Seems like I'm doing a lot more renovating of old rods anymore than new builds. I'm working currently on a 7'6" fiberglass garage sale refugee for a guy. Interestingly, I finished one that was nearly identical a month ago; same manufacturer, but 6" shorter.. It looked awful, but after using CitriSrip and some light sanding followed by three coats of PermaGloss it looked amazing.

This one is a different story. After using CitriStrip and some light sanding, the blank looks mottled and the patterns of the fiberglass fabric where it was wound around the mandrel are really noticeable. No amount of sanding is going to make it look like the first one I turned out. I had a thought to try staining the blank with a highly pigmented oil-based Gel stain that is suitable for wood or fiberglass to give it uniformity and using PermaGloss after that. I can easily experiment, but thought I'd put this out on the board to see if it's been done successfully before, or if I'd be wasting my time.

Dave Sytsma

If you have an area of the blank where you can test the process that is what I would do, as I am unsure how well the staining will work. Another approach would be to color the Perma Gloss. Again testing would be prudent. You end up finding that staining doe not work and you will need to paint the blank.

If you have an area of the blank where you can test the process that is what I would do, as I am unsure how well the staining will work. Another approach would be to color the Perma Gloss. Again testing would be prudent. You end up finding that staining doe not work and you will need to paint the blank.

I've got a 60 year old telescoping fiberglass cane pole that is in rough shape (renovation for another day) that I can experiment on. If the stain and the PermaGloss don't get along, I can always try rod varnish. Thanks, Phil.

You can tint Permagloss with the pigment from Testors enamel, saturate a sponge with the mix and wipe it down over the blank very rapidly. It's not a perfect mix but if there's too much pigment in some areas they can be lightly sanded and a top coat of PG applied. I use another moisture curing urethane that doesn'i go off as fast.

A note for Lynn's post. In order to get mostly pigment from Testors, let it sit for a few days and separate from the thinning agent. The pigment will settle to the bottom of the bottle and you can just pour off the thinner at the top.