I get so darn tired of seeing this same old tired question asked I could puke but I'm going to bring it up again, anyway.

I did a fairly complicated butt wrap recently. I used the 811CP on it. I did one flood coat. Let it work in then brushed off the excess. Next day I put a medium thick coat of LS2000. When I finished putting the coat on I thoroughly checked it for bubbles, under a strong light and magnification. There weren't many and the few there was I got rid of by blowing on them or popping with a needle.

OK, everything looks good. I turn the dryer on and leave it to turn overnight. Next morning, the bubbles were everywhere. There must have been 50 very noticable bubbles in the finish.

What did I do wrong? Ralph says not to thin the CP, I didn't. I mixed the LS2000 slowly and thoroughly. I poured it out onto foil. Let the bubbles work away.

I did everything I can think of and still bubbles.

What now?

I don't know that I can help as I rarely ever have a bubble problem. I use the Gudebrod 811 unthinned and use either flex coat or the same LS but mine is the Supreme. No bubbles. All I can wonder is if your drying box is heated? Heat seems to create bubbles in the LS finishes. With flex coat, heat seems to eliminate bubbles.

I never liked dryers and always just babysit my finish for about 2 hours. Takes up more of my time but I usually catch any problems before its too late.

'Dryer" is a misnomer. It actually is just a 18 rpm turning motor connected to a Custom Power Wrap. No heat used, at all. Just turning but no dryer box.

One easy thing:use 2 thin coats instead of one thick one, less bubble formation and if there is, they dissipate faster ala the foil trick.
Try using a spatula instead of a brush (another O'Quinn innovation!). Here's a kitchen analogy:brush=wisk, the more you work the wisk the more you aireate the mix. Using a spatula, you push the finish across the surface decreasing the risk of bubbles and if they form, you flatten them with another pass of the blade!.
If you insist on using a brush, put enough finish on the brush so you apply the finish pushing or dragging it without the brushing or sweeping motion.
A 5 pak of modeling spatulas can be had can be had at the crafts department at Wal-Mart for $3.50.
Jim
PS-Ralph's post on using spatulas can be found on the Rodguild board

Tom
What you did can be duplicated, it runs true almost every time. You applied one flood coat of gudebrod 811 -- very good. You let it work in then brushed off the excess --very bad. The excess is needed to seal off the porous threads which are causing your bubbles. You can do this experiment for yourself as I have done several times. Apply your flood coat to two different wraps. Wipe off the excess on one of them and do nothing on the other one. Give the flood coat about 24hours to dry (it doesn't take that long except in a research program) then apply the LS to each of them and see which of them is bubble free. I am adamant in applying one flood coat of the 811 and letting it turn for a few minutes, then allowing it to dry. You gain nothing by wiping or brushing off the excess, except lots of bubbles.

Another possible source of your bubble problem is -- what brand of thread are you using? I wrote an article in RodMaker about a year ago wherein I found that when using the LS series of thread finishes, some brands were/are veritable bubble machines. Gudebrod is fine, and I understand that Rice has new winding equipment equivilant to Gudebrod, but some brands are very loosely wound and create bubbles in a high penetrating finish like the LS series. The bubbles continue after the resin has thickened to a point wherein they cannot be released.

Ralph

I can only address bubbles with flex coat. What I do is use a tourch butain. I use low heat, I place my hand in front of the flame finding the distance where I can feel the heat and not burn my self. At that point I place the flam to the finish , I move the tourch up and down of the finish . With a brush I remove the excess finish. Try this on old rods frist. you can rod melt a rod if the heat is left on a second longer than it should be..Good luck I would like to here from you so e mail me

E mail me at warren321@yahoo.com

Flex coat and LS are two different animals,applying heat to LS is asking for big problems,what works for one finish don't work for the other,heat will work with flex coat it will not work with LS 2000 or Supreme,I can't emphasied enough do not use heat with LS or Supreme.

I just knew if I humbly asked for advice I would get all the good advice I would ever need. I was not disappointed.

As per Mr. O'Q's suggestion from long ago, I now use a spatula to apply the finish. This advice really kicked up the level of my finishes a notch. Thanks for that advice, Mr. O'Q.

I use regular Gudebrod nylon so I guess that isn't the problem.

But I sure didn't properly follow the procedure Mr. O'Q. set out. I used the Flood coat but I did wipe off the excess and I didn't wait 24 hours. I waited only two or three hours. Not enough but I've learned.

I have a couple more to do this afternoon but I guess it will be tomorrow because I'm going to wait the 24 hours. Lord, give me patience, and give it to me NOW!

Thanks again for all the great advice. I learned from it.

I guarantee this same question will come up in the next two days and I'll want to puke. But I'll have more patience this time. There should be a FAQ section on "Bubbles" and all thes Q and A's should be put there. Then no Bubble question should be answered until the writer promises he has read the FAQ's.

Tom, we have all had this problem in the past. As you get further into rod building and expand as I have been forunate to do over the years, I have found that by having good air circulation in my shop which is 20'by 40' that this problem is no more. Running for 4 commerical dryers this can be a disturbing problem. Also mixing the finish to be applied in cups can also produce bubbles, we use coffee can lids which are plastic, as it is mixed and stirred on these and allowed to set for a few seconds these bubbles will disappear before the finish is put on. The unused portion will dry and you can peel off and trash and use the lid over and over. Hope this helps use somewhat.