Rod Building

[Hirdy]

Adam,

I’ve used silk binding for most of my glass rods and a few of my CF rods. I love that transparent/translucent look it gives.

The bubbles form when you block the open end of the “tunnel” (formed by the thread, the blank and the guide foot) before you’ve filled the toe end of that tunnel completely. You need to continually chase the bubbles out from the toe to the open end of the tunnel. The method you need to follow is:

• * Do not have the rod turning while you apply the first coat of epoxy. Turn it manually as required.
  * Always work towards the middle of the guide (i.e. towards the open end of the tunnel) from the toe end.
  * Hold the brush saturated with thinned epoxy against the toe of the guide foot on each side of the foot, letting the epoxy seep into the tunnel. The thread will draw epoxy out of the brush.
  * Move the brush away from the toe, dabbing the epoxy at the filled point of the tunnel.
  * As the tunnel fills with epoxy, ensure the thread is saturated all the way around the blank to keep pace with the rate of filling in the tunnel.
  * Only after all the epoxy has been applied do you put the rod in the turner (.... If you have one. I don't)

Cheers,
Graeme

[Hirdy]

The hot water bath to get bubbles out of the epoxy is a great tip Rohan. I've only discovered this recently. Just make sure that you don't get any water in the mix. I much prefer using a metho burner. The hair dryer, even on low settings, will sometimes blow resin where you don't want it to go.

I heat my epoxy syringes in a glass of warm water, measure into a plastic shot glass and mix the epoxy slowly and carefully, then tip it into "warmed" aluminium foil ... (Slowly tipping the epoxy from a mixing cup into foil will pop many of the bubbles during the transfer, but if you mix with care, there won't be any to pop ....)

My "foil-warmer" is the base of a beer can. Grab a full can from the fridge or shelf and place it in the kitchen sink filled with warm water for 10-15 minutes before mixing commences.

Turn the can upside-down and put a layer of aluminium foil in the hollow, tip the mixed epoxy into the foil and start working on the rod. The heat in the can keeps the epoxy warm without risk of water getting near the epoxy mix or dust being blown around. (You don't need to use foil if you don't want to. Foil just keeps the can clean if you want to re-use it later. Of course, you need to thoroughly dry the can if you aren't using foil.)

Don't go too warm with the kitchen sink water. ~30° is enough. Too hot and the epoxy will set before you've finished applying it.

When you're finished, put the can back in the fridge, swap it for a cold one and relax.

Is there anything a can of beer can't fix? "Honey, I'm just going down the road to get some rod-building equipment ..."

Cheers,
Graeme

[Adam]

Cheers Graeme that was the instructions I followed off the Swift manual. Did all that and applied on the rod wrapper not the turner for the first coat. It may well have been the 0.5ml less of hardner and the resulting higher ratio of meths to epoxy that caused the bubbles. Having said that I did something wrong. I need to build a few more rods to correct my technique so that I don't get any bubbles in the thread tunnels.

I stuck the epoxy tubes in my pockets to warm them a little before use. I like the beer can suggestion as a mixing vessel and heat sink.

Adam

[Tony Liparota]

Interesting discussion guys re: epoxy techniques. Some great info for those starting out.

I don't exactly do any of what's been detailed above, but have my own way of getting it done easy.

One tip if it hasn't been mentioned - check your room temperature ... I never apply epoxy below a room temp of 20c or above 24c .. so during winter the heater in the rod room gets used a lot and during summer the cooling (also a good idea to keep temp from falling below 18c during the first 6 hours after applying epoxy).

[Rohan]

Dee, it should take about 4 5 days but only an hour or two each day at first and 20 minutes each day for the finish coat. 1 day , an hour or so,to glue up, another to bind guides, maybe a few hours if you are new to it, . three days to resin guides but not a lot of time each day. The only other time is setting up the "recipe" to get everything where you want it in the first place.