Building a Ultra Light rod for a friend, he wanted a decal on the rod which was too large for the rod. I did a little research and saw where you can place the decal on the cork handle if you apply epoxy first. Last night the high build Flex Coat epoxy was applied and left to dry in the spinner. This morning the finish is wavy, I tested on an older rod before this and it turned out fine. I'm looking for some input in how to fix this and hoe to not let this happen again. Any suggestions or comments? Thank you!

Mariea

When I have wavy epoxy it is usually because I heated it or I put it on too thick. The best way I've found to fix it is to put sandpaper of about 150-220 grit onto a sanding block and carefully sand the tops off the waves. Be careful not to take too much off. The next coat of epoxy will be crystal clear; the sandpaper scuffing will disappear.

I think this is a problem especially with large areas of epoxy . One way to avoid this in the future is to use a coat of Permagloss as your first coat. It is so thin it will not get wavy as easily as epoxy. The next coat over the decal should be color preservative to seal the decal from edge lifting by epoxy or deterioration of the decal due to the "hotter" Permaseal. I would experiment on some scrap before doing any of these things to be sure of your process before you risk ruining it.

I use epoxy over cork a lot, and it can be done, it holds up well, and stays beautiful. Don't worry about being slippery; if carbon fiber works, so does epoxy coated cork.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Awesome! Thank you so much for the information. Hoping to fix it tonight!

i love epoxy on cork but then i can,t resist flocking it and even less expensive is epoxy on eva and flocking it too, but i do this for just me..i don,t think flocked rods sell too well..doesn,t seem to be much interest among rod builders.

Ben, if you haven't checked the photo, please do. Epoxy over a good quality (lots of character, big chunks, little chunks, color) has a very handsome appearance. Brings lots of life to the cork. I think that look will sell.

I'll second Michael D's thoughts. There are all sorts of ways to use cork with color or interest (character) with epoxy,, which tends to be less time consuming or, my favorite, Tru-Oil, which is time consuming. A Tru-Oil, French polish finish is not a good option for your label issue.

Wavy epoxy finish is nearly always the result of excess epoxy. Next time, try rotating by hand for the first hour and carefully watch for and wick away any sagging finish, which of course is the waves forming. The waves / sags will be apparent during the first 15 minutes (and usually even less) of hand rotation.

i imagin as the epoxy ages(yellows) it gets even corkier..lol.

what has become my go to for coating labels is the rod dancer thread master 1 rod and thread finish as it is water based and doesn't react with any label stick, printed ,or hand lettered .
I prefer to wipe it on for the first coat so it is level and re coat again in a couple hours and then if you want the deep lens affect add a thin coat of epoxy finish.
The thread master is also uv resistant and won't cause any bleed of colors or paint and looks good on cork

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.

hi Matthew..i,m working on a flyrod right now, a rebuild, and plan on using TM1 for the first time instead of PG..did you not say that TM1 is as tough as PG..looking forward to trying it to mainly get away from the fumes..thanks for the info.

Yes, the epoxy will yellow with time, but as you surmise, the color change is not that big a deal since you're not dealing with white underneath (unless the decal is white). Just plain cork will change its appearance much more than coated cork, becoming quite ugly in time. Rod-builders' cork sealer will help keep it nice.

Do you have pictures of cork handles coated with epoxy?

Click on the "Rodbuilding.org" link in my first post in this string.

Here is a picture of wrap epoxy over burl cork and birch bark. I like the way the epoxy makes the materials look. I also use PermaGloss on cork, wood and bark.

Take care,

Chris

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Chris I like your handle , the angle on the birch sets it off an really cool will try it on my next build ,

William Sidney
AK

Thanks Bill.

Chris

Chris, beautiful workmanship, and design, IMHO. I'm not that fond of all the busy, checkerboard, contrasting this and that, really like the classy look of a good, simple, natural disign that is well done.

I just noticed the feather inlay, can you post a pic of that? The more I look at this rod the more I like it.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Thanks for the nice comments. I did this grip and rod several years ago, and back then I always seemed to put one feather on crooked...

Chris

Thanks for posting. If I tried that inlay and got those results, I would be pleased. Nice work.