Hi everyone,
I am preparing to finish the wraps on a 2wt glass blank. The blank is white with light green wraps and a decal that needs to be finished. I'm thinking of trying a one part finish, spar varnish, urethane, etc.

From reading through some older posts, I've gathered that urethanes tend to have an amber tint, which wouldn't be great on a white blank.

What would folks recommend I check out for a gin clear look?

Thanks,
Chris

Spar varnish (long oil type) has a light amber color, so probably not the finish for a white blank. Same story for some of the poly and urethane "spars", but I've not tried an exhaustive number of the urethanes or poly varnishes.

No experience with the one part finishes.

Keep in mind we live in a world awash with UV. If a finish does not yellow over time the wrap colors are odds on favorites to fade.

Thanks, Donald. That was my fear, that every good option would come with some level of amber.

I'd use PG, but the decal throws a wrench in that idea. I suppose I could do a few coats of CP over the decal. I've read that it'll protect it from the solvent, but it makes me nervous.

I might just end up sticking with low build epoxy and saving the varnish stuff for a darker blank.

Low build epoxy in time will get a tan tint. So it's not a great solution, IMO. I think that urethanes that have an amber tint are formulated to do that, but there are clear ones. You would want to get an exterior grade. But PG if you can make it work is the right solution.

One thing to try is to do an experiment with a decal on a scrap blank piece, use CP over it, then PG, and see if it works. PG is the right solution.

I assume you don’t have extra decals to experiment with. I tend not to use decals, so I have a bunch of them laying around from different manufacturers. Which manufacturer’s decal label are you using? If I have a decal from that manufacturer I’ll experiment for you using Permagloss and see what happens. As Micheal suggests Permagloss is your best bet. It is absolutely water clear and will never yellow. So it is the best bet for a white blank.

Gin clear - only PermaGloss will do that but it may not be the best product for what you want to do. It's hot stuff so you'll need to coat your decal with CP prior and need to remember that it takes several coats to build any depth and isn't likely to ever look like epoxy, if that is in fact what you're going after.

..........

chris,
the best solution is to not to use a decal.

Rather, if you want something on the rod, write it on with a quill pen and acrylic ink.

[www.dickblick.com]

Thanks, Roger. If my handwriting weren't atrocious I'd go that route :)

One quick coat of CP did protect the decal from melting in some tests I did yesterday. However, I found it difficult to get a nice even finish over the length of it. It did look very nice on the thread wraps though.

Any tips to applying the PG?

Christopher Zucker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks, Roger. If my handwriting weren't atrocious
> I'd go that route :)
>
> One quick coat of CP did protect the decal from
> melting in some tests I did yesterday. However, I
> found it difficult to get a nice even finish over
> the length of it. It did look very nice on the
> thread wraps though.
>
> Any tips to applying the PG?


There have been several tips on applying PG on here. One is a very fine texture white make up sponge I have got at a Krogers female make up section.