Over time I have built a lot of rain shadow blanks and especially in recent years have been well pleased with the performance.

It had been a while since I last built on one of their fine blanks but now it was time to build a couple.

I noticed that the decal that came with the blank was different than the ones that I used on the last blank that I built. It has been a while.

Just for an update, I watched the Batson video about applying the blank and the method worked well.

I was building a couple of rods and when ready- had the blank clean and followed the process to remove the backing lay the decal down and give it a good rub down with a craft stick and paper towel as needed.

In all of the decal work that I have done in the past, I simply insure that the decal is clean and then apply finish over the decal at the same time as I apply the first coat of thread finish to the blank.

--- DIDEN' tWORK___
I found that when I applied finish to the decal, the decal effectively repelled the finish in several spots on the decal. Because I had finish on the rest of the wraps, I removed the decal and wiped the finish off the blank and let the finish cure on the thread wraps.

Then, while the first rod was drying, I decided to try it again, doing one extra step.

I again, made sure that the blank was clean. Then, applied the finish as shown in the video which simply tells one to remove 1/2 of the decal from the backing and then lay that 1/2 on the blank, and pull the backing off the rest of the decal as you press down the rest of the decal. Simple and straight forward.
However, because of the finish issue with the first decal, I then took a paper towel and denatured alcohol and gave a through rub down and clean up of the top side of the decal.

After letting the alcohol evaporate, I proceeded with applying finish. Again, just straight finish on the thread wraps and the decal with nothing added on top of either the thread of the decal.

---------------------PERFECT--------------------
No finish repelling or finish lifting from either the thread, blank or the decal.

At least in my case, there must be a bit of "something" on the face of the decal that caused the finish to lift. But, once the applied decal face was cleaned with DNA - no issue at all.

Batson supplies two decals with each rod blank that came in very handy for my particular situation.

The rods are great rods and I expect that the client will be happy.

Take care

Thanks for the tip Roger! I too am a real fan of Batson blanks, particularly their slow pitch jig blanks. I've had similar problems in the past with their decals but haven't dared use denatured alcohol, usually ended up giving them a coat of color preservative first. I'll give the alcohol a try.

Roger,
I am certainly confident of your rod building abilities including applying decals and over-coating with thread epoxy. I am equally confident of my abilities to perform both; yet I too have had extremely similar results / reactions when applying finish over decals. If anyone is aware of, has experienced and knows how to avoid contamination issues with epoxy, it would be me coming from the composite industry. I have posted several times regarding contamination issues and have helped a few resolve their epoxy woes, yet admittedly experience the same frustration from time to time.
I use Decal Connection for my logo decals (in bulk) as well as the personal inscription decal on each, individual rod. Their decals are of the highest quality and, hence, many rod and blank manufacturers purchase theirs from Decal Connection. I applaud them for their quality, prompt shipping, reasonable prices and, above all, customer service. Both Chuck and Debbie spent a considerable amount of time helping me to resolve my epoxy application woes. I am confident my issues were NOT caused by their decals; if the decals were the problem, everyone else purchasing them would have been experiencing the same, but no other problems. To be honest, I never pinpointed the cause of my dilemma which is frustrating; I do not mind having problems as long as I can identify and correct them!
But, out of necessity, I did develop a method to overcome the repelling of the epoxy over the decal situation, and it has worked every time the condition reared its ugly head, and now plan on employing it every time I overcoat a decal, whether needed or not. It is quite simple yet effective, does not require the use of chemicals like acetone or DNA and the decal can be saved. After applying epoxy over the decal on a rotating rod wrapper or dryer (actually “curer”), closely observe the surface of the epoxy for 5-10 minutes for any fisheyes or repelling. If such occurs, wick the epoxy off the blank with a clean, lint-free strip of paper cloth. It is important to SLOWLY pull the strip of paper cloth in the opposite direction of rotation to actually REMOVE the epoxy (and contaminate) rather just smear it around the surface of the blank. Reread that last sentence! Two or three applications of fresh paper cloths are usually required. This will remove the epoxy as well as >95% of whatever the contamination was! Mix a new batch of epoxy and reapply; I have yet needed to repeat the process to obtain a proper coating of epoxy over the decal. Time-consuming? = a bit; will it save your back-side? = definitely!!!
The last rod I built, I was expecting and prepared to have to go through the above process but it turned out perfect with the first application of epoxy over the decals; go figure! It is frustrating to not know precisely what the root of the problem is; but at least I know how to deal with it if / when it occurs.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

If you use too much pressure to lay the decal, some adhesive may be squeezed out from under the edges. You won't see it but it will repel the finish.

Daniel,
I was concerned about the use of the DNA to clean the surface, but I knew that I had one spare decal to use as a test.
Fortunately, it worked out fine.

Grant,
I too addressed the possibility of the adhesive under the decal and also which holds the transfer-tape to the decal as a possible cause of my consternation. I considerably backed-off with my burnishing pressure and vigor but still experienced the epoxy being repelled. I am certainly not saying it was not the problem but I cannot say it was either.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

I burnish the heck to be sure there is no chance of a loose edge and I've never had an adhesive squeeze out problem. I always put a little CP along the edge to seal it, but not over the whole decal. Might be something new going on, change of decal tech ?

Never had a problem either and I also go crazy with the burnishing .

For the folks who have had no problem - are you speaking of the current version of the Rain Shadow decal?

Take care

We'd be glad to get this on our engineering/QC radar. Roger, can you tell me what blank model(s) had the decal issue? Thanks

-The Batson TEAM
BatsonEnterprises.com

Batson,
E-mail sent to you.

Roger

A testament to Batson’s commitment to the rod building world. I applaud them as well.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

Mark

Ditto
I have had close to 0 issues with any rain shadow blanks. But, if I did, Batson immediately rectified the issue.