I have a customer that wants me to paint a blank with metallic paint. I have never painted a blank and don't even know if this should be done. Does it crack? What type paint? Does it change the action of the rod?
Any feedback will be great. Thanks

Hello Ed,
Rodgeeks has a great inventory of painted blanks. Perhaps you could contact them and get the same specifics in a blank and have it painted precisely to your customers' orders. I know many rod builders have used air brush with automotive paints. I have painted a few ice rods with great success but it was not metallic. Another thing you could do is use pigments with epoxy to give your blank some pop. There are many ways to get color on a blank but if your customer wants the entire blank a specific color I would go with the RodGeeks option. Good luck.

Thank you Wade.
I did not know Rodgeeks did metallic. I would still like to know more about painting blanks. The epoxy is a extensive choir for the whole rod and what would it do to the action?

Paint will generally not affect action but will affect "speed" (reaction and recovery time) depending on how much you apply. Many people have good luck with Krylon Fusion but keep in mind this remains an enamel and while reasonably durable it should not be expected to be as tough as any good urethane type paint. It is very user friendly, however.

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

Take a look at Dupli - color site

Bill - willierods.com

Thanks Tom
Now I just need to see if they have a metallic blue.

Bill
Dupli-color only shows gold and chrome in metallic.
Thanks for the info, good to know for future projects.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2016 04:34PM by John E Powell.

Ed,
One more thing, RodGeeks has samples that you can buy. Depending on your time issue with your customer that could be a way to go.

St. Croix Legend Tournamnet SCIV blanks are a beautiful blue, might be something to look at.
If you still want to paint a blank, do a search on here there is days of reading.
Good luck and have fun.

Batson had some beautiful blue blanks at the Expo, I think these might be the Eternity models.

I have used Duplicolor paints from the auto stores. They are flexible and cover well in several light coats. I have one i then coated there entire rod in the rod dancer one part finish (similar to permagloss but not as hot). been about 6 years and it still looks great and it taken quite a beating

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

Painting blanks is a pain to do well. This is, in part, why there are so many posts concerning this subject. Have painted blanks when refinishing old rods but very difficult to get a smooth and durable finish. Still trying to figure out thre best way! If you are planning to paint a new blank, I would not do it, would buy a blue metallic blank, the factory finishes are excellent. The choices above are all good. For the money Rod Geeks is a good buy, I was impressed with them when at the expo. From what I understand St Croix collaborated in developing and designing these blanks. If you are new to this and still want to paint blanks try on an old rod not a new blank, there is a learning curve.
Norm

As said A lot easier unless you know how to paint and have painted for several years
Rodgeeks has a lot of nice colors and very reasonable

Bill - willierods.com

I just got a batson eternity 2 in yesterday, and wow! The blue finish on it looks amazing! But I also like the color on the new painted mhx series, I've got a red one that I've built for myself.

Agree with the above posts.. I've painted 3 or 4 blanks, even hired a pro painter friend to paint one. I would say as far as metallics go, the Batson Eternity 2 blank is beautiful, the Red MHX blanks are also beautiful and every one of the rodgeeks blanks I've seen/built are awesome. For the amount of time and materials, pay the upcharge for a factory painted blank and you won't regret it

Wow. Thanks to everyone that posted and gave great info. I believe I will go with the factory blanks. Once again thanks to all that responded.

I just did a blank for my son to match his high school colors. Painted it red with duplicolor perfect match. Then I used a 2K urethane auto finish clear with an HVLP gun, 3 coats. I had to use a different paint that time, which wasn't nearly as user friendly as a previous type. The paint shop said it was discontinued. Anyways, the clear had horrific orange peel in it, which wasn't a problem with the other brand I had used. So I used 1500 up to 3000 grit wet sandpaper to smooth it out. I used the rod spinner and a backing to the sandpaper to make sure it was flat. I then used McGuire's rubbing compound followed by polish. I used the rod spinner again and applied with a microfiber rag. This process left the scratches from the sanding perpendicular to the blank. So then I used a synthetic wool pad for my drill for the compound and ran the drill while the blank was spinning. Followed with a foam pad for the drill to polish. I had to support underneath as I worked toward the tip section because it was so flexible. This worked very well and I couldn't tell a difference between the factory painted purple blank I bought my daughter and the red blank I painted for my son. It was a lot of work, but I am extremely pleased with the results.

I can give some more details if you are interested, but this is a good synopsis of my process.

The dupli color site has spray cans and also thy have cans that have to be mixed

Bill - willierods.com

Bill, have you ever used the clear coat from Duplicolor's Perfect Match series? Wondering if it looks and/or holds up reasonably well compared to a 2k. The reviews at Amazon weren't all too favorable, but I really like their color coats in this line.