TackleTour

The epoxy finish,it is possible to crack while a fiberglass rod considering that it flexes more that a graphite rod?

The short answer is glass isn't any worse on epoxy than graphite.

I saw a Lamiglas Skeet Reese who had cracked epoxy finish

The more flex, the greater the likelihood of epoxy cracking.

Just about every rod is going to crack its finish. Graphite or glass.

A really rigid guide, a very flexible blank, a somewhat fexible coat of finish. With that combination, its just going to happen.

What can be done? Or how to fix this problem?

why is cracked epoxy bad? yeah, visually you can see it, but functionally it generally does not cause an issue, unless it completely delaminates from the threads (in which case, there was something wrong with the application)

generally epoxy finish will get harder over time, especially with exposure to sunlight.

jimmyb wrote:generally epoxy finish will get harder over time, especially with exposure to sunlight.

That's a good thing or bad?

adriancean wrote:

jimmyb wrote:generally epoxy finish will get harder over time, especially with exposure to sunlight.

That's a good thing or bad?

probably bad... I have replaced guides on some extremely old rods and the epoxy peeled off very easily. But, the only reason i was stripping was to replace guides that lost inserts, not because of the epoxy!

I have replaced guides on newer rods that i have built and the epoxy is extremely hard to remove. It required heat, and lots of scraping. Unfortunately, i did not keep track of the finish that i have used on rods... it could have been flex coat lite, ls supreme, or threadmaster

Maybe in 10-15 years i will let you know how the epoxies are holding up!

so, my short answer is: dont worry about cracked epoxy UNLESS you start seeing it delaminate from the threads. Cracking of epoxy and epoxy seperating from a guide on a rod that flexes is normal.

what kind of finish do y'all use -my flexcoat is dried up. is there anything else? is the flexcoat lite lighter weight than the regular, or is it the same because you need multiple coats .

threadmaster is my current choice

but flex coat lite and ls supreme worked ok for me too.

for the record, I am not real picky with my finish, as i don't build decorative rods

I do have a buddy that builds some really fancy stuff that swears by aftcote finish... However for the aftcote to work he has a HOT rod dryer box and it takes a long time to cure.

I use Threadmaster