9'6" Jigging Rod - Finish Issues

[SlabHappy]

I just built me up a 9'6" Crappie jigging rod. I used the MHX 1142 steelhead blank. I had a little issue with the thread finish. I was using the FlexCoat High Build, and it never did completely dry. It was still real "tacky" feeling at places. I was thinking maybe it was from the humidity, since it was humid and raining for the 3 days I was epoxying it? I have heard you see this sometimes with the high build, if you put too much? I got some Lite Build and put a coat of it over, and finally got it to finish dry. Has anyone else had this with the high build? I think I am going to use the Lite build from now on. Rod came out good, just have a little too much epoxy on the wraps, but should function fine. I can take some pictures, if anyone is interested?
Also, what other good rodbuilding forums are there for questions? I am pretty green on rod building, and learning, but doesn't seem to be a lot of builders on JC.

 

[hookup]

The mother of all rod building forums

http://rodbuilding.org/list.php?2

Another good one

http://www.rodbuildingforum.com/

If your thread finish is a little tacky still, mix another batch & apply - that should fix it. If not, how old is the epoxy? If it's old, buy a fresher batch & reapply.

If you have to much epoxy, then remove carefully & start again. I use regular ol' flex cost with a series of lamps over the epoxy wraps to heat during the colder months and nothing during the warmer months.

 

[SlabHappy]

The epoxy is fairly fresh. Bought it in January when I did my first rod. I put a couple coats of lite build flexcoat over it. Researching how to go about taking some off. Thinking of sanding it and putting a light coat over to gloss it up. Don't know if this is the best way? I think the first issue was cause of the humidity. It was really humid and rainy for several days when I was epoxying it. I like the lite build better than the high.

 

[hookup]

Best way to take it off is to 'shave' it on the metal post of the guide until the guide shows. If you strip some of the paint on the guide, use a sharpie to color it.

Then peel off the thread & epoxy. You'll be left with some residue. I take a rag, soak in denatured alcohol, then put it around the residue area for a few minutes, then start the chippy chippy chippy process with my thumb nail or a hard plastic scraper I 'collected' a few from my old job. Work slowly & carefully.

I'd avoid using any sandpaper or metal tools on the blank. One chip in the surface and you may be hosed next time you set the hook on Walter.

 

[SlabHappy]

Best way to take it off is to 'shave' it on the metal post of the guide until the guide shows. If you strip some of the paint on the guide, use a sharpie to color it.

Then peel off the thread & epoxy. You'll be left with some residue. I take a rag, soak in denatured alcohol, then put it around the residue area for a few minutes, then start the chippy chippy chippy process with my thumb nail or a hard plastic scraper I 'collected' a few from my old job. Work slowly & carefully.

I'd avoid using any sandpaper or metal tools on the blank. One chip in the surface and you may be hosed next time you set the hook on Walter.

Thanks. I read a little on the other forums, and realize the best thing to do is take them off and start over. I was hoping to not have to re-tie, but I guess I need practice with tying as well. I am going to cut them off and strip it. Just curious, is there "way" to go about cutting the thread off of the rod joint, since you can't cut against a guide?

 

[SlabHappy]

Well, got everything taken off and the blank cleaned off. I am going to get ahold of Mudhole to see if I can get another set of decals for the blank. Might not be able to get a serial number decal, but I want to see if I can at least get the MHX decal. Might see if I can just get 2. I put a couple of scratches on the blank, trying to get the epoxy off where the decals were. Not that worried about them. One is on the butt, and it has lead all the way through, and the other one is right in front of the handle. I think they are just surface scratches. I was using a dentist tool to get the epoxy off there.

The tacky cure was a mismatch when mixing. Nothing to do about humidity. Read up on it on rodbuilding.org before I attempted it.

I found a credit card worked best to get the left over epoxy off. Tried a plastic scraper, but the CC worked the best. Now I have a use for all of my high interest cards!

Thanks Capitol One!

 

[Fatman]

X2 on rodbuildingforum those guys do amazing stuff, and will help you out.

 

[CrappieHappy]

glad to see your making progress.....

 

[SlabHappy]

Well, I got her done, came out good. Used it today, but the crappie fishing was rather slow. I was jigging stumps, and the baitcast was easier to use. Made this one for when I jig with two. Have the BnM's, WM's, and PA's on the rack collecting dust!

 

[hookup]

Schweet

A labor of luv!

 

[CrappieHappy]

Nice outcome

 

[SlabHappy]

Nice outcome

Thanks, my dad offered to just buy me stuff to build a new one, instead of stripping it, but I wanted to strip it, just to know how to do it later. I am going to be a little more careful on my mixing epoxy from now on.

 

[hookup]

Temperature's a big issue with epoxy curing. I built a box for my rod turner with a 100w light on each end for the winter. In the summer, it don't matter.

 

[SlabHappy]

Temperature's a big issue with epoxy curing. I built a box for my rod turner with a 100w light on each end for the winter. In the summer, it don't matter.

Yeah, It doesn't get too cold for us here in Texas.

 

[Kdog]

IMO measuring and mixing epoxy causes more problems than you can even think of. The better the epoxy, the more sensitive it seems to be to mixing problems.

Having a scale to measure resin and hardeners is very helpful. I cheated and made a simple balance beam that holds 2 medicine cups. add hardener to the left then slowly add resin to right until balanced. a perfect 50:50 mixture.

Pour together mix well, let stand, mix well again, let settle then apply. I have coated a few rods but mostly jigs and crankbaits. After messing up several evenings worth of crank baits due to human error with mixing, I knew that this was a step that requires the utmost concentration and discipline. NO SHORTCUTS.......

 

[StumpHunter]

Very good looking rod, nice work.