I used to have this problem often with my PacBay wrapper. Tried all sorts of tapes and materials on the jaws to help stop the problem to no avail. I suspect that your problem is the same as what I had. If all your stand wheels are still tightened down on the blank and aren't perfectly level, the blank is going to want to walk out of the chuck during the drying mode. Here's what I found out: if yo
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Kevin, I accessed the podcast and learned a lot. When I was using Flex Coat most of the time (still do in certain applications) I always machine mixed it for 5 minutes with my shop between 68 and 75 degrees. Turned out great 99% of the time. Andy said not to machine mix it; do it manually with a stir stick, and that ideally my shop should be 70 degrees. It's his product so I'm not going to bend
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I've done it both ways; with or without a base coat. If the blank is glossy or smooth you can get away without a base coat. I mostly use Perma Gloss for a base coat unless the blank is painted (too hot for most painted blanks). A couple of very thin coats of Perma Gloss works very well and is extremely thin. I finish the decal (after it's dried) with a couple more coats of Perma Gloss. I found ou
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I've been liking the Gen 4 a lot. I went a little too thin on a second application (I'm using the Lite Build) and would like to add another thin coat. According to the directions you aren't supposed to put another coat on after a couple of days and it's been over a week. When I was using Flex Coat I have successfully put additional coats of Flex Coat on after 4 or 5 days when I needed to without
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A Merry and Blessed Christmas to everyone and a prosperous and safe New Year
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I made three more test wraps with the thread. Number one I packed really tight and had a lot more tension on the thread than I usually use. Number two I added ~0.6cc of acetone to the mixed finish. Number three I wet the thread with acetone and then used some of the remaining mixed finish(with the acetone in the mix). They all showed some streaking. Number one the least, then number two. Number t
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I'm doing a repair on a rod (replacing two guides) and trying to match the original thread color as closely as possible. It's kind of a jade green. I made test wraps of all the green threads I have (10) and found one that comes pretty close. It's a Gudebrod nylon size A in medium green. After applying some Flex Coat to the thread without any CP, the color is very mottled and streaky. I made an ad
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A few years ago when most of us were mystified by the KR Concept I had a phone conversation with Jim Ising. One of my concerns was stripper guide size on a spinning rod. For what it's worth, he told me "I know it says16, but use a 20". When you are talking about how many runners you need, I trust you are static tensioning your rod. Even with the given formula, you might need to add a co
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Thanks for all the feedback, guys. You also answered questions that I meant to ask but neglected to. I always pour out my mixed finish onto aluminum foil; I take a piece off a roll of foil about 5" square and form it over a jar lid. Then I put that on a small dessert size paper plate. It's a little less expensive that way. I've got an alcohol burner but rarely use it, mostly because the
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I have a few questions about Gen 4 finish. I have the low build formula. Bought this a few months ago as an alternative to the Flex Coat I usually use. Sounded like a better mouse trap. I'm now out of Flex Coat and have several rods I'm working on so I need to move forward with the Gen 4. It didn't come with any literature, but I got the application instructions off another website. Used it
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The Elmer's exterior wood filler paste in Golden Oak is hard to beat. I just use a spatula to force it into the voids. I've even thinned the wood filler paste with a little water and smeared it all over cork that had a lot of voids. After sanding it looked like high end cork. It's easy to sand, and doesn't change color when U40 cork sealer is applied (which I highly recommend). I used to use Rodd
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I'll second what Richard Bowers said. Utmost sells Batson cork. Overall, I've had my best experience with the Batson product. Plus, Utmost is a joy to work with; really great people. And I almost always treat my cork with U-40 Cork Seal unless the buyer says otherwise.
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Daryl, I was sorely tempted to recoat that wrap with Flex Coat, but used the Gen4 instead. Looks amazing. Still have bottles of both the Flex Coat Lite and High Build, and I think I screwed up as indicated in my last post. I'll still use it up on ice rods and other things, but Gen4 has another convert.
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Tom's right. I don't release a rod to a customer until it's had a chance to cure for 3-4 days. And yes, putting it on the sun will really accelerate the cure time.
