So far all of my rods I have built, a whopping 7 total have been a little heavy on the finish, classic football shape I guess, not huge but about the same as a St. croix or other top of the line store bought. My pee brain logic is a little more epoxy, better hold on the guide. So am I correct or do you guys wipe off most of the finish after applying. I followed Tom's tutorial video and it greatly improved my finish skills, before I was trying to " brush the finish" instead of just applying it and let the finish do its job. This does in my case leave the football style finish when completed. I don't mind the look but am wondering if this inhibits the performance of the rod, IE-sensitivity in any way as I could certainly wipe some of it back off after rotating the rod. Thoughts and expertise are greatly appreciated as always.

Keith Langford

I move the epoxy right before it starts to get tacky to get rid of any footballing, also 2 lights coats helps vs one thick coat.

While checking the wraps for dry spots immediately after applying the finish, if there's a bit too much finish on a wrap I "wick it off" by holding the side of a dry brush below the wrap and barely touching the wet finish while the rod is turning. This will draw off the excess finish without disturbing/over-brushing the finish.

The finish is there to protect the thread wraps - no strength advantage to adding more than needed to do that and to look nice.

The best avenue is to try and not put on so much to begin with. One easy way to do this is to use a slightly stiffer brush than what you have now, or to trim what you have now to a shorter length. The effect will be the same.

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

on rods that are used to free hung lures in heavy cover i use epoxy heavily on the guide wraps..all other rods get three or four coats of a one part CP/ finish which is still much lighter than one coat of epoxy especially if the first coat is a saturation coat..

Keith,
I use standard Flex Coat finish.

About 90% of my rods are finished in 1+ coat of finish.

I coat a rod quickly. I use my power wrapper to spin my rod at speeds up to 50 - 75 rpm when applying finish. I start at the grip and apply a generous coat of finish to be sure that there is enough finish that all of the wraps and guide feet will be well coated.

I don't do any wicking or brushing off finish at this point. i.e. I do the first pass on finish and seldom slow the rod, except when I am doing the tunnel and under the guide ring on a well hung over guide ring.

Then, on the way back, I use my heat gun, to slightly warm the finish - which thins the finish and allows everything to fill and coat well. At that time, I will wick off any extra finish that might cause a foot ball.

Once, I have gone over the guides a 2nd time, I do one more final inspection to be sure that every guide is perfect - adding a touch of finish here or deleting a touch of finish there - if necessary. Then I transfer the rod to a single or multi drum dryer for over night drying.

After coming off the dryer, I do one more 100% inspection to insure perfect guide alignment and perfect finish. If there is any error any where, I will do what is needed to correct the issue. But, in about 90% of the cases, the rod is complete and will be shipped out that or the following day.

By being able to use a single coat of finish that turns out perfect, I eliminate all but one over night drying cycle.

Be safe

Thank you for the shares. What about the different level on double footes guides when I use an underwrap?

Jeffery,
What is your primary reason to do an under wrap?

Otherwise, to take care of the underwrap, just stop the rod from turning when you apply finish to the area under the guide ring - if that is your question.

Decorate. I love the looks of that. So I'm laying the under wrap, epoxy, then the guide. That's how I get uneven heights.

Decorate. I love the looks of that. So I'm laying the under wrap, epoxy, then the guide. That's how I get uneven heights.

I just have done a handful of builds, with varying results.

I don't have the experience or understanding of the hobby to make suggestions, but I will point out something I noticed.

I was wondering about why loading the brush with epoxy yielded different coverage on wraps until I did the simple math to calculate surface area of - for example- 10 centimeters of rod near the grip and the same length near the tip and was really surprised at the difference.

The result - for me- was footballs as I approached the tip because I was loading the same amount of epoxy for each wrap as I moved along the rod, and applying all of it without taking into account the surface area.

Roger, I believe I've seen your video about applying epoxy at a fairly high rotation speed. That is cool and and logical.

Keith
To answer your question:
Anything you add to a blank diminishes sensitivity, action, and crispness of the blank

more epoxy then needed
larger guides then needed
more thread then needed
longer fore grips then needed

only increase those losses!