Why is my rod finish wavy?

[Neilslure]

I have done 2 full builds and reworked 2 rods. On all of them the finish over the decal always turns out a little wavy. It doesnt look terrible and I am proud of my work but wondering what I might be doing wrong. I am applying my epoxy with a cheap flat paintbrush maybe 3/8" wide. Pretty much lightly touch the blank with the bead on the brush as it spins, then move down and repeat. The first 3 I did I used the Roddancer 2 part finish that came with my start up kit, using the Pro Kote from Mudhole now.

[shfishinsticks]

Too much finish applied. Put the finish on the decal, stop rotation for a few minutes and let the finish sag to the bottom. Remove the sag with your brush and rotate the rod 180. Repeat til it stops sagging

[21XDC]

Epoxy in the lure world, May need to be warmer/thinner to "Self level" Turning 100% of the time until hard.

[jasonG]

Most likely tour adding to much finish.

[D.O.C. 989]

Try less finish and hit it with some gentle heat once you start turning it. You only need a few seconds of the heat. I use a heat gun on low setting and only do it if my shop is cool at the time. I also only use Threadmaster Lite finish and most times don't need the heat.

[basscatcher89]

Scott had me try his method in post 2 this year and it has worked awesome to the point its about the only way I do the decals anymore.

[cidgrad]

None of these will give you the same result as applying the finish, then taking lengthwise strokes to knock out the perpendicular ridges. Perpendicular ridges won't level out. Parallel ridges will very nicely. No need to even hit it with a torch/heat.

We do thousands of rods this way with outstanding results regardless of finish type.

[clearwater]

You can lightly sand the ridges down and apley another coat of finish

[DrewFlu33]

Good advice above. One other thing that will cause something like this that got me when I was fairly new is wiping it down with denatured alcohol before applying the finish, particularly if this is a second coat where you were wiping down an initial coat of epoxy with it. The result there isn't quite "wavy," to be fair, but is instead more along the lines of "streaking" or "webbing" where the finish acts like it doesn't want to stick to certain spots.

Isopropyl is better, but even 91% will still cause this to some degree. Whenever possible wipe it off with something dry before applying epoxy, or if you need to clean it with alcohol at least let it sit for an hour or even overnight and wipe with something dry before trying the epoxy. I like coffee filters as they are more lint free than a regular paper towel.