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Hi All
I'm rebuilding a graphite rod and I need to remove the old epoxy where the rod wraps were. I don't want to damage the rod finish. Any suggestions on a compound that I can use? I heard of Orange Strip but can't find it anywhere. I did find Citrus Strip.
Thanks.
Gene
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The chemistry approach is in general a pretty bad idea as it will attack the resin of the rod itself. Get yourself a pack of 100 single edge razor blades, you'll use lots of them. Shave along the top of the foot of the guides and work _carefully_ --don't want to cut into the structure of the rod. You'll get through the epoxy and the thread on the foot. You should now be able to pick and peel off a lot of the thread around the rod where the guide foot is. The rest of it you'll just have to carefully shave off.
Mike
I like to use a blade to cut on top of the guide foot but then I heat the epoxy with a blow dryer, peel off thread and epoxy together, and then heat again and use soft plastic (old credit card or plastic spoon/fork) to rub off some of the residual epoxy. I've never got one completely clean but good enough to re-wrap. I have cut into the color finish before using blades, that's why I don't use them anymore.
Also I've learned to put the guides where I want them to begin with and clean the fly line and guides often because re-wraping a rod and cleaning epoxy is a major pain in the butt. I'd rather buy a new blank and start from scratch than rehab an old rod.
For unpainted graphite blanks, I use a #1 Exacto knife and carefully scrape the epoxy from the blank. For painted blanks, an old credit card. Use whatever works for you that you feel confortable using. In my opinion, the key to a good repair is to remove all the old epoxy without damaging the blank and then wipe the repair area clean with rubbing alcohol before moving on to the rewrap. If done properly, one would rarely know the rod was repaired.
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I use a green scotch brite pad to gently remove any remaining epoxy after removing the guide and threads.