I'd like to contribute my latest hack. I hand scraped an AG Vengance MH 7'0" spinning blank and plan to convert it to a deep diving rip bait rod. Action seemed about right. Regardless if this is a good iconversion or not I wanted to show off my colorizing of the scraped blank.

Everyone has sharpies laying around. I recently colored some crankbait bodies that turned out great, somewhat transparent after finishing. I would think I'm adding less weight than air brushing and you can blend colors if you're careful. Anyway, I am experimenting with using a sharpie to colorize this scraped blank. Using orange and carefully overlapping areas while ink still wet (work fast), wait 10 minutes, then coating with a wipe-on latex poly applied with a relatively lint-free blue paper shop towel and 15 minutes between coats, it came out with a brown cast. really like it. I use this same poly on jigs and crank bodies and have not had any issues with flaking, peeling, etc. I did ink another scraped blank with a black sharpie and after wiping finish it came out with a purple-ish cast like I expected. Liked this too! Personal taste I guess.

Couldn't figure out how to add a photo otherwise I would have. I'm probably going to find out that this has been tried before right?

The Tuna

Charlie Great Post! Trial and error results benefit all of us. Sure beats a lot of speculation before the fact. Thanks ( Now if this will hold up to urethane I'll be all in. )

Lynn, I'm using the same wipe finish I used on many shop made pieces of furniture. Minwax - Polycrylic.I just haven't cut it as I would normally for wiping finish on wood.

Would like to post a photo or two.

I have no clue as to photos. My wipe on is a moisture curing urethane. Would you describe this Minwax as hard as nails once dry? Because that's how my current finish is, Impossible to chip, so far on several rod rebuilds. I've always had a soft spot for Minwax.

I would consider the latex wipe-on a bit harder and less yellow than oil based Minwax polyurethane out of the can. I would however say that regular poly cut with 1/3 mineral spirits is even harder once cured. For furniture in a 72 degree temperature; wipe (most will absorb), wait 20 minutes, wipe again, wait 20 minutes, light sand with 220, remove dust with cheesecloth, repeat process 6 times. This equals the mil of 3 regular coats but much easier to control the leveling, Rarely use gloss. Heard you can cut wax free shellac and apply in the same manner but not sure what you cut it with.

To bring an old rod finish back to life I use a good car quick detailer.

So for a rod recipe, 2-3 rounds of the process using 600 grit for smoothing. Make sure to use only a good quality blue paper shop towel (Scot). I'm not taking this kind of care for the two rods I scraped but the finish has come out pretty smooth. As far as sharpies go the black and red seem to penetrate and stay better than the other colors. Try on a sample first!!

To add a photo, and please do:

Take a picture with a digital camera.

Transfer it to your computer.

Click on the photos button at the top of the forum page.

Log in with your usual creds.

Click on upload photos.

It will ask you select the photo file, navigate your computer to find and select it.

Hit the button to upload.

When you see it on the forum photos page, select the web address of it by highlighting the address in the bar at the top of your browser. From there I think there is a button to add it to a post you have already written but not yet posted.

I think that's about right. Give it a try and let us know if you don't get it .

Just tried. Gave me a return of invalid username or password.

you need to create a separate login on the photo page. I can be the same as you rodbuilding.org account, but it is for a separate application.

Chris Richer
Iroquois ON