I finish a 7’6” CTS Air rod today using Crystal Coat for the first time.

I weighed the epoxy as to specs, a low viscosity liquid, mixed 3 minutes with a metal spatula, not a single bubble and beautifully clear. Applied on the butt wrap and 9 guides in 45 minutes and still very fluid. I did not have to heat to remove excess as still viscous. Room temperature 72 degrees and 20% humidity.

Put it on the dryer at 6 RPM and put the epoxy pan by the rod as to check drying time. 4 hours, picked up the pan and the epoxy still moved, verging on panic. I knew it had a long setup time, 8 hour wet, 12 hours very tacky, 20 hours, like soft rubber and not slick hard. Call New Zealand to talk to someone, as the instructed posted on the website discusses mixing and application but no drying time. They said 24 hour drying time before next application. At 24 hours I put it on the lathe and inspected for imperfections. Not a single bubble, couple stickups, trimmed and applied the second coat.

I could be happier with the appearance of the finish before the second coat, but 24 hours!. But if it comes out like I hope, I will have double the size of my rod drying capacity. I also will probably put it in a case to better control dust as it probably is 3x the time available for little dust birds to land on the rod.

I would appreciate any feedback from others who have tried the product.

Regards,

Mike

I don’t know about that stuff, but ProKote isn’t far behind in terms of drying time.

I use Crystal Coat a lot, so I built a heated curing cabinet that I can raise the temperature to 100 degrees. With it curing takes approx 6 hours

Crystal Coat has the slowest cure rate of any epoxy finish I have ever used, It may take a day or two to cure, but it will cure. In spite of this slow urge rate, it does give a very clear and bubble free finish. Because of the slow cure rate it does take a different mind set to use it. There have been several reviews concerning Crystal Coat on this site.
Norm

Mike,
Of all the thread finish epoxies which I have used, all are basically variations on the same theme and are quite similar EXCEPT ONE = CTS Crystal Coat. Be very careful of the mix ratio! Not only is the numerical ratio different from virtually all of the others (4R : 3H vs 1R : 1H), CTS’s ratio is by WEIGHT while all the others are by VOLUME!!! If you used the printed CTS ratio but measured by volume (syringes), your ratio is off!!! Norman Miller weighed and calculated the PROPER RATIO BY VOLUME = 3R : 2H. And yes, it makes a difference, a BIG difference! Norman is also correct that there have been several reviews here on CC.
Pros =
Very thin viscosity allowing unsurpassed self-leveling / bubble release. Easy to apply an extremely thin thread coating to reduce weight (almost as thin a PG).
Clearest, most non-yellowing of any thread finish I have used. Noticeably better for white or light colored wraps and blanks; a must for “ghost wraps”. The hardener of my 3+ year old kit is less yellow than most other brands when brand new fresh.
Extended pot life = very beneficial in hot climates / conditions.
Very durable yet quite flexible.
Cons =
Extended cure time. This is undoubtedly the reason more builders do not use it. As Phil mentioned, elevating the curing temperature definitely reduces the required time, but his 6 hours @ 100*F may be a bit too quick.
The thin viscosity may require additional coats if a thick “lens” coating is desired.

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

good info - I was given a sample size kit this weekend at ICRBE when I purchased a blank - gold to know ahead of using it at some point

Thanks everyone,

I set the room temperature at 80 degrees, tacky in 6 hours. Not a bubble, I’m going to try to make this work and keep notes

Regards

Mike

Mike,
Raising the temp to 80*F is your best line of defense, no, make that offense in this case. It will eventually go-off (cure). How did you mix the initial batch; by volume or weight and using which ratio?

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

Mark,

I am a nutrition biochemist by trade, with my share of lab work. I use weight on all my epoxy mixes. For the CTS Crystal coat, I used the 4:3. Resin :catalyst. I just checked the rods. ( 8 hours), what was left in my aluminum pan was firm, but I left a fingerprint. I’ll check again at 12 hours and see temp is 81.2 degrees in the room.

For what you have said about the product and the way it goes on, I’m going to figure out what works for me.

The other fact I really liked was the way it penetrated the threads and filled the tunnels without a bubble. I put the first coats on the guides of 2 redfish rods, both 9 guides spiral wraps going to size 5. It was easy to do the small guides with the low viscosity????.

I’ll keep posting as to what worked or didn’t work for me.

Mike

Mike,
In that case, everything will be fine. With CTS CC, patience is a virtue.

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

After a week and 5 rods using crystal coat, I love the product. Yes even at 80 degrees in the drying rack, I have been giving 18 hours.

What I like is the low viscosity and rapid penetration of the thread, levels out for a beautiful first coat. The second coat is easy to control the flow of the material using a spatula for clean lines.

I mix by weight and it is very easy as with the holes in the bottle each drop will come off independently and weighs 0.03-0.04 g. So hitting your weights is simple. I use a what looks like a large shot glass to mix in and put on a black surface. I mix with a metal spatula for 3 minutes and if I get sloppy I will find a few tiny bubble, but a quick shot from my butane torch (less than 1 second, from10”s away), and crystal clear.

I apply from my mixing container with a spatula (thank you , Bill Falconer) with the 1 hour or maybe longer pot life, no rush, no worries. Maybe someone else will comment who has more experience, but the end product seems more flexible.

I could say I wished it dried faster, but I’ll take the slow dry time as a trade off for the other benefits.

Mike

In my experience Crystal Coat is very tolerant of mixing errors. When I was experimenting with the stuff I mixed at different ratios, and it still cured. In addition, you can mix it very vigorously, even with a brush, and within a few minutes it’s bubble free. You could also put the unused mixed epoxy in the freezer and use it the next day for your second coat, Learned this little trick from Herb Landenheim. I wrote a review on Crystal Coat a few years ago. The only thing I don’t like about it is the long cure time.
Norm

Great info.

My garage probably stays 80+ most of the year, lol, D2 is great in the winter, but otherwise I keep falling back to prokote as it matches my turtle like speed. Will have to give Crystal a shot. Have some G4 samples to try, just haven’t gotten there yet.

Too long a cure time, more chance to get a bug or something else in it. Pros; will level completely and no bubbles.

Here is the CTS description of Crystal Coat. Sounds like they have developed a faster cure version.
[ctsfishing.com]
Norm

Hmmm, I’ve been out of the loop for awhile. Is this Crystal Coat related to the Crystal Coat that was once sold by Dale Clemens?

Rob,
No - this is a CTS product - relatively new.
Let me know if you want to try - I am ordering from CTS now to be incuded in my next bulk blank order.
Herb

I contacted CTS about the new product and difference I cure times.and this is the reply.


CTS Support (CTS New Zealand)
Mar 14, 2023, 10:17 GMT+13

Hi Mikr,
We still normally leave for overnight between coats - sometimes would do one in morning and one in afternoon if using heat.

CTS.

I sent a reply back as to how much heat, I post the reply.

Mike

Reply from CTS

CTS Support (CTS New Zealand)
Mar 15, 2023, 13:31 GMT+13

Hi Mike
We recommend temperature during application should be between 18-25 deg C (64-77 F) & humidity level below 70%. For drying, 38 (100 F) degrees C should be fine (not too hot).
CrystalCoat will still have a longer cure time, so it's not likely you will be able to speed it up to 8 hours.
Our tips are on the website, here:

[ctsfishing.zendesk.com]

Regards,
CTS.

Mike Hubbert Wrote:
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> For drying, 38 (100 F) degrees C should be fine (not too hot).

Dang...I had to read that twice.