Thread: how many coats

I just did my first light build coat(But kinda heavy) on a hand gaff I made out of a butt end of a rod, do I sand between coats?(grit of paper?) I put the heat to it to work out air bubbles some( John g did this too) and on the reel seat that I removed, I wrapped that area with cord in between the cork, and flex coated it too.....on the home made drier now in the basement
thanks for any advice and help

I put 3-4 coats on all my rods. I sand each coat after its fully dried to give the next coat something to grab on to. Make sure you get all the dust off real good. I use coffe filters and denatured alcohol. And if your looking for level coats (this is how I do it and it seems to work really well for me) I put my first coat on pretty thick. I get everything coated and then I stop my dryer on the 0 axis of my wrap. I let it sit for 15 seconds then rotate it 45% and do the same. Repeat till im back at the 0 axis. Then I go up to 30 seconds all the way around. Repeat adding 30 seconds each full rotation. I usually will end with 90 seconds on all 4 axis. It's a little time consuming but it should level your epoxy to almost perfect. I hit it with the torch after all is level (most bubbles come out with the leveling). You will have epoxy dripping off so have something to catch it. Hope that makes since Bill.

OK, thanks.....the motor stopped through the night sometime, but all looks good this morning...... what grit sandpaper? and is the coffee filter for cleaning the dust or roughing the surface before the next coat instead of sandpaper ....still learning and always will be ....this is the first for me doing and before only watch John g once apply the first coat of finish.

practicing on the hand gaff before the rod

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I use a 150 sandpaper between coats. If I have a lump or something didnt level right I'll use a rougher paper or razorblade. Just becareful to not take to much off and get down to the threads. The coffe filter is for taking dust off the finish between coats. Shirts and towles will have dust and small fibers that can transfer onto the blank or coat of epoxy. Just dip the filter in the denatured alcohol and rub till you dont see any dust. Also dont use acetone. Some blanks dont do well with it. It can mess with the finish

I'm a newbie on this forum and couldn't get my earlier attempts to go through. But anyway we will try again, Bigboy's method will work just fine, but here is another thought, I use 1200 grit automotive wet sand paper, lightly, cleaned with alcohol, in between 3 -4 coats of TreadMaster (Mudhole) high build epoxy. This is all done on the rod lathe at a slow speed I like the TreadMaster because of fewer bubbles than Flex coat. If I do have a bubble, I hit it with the hair dryer on low. I will leave it dry on the rod dryer for about 4 hours and then let it cure for another 4 hours. Different strokes for different folks.

Make sure you use a 1 - 1 mixing ratio with the epoxy and use a syringe made to measure epoxy with and NOT a medical syringe!!!!

sanded and put the second coat on, I need to get this right before the rod attempt

Be careful with your heat. I use a torch and If it gets to close it will burn off your epoxy or even worse add tons of micro baby never coming out bubbles. Inch or 2 away and keep it moving. Don't stay in one place to long.

Originally Posted by bigboyjames11

Be careful with your heat. I use a torch and If it gets to close it will burn off your epoxy or even worse add tons of micro baby never coming out bubbles. Inch or 2 away and keep it moving. Don't stay in one place to long.

I watch John do it and haven't had a problem yet ....Knock on wood....it is looking pretty good but a few small spots not sure what it is(air bubble or trash)...it's a boat gaff or beach gaff so no real big deal, for me as long as it is functional and doesn't look to bad.....all a learning process that I enjoy doing new things that I can use in the future

you mean NO weed burner....it works real good in the fire barrel, to get it going

Bill another quick tip that works for me is when you get your epoxy mixed pour it onto a piece of tinfoil. I make mine into a 5x5 square and fold the edges up so it doesn't spill out. I let it sit for a min then hit it with the torch to get the bubbles out. It helps with bubble control.