's YouTube video several times. Seems pretty straightforward. But I am unclear on one thing that Tom mentions at the beginning of the video. He states that the unfinished grip is "wetted out and covered with a second coat of the wetting out epoxy" and then sanded.

Couple questions:

First, is the wetting out epoxy step still required on a commercially made grip such as the CFX grips)?

Second, If the wetting out epoxy step is required, what is the wetting out epoxy? and how do you apply it?

Third, I have read that the carbon fiber grips can be used totally unfinished, just as they arrive (I am using CFX grips). What are the advantages to finished vs raw?

Thanks in advance.

No, just apply the Permagloss as shown in the video. The CFX grip is ready to coat. It is very easy to do and looks great. . If you don’t have a lathe you can chuck you mandrel into a cordless drill, or even use a 20 rpm drying motor. Very difficult to screw up.

Norm

When you make carbon fiber skinned grip, you coat the grip with epoxy and slide the carbon fiber sleeve over it. You then work the sleeve by hand making sure the epoxy has thoroughly saturated (wetted out) the carbon fiber, then you let it dry. In Tom's video the grip he is coating has been coated with another coat of epoxy to make the grip smooth. That second coat of epoxy is kind of like when you coat your thread wraps with epoxy. You then sand that second coat to take out any waves that may have formed. You sand it so that it is smooth like glass. Then as in the video, you coat it with Permagloss.

Yes the CFX grips can be used just as they arrive. They are very sturdy and very resistant to abrasion. They won't shed fibers or anything like that. I can't be sure, but I believe Norman coats them with Permagloss without going through the second coat of epoxy, and the sanding process. If I am correct, I have coated one carbon fiber grip in that fashion. As Norman said, it's easy to do and it gives the grip a luster. Kind of a shimmer. It looks good. I have done one carbon fiber grip where I top coated it with the second coat and did the sanding thing before top coating it with Permagloss.

From an appearance standpoint, I much prefer that latter. The process results in a glass smooth grip that really pops in showing the carbon fiber. I find it to be gorgeous. The other carbon fiber grips I have on current rods as well as a build I will be starting soon, have completely unfinished grips on them. One that I made, and the others that are CFX.

Yes David is correct, I don’t coat the CFX grips with epoxy nor do I sand the grips. I just coat them with Permagloss as they come just to give them some sheen. I like a little texture to the grip rather than being smooth, but that’s just me. You can coat them any way you want to get the effect your are looking for. In fact, you don’t even have to coat them with anything, a lot of people prefer the matte finish.
Norm

Thanks guys. Maybe I missed it, but what is the epoxy that you are referring to to glue the carbon sleeve to the foam core? Just regular two part rod epoxy? I assume it is something that dries clear?

Any standard two-part epoxy will work. West Systems makes a good product for this.

No epoxy dries clear. All will have or develop a slight amber or yellow cast in time. My process for smoothing the skin tends to remove most of the epoxy so it's not an issue.

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

I used the epoxy that came in the CFX handle kit that I used to make a grip [www.mudhole.com] It took some time and some calculating to get dimensions right, but it was a lot of fun. Below is a link to a photo of the grip I made.

[www.rodbuilding.org] It looks like a stock CFX grip but it's 9 1/2" long versus the 10" long one that they offer.

Here is a link to a pic of the grip that I top coated with epoxy and then Permagloss. It looks foggy in the picture because it has an amine blush. The only thing I can figure how it got there is that it was very humid when I did the coating with epoxy. I ended up sanding it completely down and re doing it. It came out beautifully the second time. I also did'n't use the little nub that I made in the final build on that rod. I just didn't like the way it looked. I ended up trimming the thread barrel shorter and used a little nub made of EVA foam to cap the end of the thread barrel.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Just to follow up on this, the Permagloss on the CFX grip turned out nice. One thing though for other folks not familiar with Permagloss - I left the extra in the plastic mixing cup I poured it into. Fortunately I took it to the garage to dry up and gas off, because the Permagloss eventually melted though the plastic cup and stuck all over the garbage can lid. Glad I didn't leave it sitting on my work bench surface!

You don’t need to pour that much out. It only takes a small amount, and the small foam brush should suck it all up without any left behind. One loaded brush can coat several handles with no problem.
Norm

Ok, but I thought the opened jar of Permagloss would not stay workable for long?

Bob,
Just a reminder to use either a paper cup or a glass jar for permagloss when using it.

Permagloss will not bother paper, nor will it bother glass - but it will melt plastic.

Good luck