Hello,
Happy new year !

Do you have a technique to have a minimum of bubble in the Flex Coat varnish? I would also like to have your advice about varnish coats. It is better to make 2?

Thank you in advance !
Best regards, Alexis

Stir slowly. Work at room temperature. Limit brush strokes on the wrasp.

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

Alexis

The best practice for our 2 part epoxy finish is to warm the finish prior to mixing to about 90 degrees F. This will help the 2 parts mix easily and minimize bubbles. Measure at least 3cc's of each part for a 6cc mix and mix with a round, non-porous stirrer like we sell or the back of a clean brush handle. Mix in a well lit area and scrape the walls and bottom of the mixing cup. Don't mix too fast to avoid a foamy mess. The mix will appear marbled, then cloudy, then marbled again and then turn clear, mix it until it is crystal clear. In a well lit area you can see down through the mixture and see any streaks of un-mixed, or uncombined parts in the cup and mix until you can see none of those. It helps to see those streaks if you set the cup on white paper with black print on it. If you have some bubbles at this point, we can handle those next. Pour out the mix on an aluminum foil wrapped paper plate, this will give you a longer working time and spread the mix out to pop bubbles. For an instant bubble pop, you can quickly wave a torch over the top of the finish on the aluminum foil. Now you can use the foil covered plate as a tray under you rod to keep your workspace drip free.

Here is a video on the subject:
[www.youtube.com]

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

I use flexcoat which IMO is great stuff - the best I've found so far in over 50 years of rodbuilding.

I mix mine vigorously, because that works for me. Learned that particular lesson about mixing epoxy thoroughly from "Gene" the rod repair guy and fellow employee, at Atlas Sports in the Washington DC area lo those many years ago.

Yes it does bubble up a bit when I mix it.

My secret is using a hair dryer or heat gun. Heat gun is inexpensive (under 10 bux) at Harbor Freight.

After stirring the mix, I leave it alone for a few seconds, say 20 seconds, for the bubbles to dissapate. Than I shine a heat gun on it for 5-10 seconds at low speed. This calms it down a bit, making lots of the bubbles go away, or at least the froth of bubbles on the top.

After applying the Fex Coat I then go back and shine my heat gun at low speed for a few seconds on each wrap.

What this does is pop any bubbles (with paintbrush assist if needed) and also thins out the mix so it smooths out and flows smoothly while drying on the turner. Professional looking results.


Wonderful stuff. Flex-Coat plus the heat gun.



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2021 02:23PM by Philip Engle.

Put water in a ceramic coffee mug or anything that can be placed in a microwave and heat the water for 60 seconds. Use two mugs. Only do one at a time in the microwave, one right after the other. Put epoxy containers in mugs with hot water and wait 10 minutes. The epoxy will be warm enough to mix as per John's instructions.

Thank you gentlemen for your feedback but after a lot of trying I still can't get the result I wanted.
I'm looking for something very specific. My goal is to have an extremely smooth varnish like a car body with a ceramic coating and without blisters or other unevenness. I always try to have perfection on the rest of the pieces and that's the one thing that I can't seem to have. Here are the photos of a varnish made by a rodbuilder who has stopped. The absolutely splendid result ...
Look on the photos :
I research this result.

[mail.google.com]

[mail.google.com]

You can do the same thing with Flex Coat. You need to work on your finishing technique.

..........

Apparently the base of the varnish has to be very smooth for the flex coat to take shape. What do you think?

The Flex Coat goes on directly over the thread or over a coat of color preserver. That's all you need. Rod builders do this every day with perfect results. Don't make it more difficult than it is.

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

the easiest way for me is to seal the wraps first with flex coat color preserver, let dry overnight and apply epoxy or what ever finish..with sealed wraps the epoxy sits on top and can very eaasily level out across the wrap..any bubbles will quickly go to the surface and pop..if the wraps are not sealed the epoxy is absorbed into the thread very unevenly leaving thick and thin spots..in this case you have to apply even more epoxy to cover the thick and thin spots and may still need to apply another coat..this is how you make epoxy sellers very happy..lol. again if you seal the wraps first, you will need only one coat of epoxy but you will make epoxy sellers unhappy..lol.

The manufacturers they varnish with guns or brush like us?

Brushes or spatulas.

.........

What benefit is there to coating a rod blank with varnish, epoxy, or paint?

Are we talking about finishing guide wraps or the blank?

..........

Just 10 cm on the blank on the sticker

Apply a coat of color preserver over the sticker. Let dry and then apply the Flex Coat.

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