Looking for a different, thinner, solution. Anyone use Permagloss for rod labels instead of epoxy? Does it hold up?

Yeah, it'll hold up forever. But...

PermaGloss is likely to eat up most labels if you don't apply CP first. And PermaGloss isn't going to give you that super smooth epoxy look.

You can apply epoxy quite thinly. Use a stiffer brush and put on less. Otherwise I'd look at a clear spray coating.

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It seems store bought rods use something else other than the epoxy we use. Theirs seem way thinner and too perfect. When I go real thin, it seems hours later it pulls away in some spots (like fish eye contamination) or the label edges start showing themselves. Label seems like it never gets evenly coated until I put on multiple coats, which in turn promotes the “wavey” finish. The best I’ve accomplished was building it up, then sanding down smooth, then adding a thin coat on that (and hope no dust gets on it). Looking for an easier way. I have not tried thinning the epoxy down with denatured alcohol or acetone yet.

They're using epoxy, or in many cases, they simply screen print the information directly on the rod blank.

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John, have you tried putting down a thin coat of finish, letting it cure, then place your decal on top of it, and then finishing with another thin coat of finish?

I've only put one decal on any of the rods I've built, but I have done 3 or 4 others as practice, on a scrap blank that I use for color testing thread wraps. I have only used NFC decals thus far, so I don't know how other manufacturers decals work. But it works great on the NFC decals. I can see no hint of even an edge of the decal anywhere.

Just a thought.

I’ve done thin coats, and I’ve done thick coats. I’m sure decal quality has something to do with it as my coatings on Rainshadow decals come out near perfect. Anything else, it’s a crap shoot. Just noticed that the last two NFC labels I epoxied had the ink run a bit. Never had that happen before.

I would have to say that the area of the decal, particularly on unsanded blanks such as NFC LMX or Epic G blanks, that I have a hard time making the area over the label super smooth. Even if I sand it and do 3 or 4 thin coats.