Hey everyone. I have some of the older, original GLoomis IM6 models of rods. These rod blanks have a Burgundy "paint" and a clear coat over it. Mine have become so chipped and flaking that I have removed all the coatings (and guides to replace with nicer / modern guides). It was very easy to do with just my fingernail. It is now down to the naked graphite blank. I would prefer to not put on additional cleat coat like PermaGloss or similar, if I don't have to. Is there something I can just Polish the blank with after I wrap and coat the guides? I say after wrapping and coating because I don't want any Polish to contaminate my thread coating.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks

Hi Brent,

You can use Pledge furniture polish. Reapply as needed.

Take care,

Chris

One the thread coating is cured or dried, you can't contaminate it.

................

Brent,
Since you have the blank stripped, I would just use my buffer with polishing compound to buff and polish the blank before starting any wrap.

Buffing polishing compound is actually a grade of abrasive that leaves a nice polished finish with no wax or any thing on the blank. It leaves a very nice finish.

If you don't have a buffer, you can buy a small buffing wheel that fits into a drill and just buy a small stick of the white polishing compound and you will be good to go.

I have done quite a few of my older stripped rods this way, and I quite like the appearance. Make sure that when you are doing the buffing, that the buffer wheel is buffing the length of the blank, in a direction from the butt to the tip.

If you go cross blank, the wheel can catch on the blank and cause issues. If you have the wheel so that it is polishing toward the butt of the blank, the wheel can catch on the finer tip and create issues.

This is much easier to do on the bare stripped blank, than trying to work around guides and or grip.



[www.eplastics.com]

Notice the buffing compounds - labeled for "acrylic and plastic" work very well for fishing rods.

Be safe

If you are happy with the way the blank looks now, coat of wax as mentioned above is all you need.

Chris, thank you. Pledge was one of my thoughts too.

Tom, I understand the contamination issue which is why I mentioned doing the wraps and coating before trying a polish. Maybe I was not clear about that. Thanks again.

Roger, thanks for your rubbing compound idea. You are sure that this will not cause contamination issues if done before wrapping and coating?

Phil, thanks for the reply. When you say "wax", were you referring to Chris's idea of using Pledge after wrapping and coating is dried?

Thanks again all.

Carnuba wax works very well too.
Available at any autoparts dealer.

I was not thinking of Pledge, but understand it works well. I use Mothers Custom Car wax on all my finished rods.

Brent, Stay away from any and all polishes, wax's. If you want to polish the raw blank before wrapping just take a plain brown paper bag(a lunch bag) and rub the blank with it. The corseness of the paper bag is equal to a finishing sandpaper grit of 2500 which is used as a final abrasive for a mirror finish on painted surfaces and top coated sealers. This should be done before wrapping the blank.

Dennis J. Danku
(Sayreville,NJ)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2015 09:22PM by Dennis Danku.

Dennis,

He did say he wanted to polish the blank after he put on and finished the guides. Hence the wax and polish recommendations.

Take care,

Chris

Thanks guys. Yes, as Chris stated, I was looking for a protective finish after coating the wraps and did not want to do a clear coat on the blank. Thanks again guys. I will try the "wax" after the thread coating cures.

Many companies make blanks without any coating at all so not to worry

Bill - willierods.com

Dennis, you need to read the original posts more thoroughly! He said AFTER the wrap and epoxy. Making a blanket statement to "stay away from polishes and waxes is very misleading!

Waxing a finished rod provides a bit of protection, much like the reason one waxes an automobile. It keeps materials like, mud, scum and salt from reaching the blank material itself.

I always wax and polish a finished rod before delivery to the customer, and clean and wax/polish my personal rods after each season, have been doing it for 40 years, with no negative effects on the rods, in fact many look like new.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2015 06:30PM by Phil Erickson.

I understand that he wanted to polish the blank after it was wrapped and the thread was coated but, he also stated that he did not want to add a finish to the blank after peeling it off with his fingernail. I just figured it would be much easy'er if the unfinished blank was dry buffed completely and then wrapped and thread coated. How do you polish an unfinished blank after its been wrapped. I stand by my statement of warning to not use wax or polish on finished rods. The finish used on rods is not the same as used on cars, after time the finish becomes stained or hazey, unless ofcourse they never come out of the house and are subjected to daylight.

Dennis J. Danku
(Sayreville,NJ)

Thanks again guys.