Help with flaking lacquer varnish on rod guides

[Mixin123]

I've got a couple of rods here now that are getting on and showing signs of their age.

Here I've got one in which there's loose varnish or lacquer (not sure which) that's showing on a few of the rod ring whippings.

In image 1, the varnish is just sort of cracked, but in image 2, there's bare thread showing as well as cracks as per image 1 in a couple of places nearest to the rings.

I've got some flex coat rod wrapping finish here, but thought I'd ask here before making a Pigs ear of things.

With image 1, would the routine be to just brush the flex coat over the full whipping after cleaning it? Or would it be best to chip away at the cracked varnish, clean it, then apply the flex coat? Or is best just to remove the varnish, whipping, rod ring, and rewhip, recoat from scratch etc'?

Is flex coat the right choice for this application?

 

[barbelboi]

I'd strip it off, gently wet and dry the area, apply ethyl alchohol (or similar) and fit new whippings and whatever your choice of finish is.

 

[John Keane]

You’ll probably find that if you just nick the whipping to free an end and then just unravel the whipping and the varnish will come with it. Sounds unlikely, but it works.

 

[The bad one]

In the photos you've shown it's neither varnish or lacquer, it's epoxy resin. The only cure for it in my view, is to remove rings and resin and do a complete rewhip and re-epoxying and or vanishing.

Of the two it's easier to vanish the whippings but it can run if you are not use to vanishing rods. Vanishing also makes the whipping go very dark, so you need to use a dope primer to keep the lighter colours bright. Personally, I tend to use black thread to avoid the colour darkening and a thin lined paint if I want the edging flash. ​

 

[barbelboi]

Here's a bit from a post I made in 2017 that may help if you want an inexpensive rod dryer to get the professional finish on epoxy/varnish............

I built a rod dryer a few months ago for the princely sum of £4.39 ( the cost of a 220-240VAC 4W 18RPM Synchronous Motor for a Microwave Oven from fleabay). The frame was knocked up from some old bits of MDF shoaled up in the shed with the 'V's' treated to some felt to protect the rod section whilst turning.

OK, not a looker like the expensive professional dryers, but it’s absolutely ideal for all my rod repairs, rings/whipping/breaks/varnishing etc. – just let it run for a couple of hours and it keeps all the epoxy/varnish happily turning at 18RPM for an smooth, even professional finish.

 

[ian g]

Thanks for sharing , I;m inspired to knock up something similar myself