Hi,

I'm in the process of rebuilding a rod and have some deep scratches in the finish (Pier Rash). How does one fill or hide a deep scratch. It's only in the finish. I was thinking of using Flexcoat or LS or U40 rod bond to fill and sand then applying Permagloss to the whole blank. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in Advance

John

If the scratches aren't too deep, you can fill in just the marred areas with Permagloss. If you have lots of scratches, you might consider refinishing the entire area between the two guides that border it. If the scratches are so bad and so deep that they need to be filled with Rod Bond then you may be way beyond mere surface problems and be down into the blank's fibers. That might be a bit more of a problem.

One thing I hope you know is that whatever scratched it before might do so again. If you know you'll be fishing it in the same way in the same place and might get scratches all over again why not consider wrapping the area with heavy thread and finishing that. Or maybe consider installed some thin hypalon or cork tape the area in question. Just some thoughts.

Either way I'd use PermaGloss over the regular epoxy type finishes. They don't adhere too well directly to the blank in my opinion and don't look very good.

I can't add much to what has already been suggested. I would mention that if you know this rod is going to be susceptable to further scratching and gouging from similar use and in a similar area, I would consider wrapping some very light nylon cord around that area as a buffer. You could dye it to match the rod if you wished and it could be easily replaced if such was ever required. Put a couple coats of Permagloss on it to toughen and hold it in place.

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Thank you very much for the advice, much appreciated!!!

John Suelen

pier rash, it's been a while since I've seen any of that. If all you have is finish scratches, why not simply buff them out? You could also take all the finish off the blank and put on a single layer of flex coat lite. I've done this to solid boat rods and with a bit of gel coat pigment in the finish it makes for a blank that looks brand new. Stop the finish just below where your front grip will start. If you are building a spinning rod for fly lining and prefer the split grip style, lay out the blank and put finish just past the lines for your mounting positions as grips and reelseats will not stay in place if mounted over flex coat. Keep in mind that any finish you use will make the blank heavier and therfore will handle differently than before. Good luck.