I was finishing a rod today and had a dark spot show up on the trim band after applying a coating of epoxy thread protector. The thread used was green Fish Hawk, nylon A . I used one coat of Flex Coat thread sealer and one coat of Rod Dancer Thread Master. The dark spot was not showing prior to putting on the epoxy. The size of the spot is is approximately 1/4' long by an 1/8" wide. The rest of the trim band looks good and there are no other discolorations anywhere else. My wife thinks that there must have been a contamination underneath the thread to cause the problem. I had used denatured alcohol to wipe down the rod after sanding.

My questions are:
1- Has this happen to someone else before?
2- Are there suggestions as how maybe to fix the problem without having to redo the complete wrap (part of a tiger wrap)?
3-Suggestions on what may have caused the problem?
4-Suggestions for preventing this from happening again?

Thanks

Sam Ledbetter

Sam,
You indicated that you used alcohol to wipe down the rod after sanding. Was the sanding as part of shaping the grip or was the sanding being done for something on the grip.

Normally, it is not a good idea to use any sort of solvent on a rod - once you have started to build. Rather, just use a tack rag or even a water dampened microfiber cloth to wipe down the blank to avoid any contamination.

Sound like maybe you didn't have the threads completely sealed? Most manufacturers recommend more then one coat of thread sealer. Personally I use atleast 3 coats.

I had sanded the whole blank. It was a North Fork blank that still had the ridges from the manufacturing process. I had used a tack rag but it left a residue and I wiped the blank down with the alcohol to get rid of the resin left from the tack cloth.

I was wondering if I should have done another coat of sealer but I had saturated the threads pretty liberally and have gotten away with only using one coat of sealer in the past. All the other threads on the rod look good, it is just that one spot. I will use at least two coats from now on just to make sure.

Thanks for your responses.

Sam

Metallic thread with a broken, of missing metallic foil component will do that, most obvious on tip sections as you have lots or wraps with very little thread used. I wouldn't of sanded an Xray blank, especially at the tip, only well trained personnel with 600, or finer sand paper are allowed anywhere near a blank with a fine tip anywhere I've visited, all hand done.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2020 11:27AM by Spencer Phipps.

The thread is standard nylon thread. The area with the problem is the trim band finishing off a tiger wrap on the butt section. I wish I knew how to upload a picture to show what happened better.
It is an MB 709 IM blank and I just could not stand the ridges on the blank so I sanded it down to get rid of most of the ridges. You can still feel the ridges with your finger nail. Started with a fine sanding pad and finished with 2000 grit sand paper. You are correct about a trained person doing a better job that than me but I am not a fan of the unfinished look of the rod. I should of sent it back when I got it., I know next time just to get a Delta blank.

Sam Ledbetter

it sounds like you did not get a good seal coat on the thread some how , as that is what happens with out thread sealer on it , [ thread gets dark ]

William Sidney
AK

Can't help on the dark spot, but you are going to love the rod you build on that blank. I use the rod I built on the same blank, for flipping and pitching for largemouth bass. It is one awesome rod. I am sorry to hear that they are no longer sanding the IM blanks. I purchased my blank last year about this time, and it was sanded from the factory. If you ask me they are doing a disservice by not sanding them.

As far as sanding the NFC X ray blanks go ..... I get the whole warning about it needs to be done by a professional thing. You certainly don't want to do something to a blank that will void the warranty and at the same time, could cause damage to the blank itself. But ....... last year I built two rods on NFC MB736 X ray blanks, and like you I couldn't hang with the textured finish, so I entirely sanded both blanks. I started with 320, went to 400, and did a final polish with a grey Scotch Brite pad. They turned out beautifully, and if I did something to damage the blanks in the process, it hasn't shown up in 7 months of fairly regular and somewhat hard use.

And no I'm not a professional, but I do have common sense, and common sense goes a long way in such matters.

The thread was contaminated, not the blank. i have had this happen before because there was contamination on the thread. There is really nothing you can do about the thread when it gets contaminated, it usually machine oil are something similar and the acrylic water based color preserver will go around it and stick to the threads without the oil next to it. The epoxy will penetrate or mix with the oil because it is solvent based and be absorbed by the thread.

Copy that comment Lance.

There is one thing that you can do with contaminated thread. Take the spool of contaminated thread and throw it with some force into the garbage.

Any time you find a spool of thread that has an issue on the rod, grab that spool of thread and have it leave the shop quickly and with vigor.

This will insure that that particular spool of thread is never ever ever ever used on one of your rod builds ever ever ever again.

Did I say - PITCH THE SPOOL OF BAD THREAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybeeeeee

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

I second that Roger. Very frustrating. I guess that's better than snapping the almost finished rod into as many pieces as possible.