I had occasion to test snake guides for their bond to a cane blank via five coats of Spar Varnish. I was quite surprised to find that the spar-coated silk was extremely flexible, and it took very little pressure to pull a guide foot out of the wrap, despite a good "dab" at the point where the foot swings up into the snake. I know it is supposed to remain flexible like all finishes, but this was alarming to me.


Is this just afact of life when working with Spar? FYI - I am not dipping this rod - it is an impregnated blank, and due to recent ineptitudes I am trying to avoid using any color preserver at all. Any sugestions?

How long has it been drying? It can take several days for it fully dry depending upon your local humidity and temperature. Varnish should harden to a great extent, and it if does not I have to believe it simply has not fully dried.

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Sean,,here is a good overview test of spar and epoxy:: mix up about a tea spoon of epoxy (your choice) and pour it out on a piece of plastic wrap. Next spoon out about tea spoon of good spar onto the same piece of plastic wrap (not together or touching). place the plastic wrap somewhere nice and dry and warm for 2 weeks. Then peel both samples off the plastic wrap and flex, cut, tear, and otherwise abuse them. You will find that the spar will become very flexable and extreemly tough. Can't really say just how many years it might take for the spar to become brittle enough to break or as brittle as the epoxy. Don

That's a good test to show how hard, and yet flexible the Spar will become once given enough time to dry.

(Of course if you perform the test with a good quality epoxy wrap coating, it won't be brittle either. When doing the Rodmaker test on the LS Supreme awhile back we were almost able to tie a knot with a slender cured piece of LS! )

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