I have been building rods for quite some time. I have one problem area. How do you consistantly get the finish straight around the bottom of the wrap. I always have one or two that are not straight. Can you use painters tape. I just can not figure that one out. I would like to see mine consistantly the same and I know someone has the answer. Please help. Thanks in advance.
You can use tape to tape off the area to make sure you get a even line around the wraps eventually you will not need it anymore.
I usually trim my brushes so that I can get a nice sharp edge when applying the finish.
when i use tape, i usually get finish seeping under it... best 2 methods i have found was to have a brush with a healthy dose of finish on it and to just hold it very steady as the rod turns.
A sure fire way to get a perfect edge is to take a paper towel and wet a quarter sized spot on it with rubbing alcohol. fold the towel in half, right through the alcohol soaked spot. Now you have a straight edge, soaked w/ alcohol. Apply your finish and then hold the alcohol soaked edge of the towel up to where you want the edge of the finish to end. Holding it on both sides of the alcohol spot, just pull it down against the blank (as if it were string and you were going to tie it around the blank for instance).
Let the rod turn on the turner and the towel will cleanly wipe away any excess finish.
its a good idea to try and get the edge as straight as you can with a brush first, this way you're not mopping up a bunch of finish. A faster (10-20rpm) drier/lathe will make this a bit easier.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thedude »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">A sure fire way to get a perfect edge is to take a paper towel and wet a quarter sized spot on it with rubbing alcohol. fold the towel in half, right through the alcohol soaked spot. Now you have a straight edge, soaked w/ alcohol. Apply your finish and then hold the alcohol soaked edge of the towel up to where you want the edge of the finish to end. Holding it on both sides of the alcohol spot, just pull it down against the blank (as if it were string and you were going to tie it around the blank for instance).
Let the rod turn on the turner and the towel will cleanly wipe away any excess finish.
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LOL, this is the way I clean up my oh shiz places and the end of the wraps when things go wrong which is normal for me
Those are all great tips! I use a 6 mm sable brush to apply my finish. I place a good puddle of finish in the center of the guide wrap. I then rotate the rod by hand, pushing the finish ahead of the brush. As I do this, I force the finish just out over the edge of the thread. You may need to reload your brush on a large diameter blank, to keep the bead flowing.
As for clean up and other errors...the alcohol / paper towel is a great tip. If I push the finish out too far from the threads, I'll often wipe the finish off to the threads, then reapply, using the bead again to make a nice edge.
In the end...do what works best for you.
Good luck....George
I use the same alchohol paper towel trick George mentioned if needed. My best bet has been to only try to push finish to the edge of the threads, not onto the blank. When I finish to the edge of the thread it end's up rounding over and making a strait line, if I try to do it myself.....well I get a mess.
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