I have a question regarding Citri Strip. I'm not certain if everyone knows this yet, but I received a newsletter e mail from Batson Enterprises today that says the production of the new Testament series of rod blanks by Rainshow, has been halted. In part it read

"We were unable to produce these USA made blanks to our exacting standards on a large scale," said CEO Bill Batson.

Anyhow, I was actually just about to send Carol at Utmost an E mail to see if the could get a hold of a TESS 72M blank to build a new spinning rod on. With the recent news from Batson I am now looking to use an Immortal blank instead of one of he new Testament blanks. But I want to strip the paint from the Immortal. I've got a particular thread and trim color scheme I want to use for this build, and if I went with the Immortal in stock form, the color scheme won't work. I love the Immortal blanks and their color, but not for this build.

I've read a lot of threads saying just soak it on, let it sit and then wipe it off, and that it may take two applications to do the entire job. My question about Citri Strip is this .... I was thinking of using 1/2" PVC pipe, capping one end and filling it with Citri Strip, inserting the blank and letting it soak.

Will the Citri Strip damage the blank if I do this? I've never worked with Citri Strip so I don't know how quickly it works, or how aggressive it is. I plan on checking it periodically and when it seem like it will come off easily, pull it out, strip it and then wash it.

Any information provided such as how long it would take, what would be a good thing to wash the blank with, etc .... will be greatly appreciated. I built a casting rod on the IMMC73ML blank, that I love. My plan is to use that blank and build it as a spinning rod.

Thanks folks !!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/31/2019 06:09PM by David Baylor.

You'd have to check with Batson but I suspect his will void any warranty on the blank.

I don't think it will damage the blank's structure as the Citri-Strip is a pretty mild product compared to most of the chemical stripping agents. In fact, I think you'll come out much more quickly by scraping the paint from the blank. Although I don't know exactly what type paint the Batson blanks use. Some types are tougher than others.

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

Tom, thank you for the speedy response. Much appreciated.

I kinda figure it would void the warranty, but to be honest, I've never been concerned about the warranty for any of the blanks I've purchased thus far. But thank you for bringing it up. As far as the toughness of the paint on the Immortal. I'm going to guess it's pretty tough. Both of the rods I've built on the Immortal blanks are about 3 years old and they look as good as the day I pulled the blanks out of their plastic sleeve.

When I did a search on the subject I saw a lot of recommendations for scrapping the blank with a razor blade held at 90 degrees to the blank. I've used that procedure for removing the last remnants of thread finish when redoing some old rods, but it makes me a little nervous using it to take paint off. I've used 3M Scotch pads for taking paint off an old stock blank. It worked well but was time consuming, and it made my hand cramp. lol

I thought of chucking the blank up and sanding it like I did my NFC X ray blanks, but I have no doubts that the paint will be tougher than the finish on the X ray blanks. That stuff sanded almost as easy as a foam core grip, reams. Was hoping the Citri Strip would be easier and with a lesser chance of damaging the blank.

Once again, thank you for the rapid reply. Very much appreciated!

If I'm removing paint I coat the blank with Citri-strip and hang it overnight to at least soften the paint . I then scrape it off under running water with a an old credit card or similar (plastic picnic knives work) then if I'm lucky, I can proceed to a scotchbrite pad to get the rest. Often i have to use more than one application. Can't see scraping a new blank with a razor blade as my first resort. You can put the stripper on the pad after the overnight thing , but initially let it sit coated so the stripper has a chance to break the paint down. As Tom said, it's not super aggressive.

David

CitriStrip is my 'go to' varnish remover for bamboo rod refurbishing as it is a safer and easier to use product than the alternatives. For bamboo I brush on the Citri, wrap in plastic lawn bag so the product does not dry out, then use a plastic putty knife to remove the Citri and paint. Clean up with wet towels. It works very well to remove spar varnish. Unfortunately I've no experience with Citri vs the paints on modern rods.

Lynn, thank you for the response. Much appreciated. Did you see I sent you an E mail? The procedure that you follow is pretty much what I read on other threads when I did a search on the subject. Sounds like it's fairly easy, I was just thinking that soaking it would make it even easier, and a little less messy. lol Thanks for your reply, and look for that e mail I sent and feel free to e mail me anytime.