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Tom, I believe you're right. The resin component for the Flex Coat Lite was very cloudy and I should have heated it to mitigate that. I don't know why I thought that the heat generated during the curing process would overcome that; call it another senior moment. I've used it for over 30 years without any major issues. I did another test wrap last night, heating both the components and it looked
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I've got a butt wrap that I put two coats of Flex Coat Lite on about three weeks ago. It;s dry, but doesn't have the hard, smooth finish of the other guides. I've been experimenting with Flex Coat Lite, Flex Coat High Build, LS Supreme, and Gen 4. I'm really impressed with the Gen 4. Would it be permissible to rough up the finish on the wrap and add a thin coat of Gen 4 Light Build? Dave Sytsm
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I second Norm's suggestion. The Dr. PH Martin ink is the best ink I've found and I use a nib pen. Much better ink than Speedball.
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One of my favorite suppliers. Down to earth and easy to deal with.
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I had a bottle that picked up moisture and was hard as a rock, so I re-ordered and got the can dispenser too. Couldn't get the screw hole to stop leaking and lost almost 2 ounces of Perma Gloss. Called U-40 and told them what was going on. The guy I talked to said he was going to try the can and get back to me. He had the same issues I did and made it right with me. I ended up using a bigger scre
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I heartily agree with Norm, and you should be able to find a metric/fractional tape measure for very little. So you have the best of both worlds. I extend my tape measure on my bench, lock it, and tape it down in a couple of places with masking tape. Works great.
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I appreciate everyone's advice. My strippers are Alps LXN Titanium and the rest are Snake Brand Universals with Ecoating, standard wire. I have more than enough either 1's or 2's, but not 1/0's, so I think I'll use the 1's. If anyone wants to weigh in with additional advice, you are more than welcome. My fly rod experience is limited to an old 9' bamboo or a 7 1/2' Shakespeare Presidential glass
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I'm in the process of building my first fly rod. It's a NFC 9', 2 piece 5wt. I've already built the handle and established the straightest axis for each piece. I have two suggestions for guide sizing; both have 11 guides + tip. The strippers are a 12 and a 10 on both suggestions, but after that it differs. One recipe is 12, 10, (both double foot), then 5, 4, two 3's, and four 2's. The other is 12
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I had a conversation yesterday with Mike McCoy of Snake Brand Guides while ordering some things and he said that he would be coming out soon with a single foot version that is a first for them. If the quality is as good as their "snake guides" they should be top of the line. To me at least, there is a significant difference in finish and construction between his and others I've used.
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As Grant mentioned, I used two coats of Weldwood Contact Cement because the first coat looked like it wanted to soak into the hypalon. Second coat looked good, and when I turned it down (fighting butt with an inlay on a slow pitch rod) it looked great. Thanks for the help. Dave
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Thanks, everybody. Dave
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I haven't had the need to join pieces of Hypalon or EVA to create a custom grip. Epoxy is fine for gluing a grip to a handle; is it still the proper adhesive to join pieces of Hypalon, or is there a better choice? Dave
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Excuse my misspelling, Nissen is the brand I use.
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If it were me, I'd try the nail polish( I use Sally Hansen on my ice jigs and it's just about bulletproof. Another option is the low chloride paint pens they use on stainless steel which has worked well for me, I've used it on nicked black guide frames (Nissan is the brand I use, check Amazon ). Sharpies haven't worked well for me, they aren't as "permanent" as advertised. Clean the ni
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I greatly appreciate everyone's thoughts and suggestions. It sounds like this is going to be doable. I have two miter saws I use: an old Jorgensen hand miter saw in an adjustable base that I found a high tooth count blade with small teeth for, and one I got off Amazon that model makers and craft people use. The slots in the miter box are very narrow, probably less than .5mm. I've cut cork rings a
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Mark, I was thinking of trying a miter saw with a fine high tooth count blade. I've used it very successfully with rubberized cork rings. With the manual miter saw I can control the speed and have almost no pressure during the cut. The grips are really too expensive to experiment on, but I've got to do something. Dave
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