hello every one. again thanks for all the help!

I haven't built many rods so my experience with different methods of finishing and use of different finishing products is limited and although my few projects came out ok they were not without trouble.

I far as Im concerned the hardest part of building a rod is getting a nice finish over the wraps! The first two rods I built I used flex coat lite, I had lots of problems with it Im sure it was operator error but one third of the wraps were foggy or had ripples , a few also had fish eyes that would not go away even after fine sanding and re applying flex coat. the rods came out ok but only after 2 attempts with another couple of guides that I had to rewrap individualy and then recoat.

A friend recommended varithane 900. The V 900 was very easy to work with. The V900 levled without any effort, requires no CP and went on very wet which makes it managable and it was more consistant .No ripples no haze but ,a few fisheyes and shiny spots developed between coats here and there.

The only problem With the V900 is you need 6-10 coats to get a proper coating. with this many coats I found it hard not to have a few guides that had to be re done here and there due to having to fine sand and handle between coats fish eyes and shiny spots were the main problem but it was random also having to sand the wraps so many times increased the chance to scratch blank which.i managed to do a few times as well.

So this brings me to L2000 whould I benifit from use of this product Even though I ve had a bad experience with epoxy I like the Idea of 1-2 coats vs 6-10.

Is cp required with L2000 and how thick should it be over the wraps?
I noticed a lot of factory rods and some older bamboo rods that the finish is just barely covering thread as you can still feel the thread.


Sorry to be so long winded but I had to give you my history so as to get a accurate response. Many thanks

Happy wrapping "John"

Color Preserver is never required by any finish, but if you are using regular nylon rod wrapping thread and wish to retain the color as it appears on the spool, you will want to use a color preserver. And contrary to popular belief, CP does not create inherently weak wraps.

I assume you are actually talking about Varithane? Sure it'll work, but I think I would opt for Permagloss instead. Still, the problem of many multiple applications remains.

2-part epoxy is very easy to use and get good results with. Yet, it remains perhaps the greatest problem area for many rod builders. Flex Coat lite or regular are both great finish products and you are probably correct in that your problems were due to your own use of it and not the finish itself. That's why just switching to another brand of finish isn't likely to cure your problems. You're going to have to perfect your use of the epoxy before you're likely to get good results with any of them.

Use the search feature on this site to read more about all the possible pitfalls and mistakes that can be made when using epoxy finishes along with how to cure most of them.

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I'm not knocking Varithane - it's made by the Valspar company which is located less than 100 yards from where I am sitting. I know many of their chemists and formulators and they do make some amazing products. Varithane was originally made for use on flooring and it's toughness and resistance to the elements make it acceptable for use on rods, although it is not really marketed or intended for such.

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