I was reading Steve Van Winkle's recent thread about periodic problems he's having with his rod finish. As an aside Steve, hope you get that figured out! As I was reading that thread, I was kind of hoping to hear about what can be done to correct imperfections in the finish that are found too late. I know it's a rookie problem but I'm dying to know if there's a good way to repair a blemish in the finish after it's already set? In my case, I know exactly what happened so there's no mystery to the cause, I'm just wondering what I can do to correct it. I'll explain the cause of the problem below but welcome any advice on how to effect a repair.

On my finishing table, I have a desk lamp that I move from guide to guide as I work. I left it pointed at the very butt of the handle where I finished the first coat of a tiger wrap between the split grip and fighting butt. At this point, everything looked great and I was thrilled. After lunch, I came downstairs and while inspecting the foregrip/decal/hook keeper area, I moved that desk lamp over there to get a better view and left it turned on and pointing at that section. Apparently there was some trapped air at the foregrip and after I left (also while the epoxy was beginning to harden) it heated up the finish there and caused a huge air bubble to work it's way slowly to the top of the setting finish. It popped but not until the finish was stiff enough to harden into the shape of a tiny volcano around the air bubble! You can imagine reaction I'm sure. Am I stuck trying to peel all that epoxy, finish, decal and thread off just to get a perfect finish or is there a way to work a repair?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
-Mark

Mark

Hold the peeling of epoxy and thread in reserve, and think how you might solve the problem if you were finishing a flat table top instead of a round rod. You would sand the table top imperfection level without sanding into the stain, apply more finish and no one would know the problem once existed. The complication for you is the rod is round, and sanding through the epoxy into the rod finish or decal or thread would be not so good and require use of the peeling of epoxy, etc. option. To give you some sanding margin of error, first apply another coat of epoxy, which will not solve the problem, but, again, build up some margin of error. Then sand the imperfection (volcano) level, apply a final coat of epoxy, and, hopefully, you are done. Some prefer to sand using a small sanding block. That has never worked for me. I use 320 and 400 grit papers cut into about 6" long strips and work very slowly with the paper used as if polishing shoes to bring down the high spots until level with the valleys. Work slowly, carefully inspecting your sanding results frequently.

Hope this helps.

Hi Mark,

When this happens occasionally to me, I just take my scalpel and carefully trim off the high rim of the volcano, and apply another coat or two of finish. I myself never use sandpaper, due to the chance of imbedding grit into the remaining finish.

Take care,

Chris



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/2017 11:13AM by Chris Herrera.

I'm glad to hear there's options besides starting over! Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll post a pic once finished.
-Mark

Well, it looks like the "volcano" is actually the least of my problems because my epoxy refused to cure all the way. I'm left with a permanently tacky, mushy surfaces the length of my rod so it's back to square one.

Meanwhile, I need to understand why so I can prevent it from happening again. My wrapping/drying rig was in my basement which is on the cool side. Maybe it was below 70degrees down there... would that cause my issue? I felt certain I mixed in equal proportions so I don't *think* that's my issue. Any suggestions for me?

Mark,
A frequent cause for incomplete curing of epoxy that has been mixed with the correct proportions is - mixing time.

i..e.
Unless one is careful - it is pretty common to not mix for a long enough time.

I had the insufficient mix issue when I first started building rods, and it was suggested to me to mix for a minimum of 120 seconds or 2 minutes - as measured by a clock.

Also, slowly mix in a cup with a craft stick, frequently wiping both the side of the cup as well as the stick on the side of the cup to insure that 100% of the mix has been well mixed.

If the mixing stick is not wiped off and or the sides of the mixing cup are not wiped off from time to time, there is a risk of unmixed material being applied to the rod and ending up with an incomplete cure.

Good luck

There are two causes of uncured epoxy wars, 1) incorrect portions, 2) incomplete mixing as Roger mentions. Low temperature only delays curing if the aforemention items are done correctly. If it is a temperature delay, move the rod to a warm area.

Mark
I re read your post - I would ask if your place is very hot - Like 80 - 90 - cool it off When a finish sets fast any bubbles will not have a chance to come to the surface And break ? And like you have seen are left under the finish
I advise cooler temps So the finish stays wet longer ---- It will set up But staying wet longer will alow any air to come to the top and -- BE GONE -- A lighter finish also is good Just use two coats
Thinner flows out better !!

Bill - willierods.com

Just wondering if when you guys say you don't like to sand the finish are you doing it dry or wet? I have done automotive painting for more years than I will admit and this is the preferred solution. I have had some issues withthe epoxy in my rod wraps and fixed the issue using fine paper but doing it wet.