What do you guys use when applying Flexcoat?I Use the supplied brushes but I was wondering if there are better brushes to use with this epoxy finish. To me this is what separates the pros from the amateurs. Bill

William,
Essentially, when applying finish with a brush, the brush normally never touches the blank.
Rather, the brush is brought close to the brush and the finish is wicked off the end of the brush onto the rotating blank.

When enough finish is on the blank, the application is terminated and the finish flows out and levels by itself with no real brushing involved

That is why, I use brushes that are essentially the same as the Flex coat nylon brushes.

I pick them up in the children's art sections at the big box stores. The current price is 8 cents each for a brush when purchased in quantities of 144.

[www.walmart.com]

When using the brushes and the finish on rods, I use one brush per coat of finish. If applying finish to multiple rods, I will use the same brush to apply the finish on the various rods as long as there is no delay in between finish applications.

This is because, I never clean any brushes. When finished with a brush, I lay it across the mini cup that I use to mix the finish to use as an aid in checking the finish for being dry.

By doing this, I never have to worry about brush cleaner, fumes and hassle of cleaning an expensive brush that never touches the blank anyway when applying finish.

The finish is perfect and if the perfect finish can be obtained with one of the flex coat nylon brushes, or one of the childrens similar 8 cent nylon brushes, why buy anything else.

But, to each his/her own.

Take care

Wider is better and you can get the epoxy on more quickly and with less brushing which not only takes a lot of time but creates bubbles. Walmart has packages of decent hair brushes in 1-4 to 1-2 inch widths for not much money. Really true that flat and wide brushes are better for epoxy work than the little round ones.

Interesting suggestion about the brush not touching the blank. I'll give it a try. Never thought of that. Thanks. Bill

I use a spatula . Ralph O'Quinn showed my how in Highpoint years ago and I never looked back. Way easier than a brush, cleans well and makes it easy to get the finish in the tunnels.

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

Great topic, we have a video in the works...

Roger Seiders designed Flex Coat brushes for rodbuilding by making the bristles shorter and finer than the typical cheap children's brush. The Flex Coat disposable brushes' bristles are 3/8" long and they are very fine (0.002" in thickness compared to three times that on others). The Yellow brushes have more bristles that are good for medium to large wraps and lures and the Purple brushes have less bristles and are best for medium to small wraps and working in tighter areas. These finer shorter bristles make for a great instrument to squeegee, and apply the finish into and saturate the thread. Also, the shorter bristles make if easier to get the desired thickness of the coat of finish, thick or thin.

We do have a technique we recommend for using our brushes that does involve brushing the finish on the wraps. Most notably, rotating the brush, loaded with finish, with a backspin rotation toward the direction you are moving toward. This allows the gravity fed drop of finish on the underside of the brush to be spun and pushed in the direction of the dry thread, giving you a bead of finish to be pushed in the desired direction while the rod is rotating. The more and faster you rotate the brush, the bigger the bead of finish. This technique can be tapered toward the end of the wrap for a perfect edge, especially when rotating at higher speeds of 100 to 200 rpms. We believe that the Flex Coat disposable brushes are the best on the market for rod finish application and not the same as any other disposable brushes, and when coupled with a higher speed motor with a slip clutch, you can very easily achieve a quick professional finish that will put the icing on the cake of your custom build.

Also, our brushes are MADE IN THE USA.

While the brush specific video is in production, here is a video of them in action:
[flexcoat.com]

Flex Coat Company
Professional Rod Building Supplies
www.flexcoat.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/2020 03:01PM by John Cates.

William,
You have received very good replies to your question. Roger told me about the economy children’s brush a number of years ago and I have used them ever since. I purchase mine from WalMart in 30-packs for $1.24 which is a tic over 4 cents apiece. They have longer yet fewer bristles than the FlexCoat brushes so are not quite as nice but they get the job done for less money.
I have never tried a spatula as Fred mentioned but there a number of builders who do. One of these days I will give it a shot as the prospects are worthy of trying.
Without learning from anyone, I have developed a method of applying finish while slowly turning the brush, apparently similar to what John was referring. Also, holding the brush on a slight angle toward the direction of feed keeps a small bead of finish ahead of the brush as it is directed onto the blank.
I agree with the general consensus that whether a brush or spatula is employed, they are used simply as a vehicle to get the epoxy from the pot to the blank; not like brush painting a chair or trim on the house.
One thing I would like to add learned from the composite industry; if a second batch of epoxy is required to finish the wraps, use a new brush, never the same one used for the first batch.

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

I do straight up what John's video shows . I have used the kids brushes but prefer the purple Flex Coat ones. I used to trim them but now I don't same with the kids brushes that I really don't use anymore. The not touching the bristles to the thread like Roger suggested is what I do on the second coat. I usually just do two coats unless there is some uneven areas or other flaws, then I will do a third coat.. The spatula idea sounds really good and if you can master it then it may be the best. Less stuff to buy and store. Whatever you do make it into a repeatable process that will work for you and pretty soon you won't even think about it.

Thank you John for posting the video on applying Flexcoat. I usual just spin the blank by hand but now I'll try using my rotisserie motor to power wrap the finish. I also did not know about the various color brushes.
Thanks Bill