When applying the finish, what is the best way to get even coverage. I sometimes get high rings of finish. Do you apply while on the dryer? Also, I keep getting fine bubbles in the finish. Most disappear during drying but not all. Any suggestions? I'm a new subscriber to Rodbuilder and sure this has been covered many times in the past but that's not doing me any good today. Thanks for any suggestions.

Depends on the type of finish you use. I do apply my finish (Flex Coat on graphine / nylon) on my drying motor, and after acheiving a thick coat, have about 10 minutes it seems with which to even it out using the bruch to move the finish around on the wraps. I avoid bubbles by careful mixing and heating of the catalyzed finish before application. You would be surprised how many bubbles can be intrtoduced by a brush as well - make sure it itn't trapping any bubbles by fully saturating it first with thinned finish, or a thinner that works well with what you use.

I hate to contradict anyone and I know many people do this, but you shouldn't thin your finish. It isn't necessary and can lead to further trouble. After application, you can gently warm the finish with a butane lighter or alcohol lamp held a few inches under the wraps and moved to and fro while the rod is slowly turned. The bubbles will rise to the surface and leave. You must be careful not to overdo this, and be advised that some finishes will actually boil at about 165F and introduce more bubbles. Just gently warm it.

Make sure your rod is level while the finish is flowing and you should get a pretty level finish as well.

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Steve, I assume you are talking about an epoxy wrap finish?

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I have used the flex coat wrap finish on all my rods so far. I always apply them indoors at about 70 degrees.

I rotate my rod while applying finish. When using Flex Coat I warm my 2 bottles befor mixing. Then I pure the mix in to a container lined with foil, I let it set for 1 minute lightly blowing on the finish break any air bubbles that appear.. While the rod is rotateing I apply finish. Once the finish is applied I put a little heat on it to break any air bubbles that may appear. Depending on the wrap I my have to do this 3 or 4 times. Be carefull when applying heat you could over heat the finish you need just enought heat to liquefy the finish. I use a butane torch.
Good luck Bob

This may surprise you but I do not use a brush.Try applying flex coat with a tongue depressor. While the rod is on the dryer use a tooth pick to apply epoxy around the guides feet,then apply the epoxy on the rod running the depressor lengthwise with the rod. I use a alcohol lamp AFTER I finish using the amount of flex coat that I mixed. I hold the lamp about 3 inches from the rod running it the length of the wrap. I make up to three mixes for the rod and do only about three guides at a time.This works great for me and best of all no bubbles.