UV Epoxy as a rod finish

[Okie_Noodler]

Gents (and ladies),
Has anyone here had any experience using any of the available (Tuffleye, Loon brand, etc.) UV set epoxy products on their rods? I'm thinking of trying. I had someone build me a rod as a gift with one product and it worked well, but remained tacky and picked up a bunch of dust and grime. It's still my favorite trout rod, but it looks terrible.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks,
-Ray

[Midwest Custom Fly Rods]

I would not advise it Ray. Rod finish self levels itself as the rod turns in the rod dryer. Something like UV epoxy wont have anywhere near the right properties to self level itself. I have to ask though, why would you even want to try to use something like that in place of a quality rod finish? What did the person use on the gift rod they gave you? If they used a regular rod finish and it stayed tacky then the problem wasn't that the finish itself was at fault, it was that the person that mixed the finish didn't do it properly (its a two part finish that needs equal parts of A & B).

Steve

[Normand]

i dont build rods, but clear cure goo comes in a thick and thin viscosity and even a brushable version. so as the rod is spinning in a rod dryer, you could apply the brushable version, let it self level and then zap it with the uv light. i dont know if it would be as strong as epoxy.

[Betty Hiner]

Don't even chance it! Take it to someone who knows what they are doing and have it fixed right.
I, along with many others on here, would offer/volunteer to do this repair for you.

[Wes]

put some wraps on a wooden dowel, put the dowel into a rod dryer/turner to see if it'll self level then zap it.

[Okie_Noodler]

The rod that was built for me used Tuffleye. It seems to be fairly level, and since it's a one part epoxy, I know it wasn't the mixture that he screwed up. I've been reading on their website and they say that you can eliminate the tacky-ness by wiping it down with rubbing alcohol. The epoxy seems to be pretty evenly spread on that rod. I guess you've just got to let it even out before you zap it with the light.

I'm mostly interested in trying the UV stuff because I have two small children and I'm trying to train a retriever right now, so time is not a luxury that I have a lot of.

[Midwest Custom Fly Rods]

Just getting back to this because I was gone on vacation the past couple week Ray, but if you aren't in a huge hurry to redo this rod yourself (as it sounds like you have your hands full anyway) then if you want to wait till late fall once my schedule of rods slows down a bit then get a hold of me and I'll fix it up right for you free of charge.

Steve