Build your own rod - Apply the finish

Due to the current situation I had some time to do the 7th and last step in this series and finish the rod with some nice coats of epoxy.

To apply the finish you need a few things:
- epoxy
- brush
- thinner
- tin foil
- lighter
- mixing cup
- syringe
- rotary tool

If you don't have a rotary tool and don't plan to buy/ build one, no problem at all. I built my first rod without one, too. But then you will need some more time until the epoxy starting to cure. I explain this later.


First things first, get the two parts of epoxy and measure with the syringe for each part and put it into the mixing cup. Important is to use one syringe for each component, you shouldn't use one for both parts cause you might put some of one part in the pot of the other and then you've fu..ed up your whole epoxy.

Mix both parts really well, then take your thinner of choice and put a little bit into your epoxy.

Depending on the amount of epoxy you're mixing, take only small drops and mix them.
Your epoxy should be fluent, somehow between plain epoxy and water.
It's also depending on what kind of wraps you want to cover. For nylon thread it don't need to be super thin, but when you want to create translucent silk wraps, it should be thin so it can really soak into each wrap.

After mixing the epoxy I pour it into this self made "cup" of tin foil. There are for sure much nicer cups but as I need some more of them over the time, I don't want to spend money on that so I use this  cheap alternative. Let the epoxy spread in the cup for a few minutes, maybe heat it from underneath with a lighter. You might ask, why do we need to reduce bubbles? The less bubbles we have in our epoxy, the less bubbles we have on our wrappings later.

As brush I use this disposable brush, but I use them several times. No need to throw them away after using, just clean them with the thinner.

When applying the first coat of epoxy it is really important where you start, at least when you used silk thread which becomes translucent. You have to start applying from the outer site of the guide, otherwise you will trap air on the sites of the guide which doesn't look nice at the end.
Bring on the finish at the outer point and move towards the guide. By this the epoxy and soak into the thread and in all hollow spaces next to the guide foot.

Don't overdo the amount of epoxy. Less is more in this case, cause we will do several thin layers of it. Nothing looks uglier than a thick overdone finish. It also adds weight to the rod which has an impact on the whole action of the rod.


After applying this first layer of epoxy to all your wrappings, place the rod into your rotary tool. If you don't have one, no problem at all. You can move the blank by hand until the epoxy stats curing. Depending on how thin you made the epoxy, this procedure needs to be done for quite a while.
You should turn the blank each 30 seconds a little bit to prevent the epoxy to create ugly teardrops.
For sure it is easier with a rotary tool, but when you start building your first rod and you don't know if you will do it again, this is the cheapest solution.

After the first layer is cured for at least 12 hours, we have to clean all wrappings from pimples and bumps with the razor blade.
This is normally happen when you pull the end of the thread trough the wrappings and a little piece is standing out. No problem at all, we only need a sharp razor blade. I check all wrappings really carefully and remove all bumps with the blade by cutting it off. Don't cut off to much, you don't want to cut into the wrappings.

After all wrappings are cleaned, I would do the next layer of epoxy. This time the epoxy doesn't need to be thinned as much as the first time, but a little bit thinner epoxy keeps the applying simple.
The second layer should also be done very thin, because this won't be the last layer. We want an even and slim finish on each guide, so we have to care about the amount of epoxy we apply to each wrapping.
When all wrappings are coated, it's time again for the rotary tool to cure the epoxy.

After this layer is cured, check again for any bumps on the finish. If all are removed, the third and last layer can be applied.
Basically it's the same procedure as with the last layer, so thin the epoxy a little bit and apply it thin on the wrappings. The only thing you now should have an eye on are the edges of the wrappings. It looks much nicer when they are straight instead of uneven and messy. Maybe your first ones will be a bit messy, but after a few you will get the trick how to do it clean. You only need some calm fingers and time.

After the last layer is cured, don't directly take the rod to the water. I know we all get the urge to directly try out our new tools, but in general the epoxy needs some days to fully cure. Let the rod rest for two or three days before mounting a reel and do the first
tests with it. I know waiting is always hard, but in this case it's worth the money.


As a very last step we have to glue the tiptop. Some do after finding the spine and before placing the guides. This might be a good procedure and I don't really know why I didn't do this until to this point. Advantage doing so is to really place the guides in line to your spine. Anyway, I use 2K epoxy to glue the tiptop. Some might use hot glue but I never was a fan of it. Not that durable cause when in contact with high heat like burning sun, it might melt and the tiptop could move. With 2K epoxy this will never happen.