I'm in the middle of building an NFC LMX FAF908-4 fly rod with an X-Ray finish. I'm having difficulty burnishing the wrapped thread to eliminate gaps- either the thread wants to rest on the ridges or in the valleys. This results in gaps in the wrap where the gray of the blank shows through- very unprofessional looking. The problem wasn't too bad near the butt end of the rod because the ridges are more widely spaced and not as "tall". However, on the top two tips sections, the ridges are very pronounced and I'm struggling with a way to handle this. I guess I could put a coat of finishing epoxy under the footprint of the guides but I want to keep the build as light as possible. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/2022 06:04PM by Daniel Grundvig.

I agree with you, PIA, but I've always been told I'm the only one who struggles with the blanks. Suggestions include larger thread, but if you are like I am, I have tons of A and no D.

Gut it out and in the future buy the mirror finish or Point Blank. Point Blanks are smooth and very high sensitivity, fast recovery time blanks. Cannot be beaten when sensitivity is the goal.

I just finished a lmx 1004-4 euro nymph rod. I normally use silk. Not on these. Go with nylon. Lighten up on the thread tension a bit it makes it easier to pack and burnish. Go slow and pack often. That’s my 2 cents.

Of no help to you, but I can sympathize with what you're going through. I picked up a couple X ray blanks before they offered the mirror finish (at least in their bass rod blanks) I lightly sanded the entire blank of both of the blanks I purchased for the exact reason you're running into.

And Michael is absolutely right ..... I remember when I first got them I mentioned how I thought the ridges would make wrapping them a real pain, and got numerous responses like those that Michael mentioned. All I know is I am glad I sanded my blanks myself. lol

Agree with Gary above. Go slow, pack often, lower thread tension. Also, wrapping xrays is easier after wrapping some deltas which have much more prominent ridges. Also agree with Mick, I'm done with ridges even if I can wrap on them ok. Lots of other options.

X3, lower tension otherwise it digs in and you can’t pack. If you can wrap towards the butt. Some days off the foot flows, others…..the LMX FAF are bears.

Just cut off and redo the bad ones until you hit the groove, pun intended.

I'll try lowering the tension to see if that helps but I've already experienced some issues with the wraps staying in place even with up to 8 wraps before the tag end is pulled through- the ridges don't allow a tight cinch. I've done 5 guides which look presentable and have 5 more to go (toward the tip). Unless there is some extra ordinary (i.e. huge) improvement is rod performance by having the ridges on a rod blank, I wont be buying another. The extra work isn't worth the effort when there are so many excellent blanks to choose from. I'll finish this one...lesson learned. Thanks everyone for advice (and condolences) lol

A light sanding might help a great deal. Light !



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/2022 09:27PM by Lynn Behler.

Make sure you are wrapping in the opposite direction of the ridges.

......

I much prefer the smooth over the ridged version also , far far easier and quicker to wrap .

Wow! I'm not trhe Lone Ranger after all.

Some good suggestions, but I have another. Use size B thread (can get it from Mudhole or American Tackle) As a slightly larger thread, it is less susceptable to the ridge effects. I completed two NFC fly rods, a 4-wt and a 5-wt, both with the ridges. Using the B thread, I had no issues with gaps or burnishing, and B thread looks almost as clean as A, no ropey effect like D will give you.

One other caution, don't burnish over the ridges with too much pressure or you risk cutting the thread.

When putting the rod decal on, lay down a coat of epoxy first.

If you don’t like the resin ridges on the unfinished NFC X-ray blanks then wet sand them smooth. Use 500 or 800 grit wet/dry sand paper. Wet sanding keeps the dust down, and is very easy to do by hand. All you are doing is removing the excess resin which is squeezed out during the cellophane wrapping and heat curing processes of manufacturing a blank. You are not removing any of the carbon fibers, just the resin. Basically you are polishing the blank smooth. Only takes a few minutes to do and is surprisingly easy.
Norm

does the black mirror finish still have slight ridges?

No they have been sanded.
Norm

Norman Miller Wrote:
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> No they have been sanded.
> Norm
THX!

Well, the rod is done and it looks pretty good. Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I've been building rods off and on for nearly 40 years but I can always depend on forum members to provide constructive suggestions to improve my craft. For that I'm grateful.

Since this rod is for a friend, I'll never personally know the attributes of this particular fly rod blank. For those who have fished an x-ray blank, was reducing the tension, wrapping and packing more slowly and frequently than you normally would, wrapping toward the butt, sanding the blank, and putting down a layer of epoxy before applying the decal worth the extra effort? I'm not trying to be snarky here but my last build was a CTS so I guess I expected a similar time frame for the build. lol Thanks again guys for helping me through this build!

Dan

The FAF LMX are the worst ones. They test my patience. The classic and Gama Beta are hand sanded. So you “lucked” out

Daniel, I'm not a fly fisherman, I'm a bass angler, so my blanks were 7'3" one piece blanks. As I mentioned earlier, I sanded my blanks, mostly because I knew I wouldn't be able to tolerate the feel of the ridges. Also, and important as well, I use size A thread, and wrap with high thread tension. I knew the ridges would present a huge problem for me. I never asked on here how to get around it, but I will say that for me personally, I would no way reduce the tension I wrap with, and use larger size thread just to make it possible to wrap over the ridges. As Norman said, the ridges sand off very easily. I put my blanks in my power wrapper to sand them, and it may have taken 20 minutes per blank to get them smooth.

You ask if it was worth the trouble. If I remember correctly I paid $75 each for the blanks, so for me, the performance the blanks offered compared to other $75 blanks makes the sanding I did more than worth the small amount of trouble I went through. The priciest blanks I have built on thus far would be the two Rainshadow Eternity blanks I have built on. One was the RX 9 version of that series, and the other the newer RX 10 version. The X ray and RX 10 are IMO neck and neck when it comes to sensitivity and blank quality.

So yeah, to me for the price, it was well worth it. And honestly, even if the ridged X ray was the same price as an RX 10 blank, it still would have been worth it because sanding them was very easily done.