I'm in the process of making a thread swatch on a painted dowel rod. Are they any alternatives to using epoxy?

You could use any sort of clear, gloss urethane. Or fingernail polish, etc.

........

If you plan to use epoxy on the rods why would you want to use something else on your swatch? I would think that you would want to use on the test swatch what you plan to use on the rods you build.

What's a thread swatch?

Tight Lies and frisky fish

RJF

I'm looking for alternatives since it's a fairly large diameter dowel and rod epoxy is not cheap. If I can achieve the same look by using cheaper polyurethane instead of rod epoxy then I'm going that route. I don't care if the finish isn't as thick as rod epoxy, I just want the finished colors and hues to be correct

I'm wrapping the dowel with all the colors of thread I currently have so I can use it as a reference to see final colors. Plus I can show it to people who want rods built so they can pick.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/2021 05:29PM by zachary guyach.

My swatch is a large number of different colors and brands of thread wrapped o a piece of carbon fiber rod. On it, I wrapped 1 inch of each thread, then color preserved 1/2 inch of each wrap before applying epoxy to the whole wrap. Thus I have a swatch, wrapped upon my most commonly used blank base and warps that demonstrate wraps with and without CP right adjacent to each.

The paint color you are using can have a dramatic effect on the final wrap.

Strongly suggest you use on the swatch, what you use on the rods.Otherwise if the reults are different you may accused of misrepresentation. I have found that some clients can be very picky about color!

zachary,
It is certainly a good idea to have thread swatch for color reference. But don’t forget that the same color, type and brand of thread will look different over different blank colors = pick a neutral, mid-range color to paint your dowel like medium gray. I have a sacrificial blank with just about all the NCP thread colors I have within numerous styles of wraps. Especially if using regular nylon thread, Phil offered good advice to coat part of the swatch wrap with CP before epoxy. Additionally, I found leaving a portion of the wrap naked / uncoated allows me to see the actual on-the-spool color when trying to match an existing wrap. I also agree with Michael and Phil that using the same finish on the swatches as with the actual rod wraps leaves no variables. But all the efforts and good intentions will be in vain if each swatch is not precisely labeled!

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

zachary guyach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm looking for alternatives since it's a fairly
> large diameter dowel and rod epoxy is not cheap.
> If I can achieve the same look by using cheaper
> polyurethane instead of rod epoxy then I'm going
> that route. I don't care if the finish isn't as
> thick as rod epoxy, I just want the finished
> colors and hues to be correct

I am in the fabric business......if you want a true representation of what the colors/hues will be on a finished rod, you need to use the exact materials on the dowel that will be on the rod. You should also do 2 dowels......one with CP and one without. Good luck!

There is also going to sometimes be a variance in color depending on the color of the blank being wrapped

Perma Gloss is very cheap and it has always been very close to my epoxy as far as color match. It's about as clear as you can get.

Zachary,

Making thread swatches on a wooden dowel has some inherent problems, the biggest of which is the color of the wood. Thread on a lighter surface can show as much lighter than thread on a dark surface unless several coats of CP are applied. I use scrap pieces of blank of the same (or as close as possible) color as the intended build. I don't generally use CP, I use Color Fast thread instead when I don't want the thread to change color.) I really like the translucent effect of the untreated thread on the guide feet and the scrap blanks give me a truer picture of how the color of the thread will change when epoxy is applied. If all you want to do is check the color, you can apply any wetting agent (water, isopropyl alcohol, etc) after you wrap the swatch to see how the thread will react.

Be sure to pack your wrap just as you would a wrap on a rod, as the density of the wrap can also affect the appearance after applying epoxy - I found this out the hard way with some older (50+ years ago) Gudebrod thread - a light yellow thread looked horrible with many streaks and blotches after the epoxy was applied! I still have that thread, still on the wooden spool! I haven't had the courage to wrap with it and use it as a sacrificial thread in several situations! Clean hands are also important as body oil can cause the same issues.

My problem using thread-coat epoxy for my swatches is the waste of product - I mix a minimum of 2 CC's of each part to ensure the correct ratio, and on a thread sample wrap, I may only use 1% or 2% of the mixed epoxy. If I had 20 swatches to coat, it would be OK, but I rarely have more than one or two...

Rich



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/26/2021 09:51PM by Richard Bowers.