Im new to rod building and waiting on my blank to come in. Want to practice on a old rod but epoxy is in bad shape any easy way to strip old epoxy off. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Take a razor blade and cut the threads off that are across the top of the guide feet, than peel the thread and epoxy off.

Gentle heat from a heat gun will make the process much easier.

However, be very very very careful to avoid overheating the blank - particularly in the tip section with the thin area of rod blank.

The heat softens the finish and then - holding the razor perpendicular or at 90 degrees to the blank a bunch of new sharp single edged razor blades will make quick work of the stripping.

Be safe

Thanks for the advice

I remove all the guides in the manner described above. Then I put the rod in a power wrapper and use steel wool with alochol, going up and down the rod to remove the old finish. This usualy works pretty good but I use a finer steel wool if needed. Some times I have to concentrate on a particular area if the old finish is stubbornly holding to the rod. Once done, I use a cloth with more alochol, going up and down the rod to clean it. Then I let it dry for a day. After that I use permagloss to reestablish a nice finish on the rod. It doesn't make a factory new appearance but it works pretty well for reclaiming old rods.

With all due respect, steel wool leaves behind a lot of very fine steel fibers, Scotchbrite does not. Citri -Strip also helps.

Both extra fine steel or a fine Scotchbite pad works quite well. Also wet sanding with a wet/dry 800 to 1500 grit sand paper also works well. All three will remove excess finish without getting into the graphite fibers, more like polishing the blank. Permagloss does give a hard and durable finish, and it easy to apply by wiping on with a foam cosmetic pad, or cheese cloth or even a coffee filter.
Norm

I re-did a bunch of old All Stars I had.

1. Remove guides by heating with a heat gun to soften epoxy, then cut off with utility knife. Be careful to not dig in to blank. I don't like a brand new blade doing this.
2. Citri-Stip entire blank then use a Scotchbrite to scrub residue. Might take 2 times to get it all
3. Wet sand with 1000, then 2000. Auto store has wed sand paper

I will look like a brand new blank when done with a mat/Slate finish.

If it's just for practice I would go to a nearby public fishing pier/location and grab a couple of broken rods left lying around and practice wrapping guides on them. If it's just for practice you could wrap guides on nearly anything shaped like a dowel - the same skills are required,