Hi could you advise me on how long I can leave it between coating the the wrappings. Could I put the first coat on and leave it for week( or whenever) to put the second coat, or do I need put second coat on within a certain time frame?
Trying to work how much time to put aside for this part of the project.

Many thanks

Depends on the varnish - rule of thumb - if touch dry safe to go again - around 24 hours on epoxies usually !

I quite often will put a thinned coat on cracked whippings and that can be 10 years after ! Nobody ever complained - particularly as it maybe put 5 years on between full refinishing jobs .

But no guarantee !

Best wishes

Steve P

If it is actually an oil-based varnish such as yacht/spar rather than epoxy it can take quite a while for coats to fully cure and it is better to wait until they do. I bake mine off in the airing cupboard for a few days once touch dry between coats, and for at least a fortnight before fishing. Thin coats help in that respect.

Hi,
totally agree with Taniwha. You can't wait long enough with yacht/spar, i cure my varnished bamboos hanging in a tubular oven over a 75 watt breeding lamp for 4 days before adding a next coat (6 in total)! When using epoxy it all goes a lot quicker and if you get the hang of it you can varnish rod wrappings beautifully with one thick single coating (provided you keep on turning the rod for a couple of hours!). In general, regardless of the type you are using, the longer you wait between coatings the more it becomes important to sand the previous layer lightly with 600 to 800 sandpaper making it more receptive of the next coating to avoid splitting or flaking of one or more layers.
Have fun building and fishing your rod!

Johan