I was looking for any suggestions for refinishing rods that have been scratched/worn. The theadwork is fine but the epoxy is scuffed up. Is there any tricks to re-epoxying the rod to make it look new again?

thank you

There are some products out there for just that application. I'm not sure of the product name, but I'm pretty sure Gudebrod has a finish of the sort you are looking for. Check the sponsors, I'm sure others will carry similar applications.

Tim

I just refinished a rod. The rod is 30 years old - was my Dads - and was a bit worn. The guides were beat and the wraps dry and would disinigrate to the touch. The butt grip is made of wood and the finish had deteriorated and the wood faded. The chrome reel seat had discolored. The blank had a few nicks and scratches.

I carefully cut off the guides careful not to touch the blank with the razor blade.

I then carefully pulled off the wraps. I would try to find a thread end and spool it off the blank. There was some amount of epoxy or varnish left behind where the wraps were.

I then pulled off the butt wrap

The tip came off with a little heat applied to it. Looked like a hot melt. Some glue was left behind on the blank.

Took the handle assembly apart.

I used isopropyl (91%) to clean up the blank and remove as much residule thread, glues and epoxies as possible. You could use a thinner or denatured alcohol as well.

The then wet sanded the blank using a 400 and then a 600 grit paper. I didn't take off too much material and tried to sand the entire blank evenly. This cleaned up the remaining adhesives, thread etc. and evened out some dings in the blank.

I then used a 3m microfinish to buff the blank and then a 3m glaze compound to shine up the blank. The luster came back but not all the damaged areas had been sanded/buffed out so I decided to apply some finish. The 3m products can be found at any automotive specialty paint supply. Ask your automotive body shop where to go. I tend to stay away from general consumer grade compounds as I get much better results from the specialty products. (note -- I use the compounds for detailing cars -- and figured if they work great on some of todays automotive finishes they will work well on a blank :) ).

I cleaned the blank again with some alcohol-- and then lightly wet sanded with some 600 grit.

I thoroughly cleaned the blank again ensuring there was no dust or particles left on the blank.

I then used Minwax Spar Urethane to refinsh the blank. (pick it up at your local hardware supply). I sprayed on several thin coats. You cannot wait more than two hours between coats or you then have to wait 72 hours -- resand and then apply more finish. All in all I think I applied 5 thin coats. I found I didn't really need to turn the blank and the urethane leveled well. Note the spar urethane is design for outdoor use -- very strong -- is UV resistant and has a decent build quality to it. You can get gloss or semi-gloss.

I then waited 72 hours -- wet sanded the blank to clean up any uneven areas as well as reduce any -- what is referred to as orange peel.

I then hand buffed the blank using the microfinish to further smooth the finish out and then used the glazing compound to smooth the finish even further and bring the finish to a high luster.

The blank looks new! I used bon-ami (used to clean pots and pans) to buff up and clean the reel seat. I used a dremel tool with a very mild wire wheel to clean up some of the threads and used a drum sanding attachment to clean out the inside of the seat so I could re-glue the handle to the seat. I refinished the wooden handle in a simliar manner as the blank and reglued it to the seat using PC7.

I will be applying the new guides in the next few days. The rod looks just like it came out of the factory.... and cannot wait to show my Dad the rod -- he won't recognize it.