Wanted to say thanks to those that had posted or provided input in the past on silk ghost wraps. My first time doing them and they came out great

Hitena AAA “natural” color silk and I thinned my first coat of a Gen4 finish 1 part resin / 1 part hardener / 1 part acetone. Also flooded the wraps with acetone before applying finish which helped with bubbles in the tunnels. Follow on coats were normal “strength” Gen4



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2023 11:04AM by Michael Ward.

Very impressive! Any difficulty working with such fine thread?

doesn't the acetone eat the blank's finish if applied at full strength to the wrap?

Anodized Alps Ti guides are killer. They give off an 'aura" or glow when using them in direct sunlight.

That looks awesome!

That looks awesome!

Ever try Perma Gloss for Ghost Wraps?

Jeffrey D Rennert Wrote:
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> Very impressive! Any difficulty working with such
> fine thread?

I work with Maderia & A pretty much exclusively, so it was not too much of an issue for me - it was a bit finer but did not have any major problems with wrapping or managing to walk up the feet, etc...


Rick Handrick wrote:
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>doesn't the acetone eat the blank's finish if applied at full strength to the wrap?

I did not in this case - blank was painted by Don Shafar at Backbone - he uses automotive grate paints. I did noticed perhaps a bit of "crazing" under one foot, but no other issues or softening of paint or such... I just did a quick "flood" with a qtip to pre-wet the silk and also flow under the tunnel to get rid of bubbels and then I flooded heavily with the water-consistency epoxy.


Mark Brasset wrote:
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> Anodized Alps Ti guides are killer. They give off an 'aura" or glow when using them in direct sunlight.

agree - really like the look - I was back and forth on doing this rod wth titanium anodized or powder coated and decided on titanium....


Les Cline wrote:
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> Ever try Perma Gloss for Ghost Wraps?

I have not personally - these were my 1st ghost wraps... I was wondering if Permagloss would work

There is no need for the application of acetone! Thin epoxy will accomplish the same thing without the risk associated with acetone.

Your first attempts at Ghost Wraps look good to me, Michael.

Perma Gloss is a little different animal than other finishes, but in no way inferior to any. (You might need to do three coats to equal one coat of other Light or Thin epoxy brands, for example.)

On a slightly different note but related: It strikes me that many times I evaluate my work in two different Modes: 1) Close inspection, where every tiny imperfection can be observed: and 2) At fishing length, where I am watching my
rod tip, line movement....or the clouds. This is the aesthetics versus function decision. Like you, I would like both to be in play at the same time.

In general, I don't thin my finishes. I select a finish that will give me the coat(s) I want from the get-go. Perma Gloss is one that will yield a very thin, penetrating, and transparent finish.

I did the acetone thinning based on recommendation from a well accomplished builder who uses the same finish (Gen4) and does this style wrap quite often with great results, and also in consultation the the epoxy’s formulator. The first guide I did it was challenging to get the air bubbles out of the tunnels. I found pre-wetting the wraps with acetone and immediately flooding with the thinned finish gave the desired results (had also read about pre-wetting on an older post here). Perhaps it’s not require but I’ve seen others using just a thin finish with less than acceptable results - and these turned out well so…

Very cool looking.

As stated above, straight application of Acetone could harm the blank finish or even the blank wall, as it is a fairly strong chemical. I would suggest you use DNA (denatured alcohol instead) and don't believe you need to first coat threads with a solvent as a first coating with a sufficiently DNA thinned epoxy will do the job. If you do want to first soak the threads, you could so so with DNA or even rubbing alcohol.

Wow! I've never looked into ghost wraps but this really makes me want to try it. Those guides look terrific too.

Here is the ultimate ghost rap:

[www.youtube.com]

Acetone is not a good thinner

I've been in the fibreglass industry for a long time

Proper thinners built for this product should only be used


Thinning it down with acetone makes resins porous and degrades the quality in every way
Might look OK initially, but see how it looks given some time in the elements



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2023 07:56AM by Josh Bryan.

Wow! I've never looked into ghost wraps but this really makes me want to try it. Those guides look terrific too. Where did you find them in that teal color?

Michael,
I noticed that on the wrap closest - you didn't prep the guide feet - just jumped directly on to toe foot. Ten the finish covered it all up.
How come you don't prep your guide feet. Might be OK with white silk - but opaque colors would scream at you.
Or - do you only not prep with these type of wraps?
Herb

I don't think you can prep the end of that anodized foot. It'll show silver through the wrap.

Yup - you're correct.
Herb