During the winter months I intend on appling flex coat in my basement, my question is what is the ideal tempreture for application. I think the average temp in the winter is about 55 to 60 degrees. Will I incounter problems, I'm just starting to learn flex coating.

Warm your resin in a pan of hot water if it is pretty thick, which it usually is at low temps. Also bubbles are much harder to eliminate when it is mixed and applied unless the mixture is pretty thin. With this in mind drying time is just a little slower but the finish will harden ok. I try to keep my shop temp up around 70 or better when I do finishing. On real cold days I even use a small electric heater under my bench.. One trick I use is while I am mixing the finish I do it under a heat lamp to help eliminate bubbles. If it flows easy the bubbles will float to the top quicker. Exact portions is absolutely essential. One other point... It's pretty hard to get a thin flat coat on the wraps unless the mixture flows easily. It will simplify everything if you can keep your work area a little warmer than the 50-60 that you speak of.

Capt. Harold

Capt. Harold,
The heat lamp sounds like a great idea, but doesn't that help accelerat the setting time of the expoxy, making it necessary to work faster?
Sanford Hochman

Extra heat causes the finish mix to cure quicker. I try to keep it at a reasonble level much as it would be in warm weather. The benefits of having a free flowing mix outweighs the down side of thick mix. That's one reason I went to U40 supreme full time. Extended pot life sure makes a difference. Even with Supreme I warm my resin if the temp is below 70 in my work area. Under my heat lamp, which is actually a high wattage incandescent bulb, I can stir the mix slowly and the bubbles just disappear. The temp is around 90 degrees about 8 inches from the bulb. I generally can work from a cup instead of a flat surface if I do that.

I also use two of the lamps over my rod while it's turning on my drying rack during these cooler times. And I live in Florida.

The Capt. just likes it thin and runny. Sure makes it easier.

Get yourself one of those oil filled electric heaters and just keep it on low. Start it an hour before you are ready to finish. It can easily and inexpensively raise your basement temp from 60 to 65 or 70. I think 70 is the best all around finishing tempt. Maybe even 75.

Be careful on how close to the heat lamps you use on your finished rod. I also use heat lamps to help release bubbles when I have finished the rod. When I first got them, I put them a little to close and my finish "boiled" causing a ton of bubbles. At first I thought it was air from the thread coming out, but the places not directly under the lamps were unaffected. Once I pulled the lamps to a "safe" distance, the bubbles burst and disappeared. I now keep them at a distance so the temp is always aroung 80 or so and have no further problems.

Dave

Hi Tony. These guys are right. Get the room up in temp and down in humidity. I'd like to throw some fuel in the fire now.... I've built about 10 sticks (roller guides 30lb thru 130lb offshore stuff) with Flex Coat. They've all turned out very, very well. I've just completed my first with LS-Supreme.... I'm never going back to Flex Coat. Okay lemme explain. The resin is thicker than FC but the hardener is much thinner. This results in an inherently thinner epoxy (more runny). The time it takes for LS-Supreme to cure is much longer and the pot life is much longer. Two results of having much longer pot life and beiong thinner runnier... 1) spreads alot thinner and easier and 2...NO BUBBLES... they all disperse. No need for heat. Oh, and one final thing.... the LS-Supreme smells really nice too.

I do not have any affiliation with Trondak.

Good luck
Hugh

Help, I'm new at this I have build only about 10 flyrods to date the problem I'm haveing is 'when applying the U-40 finish it will not lay down smooth. It looks ok at first but as it drys bumps start to come out. Any help would be warmly accepted thank you. joe.

Try really flooding the wraps with U-40 then going back & holding your brush under the "droop" of finish to remove the excess. Don't touch the thread itself, just the excess epoxy. The room temperature is important too. I find that 80 & above results in a quick cure time AND a glass-smooth finish

Dick,
Thanks very much - you may have struck on something as my room is 68 degrees. I'll warm it up next time and try your suggestions.
Joe