Turning Rod While Epoxy Dries

[Seth]

I don't have a motor to spin the rod for me while the epoxy dries so I need to know how often I should turn the rod after I put a coat of epoxy on the thread.

Also, how many coats should I put on the thread?

[JobyKSU]

A couple of things will help give a better answer:

First, what kind of epoxy are you using?

I prefer the threadmaster lite, and I usually use two coats. It is easier to get a nice smooth finish and wicks of nicely with alcohol and a rag.

As for hand turning, go light with the coats and turn the rod about 1/3 turn every couple minutes for about the first 90 minutes. Then you can spread it out to every 15 minutes for the next couple of hours, followed by every 30-ish minutes, etc. If your rod is drying in 70-80 degree temperature, then it should be good after about 10 hours I believe?

I like to go with as few coats as possible. More epoxy = more weight = "mushy" rods. If after the second coat of lite (or the first coat of one-coat) you can't feel any bumps across the wraps from the thread, then you should be good to go. Let it dry for at least a day then check it out on the water!

This is what worked for me on the only rod I hand turned, I bought a low-rpm drying motor for cabelas after that and it has made it a lot easier, although not necessarily better finish.

[Seth]

Well I'm not worried about the mushy feeling, I just want a good strong bond. I'm putting new heavy duty guides on a 12' XH surf rod that I use for snagging. I'm not sure what epoxy I have, it's w/e I picked up at Walmart. This is the same stuff I used when I built my Sage flyrod a few years ago and it turned out fine, but I also had access to a drying motor then also.

Thanks for the advice.

[Rolan Duffield]

Seth:

You should use a standard 2 part epoxy that is made for coating the wraps.

Cabelas sells a product that comes in small single use packets called Cabelas two-part Professional Rod Finish. This is a flexible epoxy materia that is designed for this use.

Flex-Coat also has a product for this application.

Apply a thin coat for the first coat. Two coats should be sufficient. The coatings should only cover the windings. After applying this epoxy, I keep the blank in a horizontal plane and rotate it about every 10 to 15 minutes for at least the first 1 1/2 hours. That should be adequate to prevent sagging.

Rolan

[Crippled Caddis]

Before you build another rod build a rod turner. Punch up <www.allelectronics.com> and order one of their surplus geared 30 RPM 120 V. motors for $2.50. I recently built 2 new rod turners and I'm sitting here looking at the spare motor, Part # ACM-105. I just made L brackets out of scrap wood, drilled a hole with a spade bit at the top of the vertical section to fit the motor and discovered that it fit tightly enough I didn't even have to use screws thru the two mounting lugs provided. I wirenutted a cord salvaged from an expired appliance onto the pigtails on the motor and use no swith. I just plug it in to start and unplug it to quit. The little motor draws so little amperage (3 W. rating)that it's not a problem. I AM thinking I'll install a rheostat to control the RPM before I build any more rods however. CC