Is this possible for the at home hobbiyist builder? Or will it require too much specialist equipment?
In any case, just out interest, how do they do it. What sort of colouring is used that flexes with the rod?
thanks

Never painted a rod or heard of anyone who has but if I was going to be painting a rod I think I would go for car paint aerosols but someone may have a different view.

Alan

Painting is a manufacturers term rod blank makers use for coating their blanks. The most common method is the squeegee. This is a latex membrane device that coats the blank with a micro thin polyurethane or epoxy coating. Another method is dipping in a long tube filled with varnish. The latter is probably the easiest for the home rod builder. Another way is to use a Turkey baster and drip it on to the blank. This method doesn't work very well with two pack polyurethanes or epoxies. It does work very well with thinned regular polyurethane varnish though. Bamboo rod builders are ingenious and have many other ways of getting a good vanish finish. I'm sure there will be more methods that they will advise on.






David.

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car aerosol topped with good quality spar or urethane varnish, several thin coats wiped on or applied with a foam brush (basting is OK but thicker coat so harder to control runs) and given plenty of time to dry. Its a pfaff but works. Or take the rod blank to a carbody repair shop for a pro job

Bitumen paint or red octain, same as they use on ship's bottoms, it will never rust and last for ever......

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I've never tried the antifoul gear Grayling, usually use the non-drip

Oooops! Forgive my ignorance David. But by painting, I did mean colouring the blank with paint.
Seriously can you use car body paint? I'm guessing the varnish protects it from cracking under flexion? But what if you want a matt finish?

I thought you knew a bit about the manufacturers terminology when you mentioned "painting." That is exactly the term used by mass producers of rod blanks for the process of coating blanks..

No reason not to use car paint. The Acrylic car spray paints won't crack on the blank when flexed. If you are using a color or a metallic spray it is best to give it a further protective coat of clear acrylic lacquer.

There is a recent thread on here on how to obtain a matt finish very easily over a gloss finish.



David.

__________________
David Norwich Rod Maker. Custom made Fly Rods.

Carbon Fibre Rod Repairs.. Favourite Fly Rods new or old, renovated or repaired.

Rod Building Supplies Fly Rod Blanks, Guides, Threads, Flex Coat.

The David Norwich YouTube Channel

In the olden days - pre carbon - we used to use car paint in aerosol cans and they did a perfectly good Matt Black - fine wire wool the blank to key it and one coat lasted forever .

These days I occasionally colour or recolour a blank by mixing a small amount of the right powder dye into the right thinned twin pack epoxy varnish - this time you have to scrape off the original paint job , fine wire wool the blank - and the killing factor is that all the dye has to be got into the varnish suspension - and it is a b.gger to get it there - but when you have - one brush coat with the sections held up at 45 degrees and turned in your fingers ( to keep a continuous wet edge running as you go down the blank - so the varnish excess comes down the rod with you ) works fine . Oddy better done in cold temperatures - ie sub 15c )

Best wishes

Steve Parton

Years back while fishing the small streams of the Snowy Mountains, New South Wales in Australia, we resorted to camouflaging our rods. This was necessary as the streams are much exposed and the fish very spooky.
The way we did it, and it was very successful, was:
1. Tape the handles and all runners with masking tape. We didn't worry about the runner whipping.
2. Using matt model enamel paint and an aerosol paint applicator, we then painted the rod in a combination of black, brown and green. Similar to military camouflage.
3. Let it dry and remove the masking tape.
It worked extremely well and I guess you could do the same thing in a single colour. Using matt enamel, it did not rub off easily.

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