I’ve looked for answers to this, but have not been able to find it. I put finish on a cross wrap the other night and had some bubbles that I wanted to remove. I use my alcohol burner to flame the finish and noticed what appeared at the time to be color from the thread leaching into the finish. This may not be the case, but the black color seemed to be coming directly from my diamond wrap and spreading from there. I’ve never had this issue before, but this is also the first time that I have built on a white blank (maybe I just never noticed it on a darker blank). I reached out to the folks at MudHole and the only thing that they could come up with is that maybe smoke from my flame got trapped in the epoxy. I thought I had read somewhere that using denatured alcohol as fuel would not create that issue (or at least lessen the chances). I’m at a loss otherwise. I’m mostly interested in preventing this on future builds as the rod was basically for practice. Any thoughts on what happened?

For what it’s worth, I used ProWrap ColorFast thread and ProKote finish epoxy.

Google photo link here for reference: [photos.app.goo.gl]

If it was something to do with the flame I would expect t see it elsewhere in the wrap. Around the blue thread only wrap there is no black streaking. Unfamiliar with the Prowrap thread sure looks like the color bled. Every since a couple early builds that ended in some uneven wrap color I have made a practice of always using color preserver regardless of the thread. I don't do much in the way of decorative wraps but have done a few. I found another benefit of color preserver was I could do the final tweaking of any threads and then lock them in place with the CP. Without CP it is possible for things to move once the thread starts to absorb epoxy.

The old "flamed finish" malady. Soot from the flame.

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

Justin,
I suspect that you are doing a no-no but maybe not.

What is your source for your alcohol and what is the % of alcohol in the supply container.

When using an alcohol burner - you should NOT be able to really see any visible flame. You might see a touch of blue in the flame for a touch of color, but you never ever want to see any yellow in the flame.

The yellow is a sign of impurity in the alcohol and if the flame is burning with a Yellow or visible flame - it will emit soot, that may very well contaminate any surface that the soot touches.

I don't know your alcohol source.

But, if you need a source, go to a store where paint is sold.

For example:

At Lowes:

[www.lowes.com]

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I don't know if this is your issue at all with your color issue, but if you do have any yellow flame in your alcohol burner and you wish to use the burner for rod building, do yourself a favor and use pure alcohol that does not burn with any significant yellow color in the flame. A simple test to check the purity of the flame is to hold piece of glass over the flame and see if any color - black or anything else gets deposited on the glass. If so - don't use the fuel that you are using to supply the heat.

Best wishes.

Nylon wrapping threads don't bleed with the use of epoxies!

Thank for the responses. It sounds like most folks are in agreement that I’ve gotten soot/smoke in my epoxy. I’ll admit that I haven’t built any rods in over 5 years until recently and am having to relearn some lessons. I’ve also been using a burner instead of the torch bottle that I used to use. For what it’s worth, I’ve been using the same alcohol that Roger mentioned above, but perhaps my wick is too long and resulting in too big of a flame. Maybe I’ll switch back to the torch. Thanks all for the input.

Justin,
If you are using the alcohol that I mentioned, the burner will not smoke if the wick is at the right height.

But, of course a butane torch, a propane torch or a heat gun will all eliminate the issue.

I used to use a burner, but now - most of the time I use a heat gun. Never an issue with a heat gun.

Best wishes

Justin Mercer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thank for the responses. It sounds like most folks
> are in agreement that I’ve gotten soot/smoke in
> my epoxy. I’ll admit that I haven’t built any
> rods in over 5 years until recently and am having
> to relearn some lessons. I’ve also been using a
> burner instead of the torch bottle that I used to
> use. For what it’s worth, I’ve been using the
> same alcohol that Roger mentioned above, but
> perhaps my wick is too long and resulting in too
> big of a flame. Maybe I’ll switch back to the
> torch. Thanks all for the input.

Or stop flaming the epoxy.

........

Bingo!!!

I had the same issue on my vintage Lami re-build. I have a "smoke effect" forever buried in the epoxy from a Bic lighter, only to learn later that lighters are a no no. Heat gun for me from now on.

you know you can make a prety nice fishing rod without heat of anykind..and your epoxy will cure even harder keeping your guide wraps clear..

I have built 100's of rods, and do not understand the use of heat, never found it necessary.

West Systems epoxy makers have stated that heating an epoxy over 120 degrees while still in a liquid stste changes the curing rate enough to effect the epoxy hardness making it less resistant to moisture penetration..causing cloudy wraps.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2021 09:54AM by ben belote.