A few years ago l bought a couple of graphite rods specifically designed for trolling plugs without using a downrigger in salt water. I have since found out that the guides are not designed for salt water use (turning green with some corrosion), and in the process of replacing them. After strippin all the guides off the first rod, l found an obvious break under an area where one of the guide feet resided in the tip are, rendering that rod unrepairable. I have started on the second rod now and under the stripper guide the finish is flaked off. This could be as a result of my over enthusiastic removal of the guide ( twisting during removal) or poor guide foot prep and too much thread tension, l don't know. In any event l now have two very small sections of rod that no longer have the outer coating on them, l can see the graphite underneath, and it does not appear damaged even under magnification.

Do l just continue on and rely on the fresh coat of epoxy to fill in and preserve the integrity of the rod, or do l make the rod into a cork reamer?

Gordon,
Just to be clear, there is no need for a fishing rod to have any finish on the rod to be a very capable and long lasting rod.

A rod finish is used for one thing and one thing only - appearance.

Often, when I rebuild a rod, I will strip it completely of all finish and then do a buff of the graphite and leave the rod with a buffed graphite finish in much the same way as G Loomis sold their rods for many years.


By the way, when removing a guide from a blank - there should never be any force exerted on the blank. Use a knife to cut through the finish and thread over the guide foot. Use a finger nail to get under the cut edge of the threads and epoxy. Peel the thread and finish off of the rod. If necessary, you can use a bit of gentle heat to soften the epoxy a bit, if it is too tough to get off the rod with the finish at room temperature. Then, just use a razor blade held perpendicular to the length of the rod blank to scrape off any remaining thread and or finish in the area of the guide.

Good luck

What is the best way to remove the old finish and paint from a rod? I am restoring an old St. Croix and want to get it down to the graphite without damaging the graphite.

Using a single edge razor blade, held 90 degrees to the blank, push away. This will remove the finish very quickly, with minimal chance of damaging the blank. Another option is to use a mild stripper like Citristrip.

Chris Richer
Iroquois ON

X10 on the comment by Chris to hold a razor blade at right angles to the rod, and then use it with a simple scraping motion as opposed to holding a knife in a parallel position which is very likely to cut graphite off of the blank.

Good luck