Donald, thank you very much for your reply as well. As with the others, it is much appreciated. I like and hadn't thought of the idea of wrapping the blank in plastic. I still have a couple of the plastic sleeves that came on the NFC and Eternity blanks I've built on recently. I'm thinking those would do the trick nicely. As far as clean up of the blank so that it's ready to build on goes ........ just plain old water? Or should I perhaps add a soap like say ... Dawn for dishes? Or maybe water and then a wipe down with some isopropyl alcohol?

I want to make sure I don't have any contaminants on the blank once it comes time to apply finish.

I'm pretty excited about this build, Mostly because it's on a blank that I already know as far as the power and sensitivity of the blank are concerned. It's going to make one bad mammy jammy of a tube jig rod for those Lake Erie smallmouth I'll be chasing this coming spring.

Soaking it might help, but I'd try to keep the stripper from getting on the inside of the blank where it might be hard to remove. A coat on the outside and the resulting exposure to air might help the stripper to work. (instead of soaking) I'm a little leery of soaking as in how much soaking is enough, but not too much. I'll be in touch. Right now these women are driving me nuts! I can hardly type. (New Years eve.) For initial cleanup I start with dishwater and a toothbrush over the kitchen sink when I'm by myself. Not a good thing to do with the spouse around.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/31/2019 09:30PM by Lynn Behler.

I just wanted to point out that B. Batson's mail doesn't mean that the Testament that were sold were subpar. We've seen and used a lot of them this year in France, and they are by no means under what you can expect from a top range Rainshadow.
If you did pull the trigger, I suggest you check the Testament rep online and you'll see what I mean. Just saying this because the 72M is such an absolute killing blank...

_______________________________________________
If I'm not going to catch anything, then I'd rather not catch anything on flies.

Prostaff Rodhouse
[www.rodhouse.fr]

David,
The first (and most likely last) rod I stripped, I employed CitriStrip. It is a mild stripper which is good in respect to not damaging the blank. But, being mild, you will undoubtedly discover the need to apply it two or three times. Additionally, it is messy, time-consuming and adds cost. I have found a slightly-duller-than-virgin single edge razor blade held perpendicular to scrape the blank works better, considerably faster, does not damage the blank and only costs a few cents. If you are in doubt, test the method on the butt section which will be hidden by the grip. I learned of the method on this site from many who employ it and have thus joined the ranks.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

The paint on the Immortal blanks make's them Look Cheap! I remove it from almost all my builds due to customer requests, Most all Want Carbon! Not paint. {Scotch Brite pads} in 3 grades start with corse, Med, then the green one it comes right off and is very thin paint. You will get that Micro buffed finish which reduces rod weight even further, while providing a super smooth semi-gloss finish. Cheers Jay



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2020 07:51PM by Jay Dubay.

Laurent, thank you for the reply, it is very much appreciated. I hope I didn't make it sound as if I thought the Testament blanks may be sub par by quoting part of the Batson e mail I received. That certainly wasn't my intentions. Personally, my focal point of that sentence is that they couldn't get them produced on a large scale. Actually, before I started this thread, I should have put an e mail into Carol at Utmost to see if she could get a 72m Testament spinning blank. I still plan on doing that, as Utmost is where I will be purchasing the Immortal blank and a couple of other components for this build. I was just kind of trying to figure out how to strip the paint if I am to go with the painted Immortal blank. I will say I do love your comments on the Testament 72M. I'm hoping they were able to get some stock of that blank before production was halted. Once again, I appreciate your response.

Mark, thank you for your response as well ..........what you posted is pretty much what I read in other threads when I did a search on the subject. Can't say I blame you for probably not wanting to do it again .... It doesn't sound like fun lol which is why I thought that maybe actually immersing and letting the blank soak in Citri Strip. I was looking for the least labor intensive way of doing it. Still leery about the razor blade thing, but I have some old factory rods that I turned into reamers that were painted blanks. I'll give it a try on them. Once again thank you for responding, it is much appreciated.

