Hi guys, I was digging through a box of rod building supplies that was given to me when a friend passed away a couple of years ago. There was 2 kits for Flex Coat Rod Wrapping Finish in the box that has to be 3 or 4 years old. Is it still usable? Or just toss it? On both the hardener has turned yellow. Thanks for any advice you can give, Rick

Ricky,
You can certainly use it if you like.
Virtually all rod finishes will tend to have a yellow cast after a number of years.

However, in the scope of things; your rod finish will be the frosting on the cake - so to speak for a rod build; so it might be better if you just have enough finish on hand for the expected number of rods that you may intend to finish in a given period of time.
If you have a $300 rod, the $20 or less that you might pay for a batch of fresh finish is a very small part of the build.

Be safe

It should be perfectly good and the yellowing will ony come into play on very light colored thread. As state above, all hardners eventually yellow even after application.

Thanks Roger and Phil. Agreed that on a nice rod I would go with new stuff. Haven't built a rod in 20 years so I took the MudHole course in Mobile and I'm redoing some of my old boat rods for practice, so if it doesn't look perfect, no big deal. Just redo for more practice! LOL!

The older Flex Coat would yellow quickly
I like the new UV Flex Coat seems to stay clear longer and flow nicely

Bill - willierods.com

I have some rod finish that is at least 25 years old, and is still not only usable, but gives a great finish. While curing, most of the amber color of the hardener will disappear. Try it on a test wrap before putting it on a rod you have labored over.

I just used some Flex Coat Lite on a build that is over 5yrs old, the hardener is quite yellow as well and the resin was solid. I put the resin in the Microwave for 30 second to bring back to liquid state, and then warmed both up in warm water before use. I tried it first on an old broken rod blank, and cured clear, so used it on the build again with a clear finish.

I would keep it, if not send it to me.

Use what you want
I was told NOT to THINN finish
But no one could tell me why or what would happen ???
I still like Flex Coat UV and think it is a better finish then the Regular Flex Coat new formula

Bill - willierods.com

Curious to know if anyone else is having problems with the finish color when applying to white rods? Ive only built on two so far but one was very off colored or yellow, and the next was a little better. I did notice that my hardener had gotten darker. Are you getting good clear finish over the white rod or can I expect to always see the dirty contrast up next to the white blanks?
thx

I guess I should have stated at the beginning that this is a white boat rod that I'm working on.

Permagloss or any urethane would be the clearest finish

Bill - willierods.com