Hi All,

Thanks for the advice on the rod blanks. I'm going to go with a Harrison. I want to spray the blank to give it a colour/finish similar to the Sage TCX. Iv'e read various forums saying that it's perfectly fine to spray paint the blank aslong as the paint used will flex with the rod. The only thing I'm not sure on is how to go about spraying the blank. Should I mask the male blank sections or could I get away without masking or what would be the best method? I have a car sprayer friend of mine willing to spray the blank.

i'd say you are going to want to mask off the male part of the connectors as the paint is going to increase the diameter of the rod and it could end up not fitting after the paint job, nothing a bit of lite sanding would not resolve but still probably best avoided.

I'd be very interested to see how this pans out, I'm going to be airbrushing some blanks in the not too distant future, however after last weekend I need a lot more practice before I let myself lose on the actual rods.

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Looking at the Meadows fishery site, you can order the Harrison blanks in green, they are not held in stock. Painting blanks is do-able but takes a light touch and I would suggest trying it on a cheap rod first if you are determined to go that route. I would hate to see you ruin a good blank through experimenting as there are plenty of other new skills to be learnt on your first build.

You will not achieve a good result spray painting a tip over butt ferrule.
The extra finish will alter the ferrule fit.

I'm planning on doing a couple of trial runs on some old carp rods I have laying around first before I let the sprayer loose on the blank or even give it a go myself. No doubt the blank will need a light colour base coat to avoid excessive coats of the Green paint. My local auto supplies shop can mix up any colour spray paint I like so that's another option.

How do Sage get the solid Green finish on their rods?

Its done with the resin, you add the colour on the lay up,easker1

The colour is added in a dip tank.