Jay, I'd like to thank you for your response as well. I have a couple of rods built on Immortal blanks and I actually like the color of the blank, but I can certainly understand people not liking it. It just won't work for this build. I'm going with cork/ hdc grips and butt caps with brown thread and copper trim bands for this build. Those colors just won't work with that color of blank. As far as the Scotch Brite pads, as I mentioned above, I did strip a blank using them once, but I only used the green one. It took a while lol ,,,, but it did turn out nice.

I may have to give your idea a try as these other members are making this Citri Strip thing sound like it isn't any fun. And I want rod building to be fun lol

I'd like to thank everyone for their responses. They truly are much appreciated. You've given my some great ideas.

And now off to send Carol an e mail. If they can get the Testament 72M spinning blank then I fear all of your great suggestions will have to be stored away for another project. Thanks again folks. You're the best !!!

I made an interesting discovery over the weekend ....

I have an old Shimano Scabbard spinning rod that I have been wanting to redo. It has a painted blank, so I figured I'd give the ideas put forth in this thread, a try. To make a long story short, the Citri Strip did a pretty good job, and the edge of a dull razor blade and a grey 3M Scotch Brite pad do a pretty good job of getting paint off a rod blank. A alluded to by others, it's not a fun job, but you gotta put the work in if you want the results you're looking for.

The above isn't the interesting discovery I made though. The interesting (and unexpected) discovery is that stripping the paint off this blank revealed that the blank is unsanded. Meaning it has resin ridges along its length. Not so much in the upper half of the blank, but definitely from the mid point between the tip and the fore grip. It isn't nearly as bad as the NFC X ray blanks I've built on ... I have yet to feel a Point Blank rod blank, (decided against the trip to Jann's for the time being) but by the descriptions others have given concerning the texture of their blanks, my guess is that the texture of the rod I just stripped, is probably pretty similar to the Point Blank's. It's not real rough, but you can definitely feel it.

I haven't completely finished stripping it yet, but once I do I'll probably leave it as is. I just thought it was strange. I really didn't expect this because the paint and finish of the blank were perfectly smooth.

The Point Blank I have can't be described as having any kind of ridges. While it is not smooth as if sanded, you'd never know it while wrapping. It seems to be largely cosmetic.

Lynn, I probably shouldn't have said ridges, it's a texture though. I seriously doubt that it would affect wrapping, which is why I mentioned that I'll probably leave it as is. It was just unexpected.

I do know at the time I bought the rod, it was Shimano's top of the line freshwater spinning rod. At that time they were labeling their rods by what type of technique it was intended for. Not specific techniques, but slack line or tensioned line techniques. I bought one designated as being designed for slack line techniques.

It's actually a nice blank, Sensitivity is good, and I love the power curve of it. Kind of a spin jig type blank, Not a soft tip, but nice tip action, and a very nice back bone. It was a great rod for light Texas rigged plastics. I know one thing, the guides I'm going put on it are more than 2 times lighter than the guides I took off of it. lol I remember when I bought it was advertised to have Fuji guides using the "new guide concept" Well I weighed those guides when I cut them off. First off it only had 5 guides on a 6'6" rod. The 5 guides and the tip top I took off the rod weigh 11 grams !!! I'll be putting Pac Bay Minima M and F guides on it. Those 10 guides and the tip top weigh 4 grams.

It is going to feel like an entirely different rod. The only problem is ......... I didn't remove the old handle. reel seat, or fore grip. Now I am thinking I am going to, It's one of those can't leave well enough alone kind of things. I figure if it's most likely going to act like an entirely different rod with this much lighter guide train, that I might as well make it look the part.

Oh and update ....... I got an e mail back from Carol at Utmost, they and Batson have no stock on the TESS72M Testament blank that I asked about. I see that Get Bit has them listed so I am going to give them a call and see if they have them in stock. If not it's strip an Immortal blank time.

Nothing better than making a great older rod into an even greater newer rod. For my next trick I shall attempt to remove a Minima spin seat from a 4-10lb. AT matrix blank using a heat gun. I may be on thin ice here! I thought I wanted it on there just a few years ago! I shall proceed with great caution.