# Epoxy scraping tips.



## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

I'm in the process of re-wrapping a few rods and one of the most odious tasks for me has been scraping all that glue residue off. So I came up with a pretty good way and thought I would share it.

I made a scraping tool from my exacto knife blade by putting one side down flat on an 8000 grit water stone and polishing it to a smooth flat 
mirror finish. Then I ground the back edge of the knife to about an 85 degree bevel and polished that side too. What it did was give me a very clean edge that is really sharp but does not dig into the blank. 

When I remove the epoxy residue, I spray it with cleaner and keep the blade flat with the blank. It works fast and didn't scratch my blank at all. 

HTH


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## cygnus-x1 (Oct 12, 2005)

Thanks Fishbait that does help. I don't have any water stones for doing what you describe. Where is a good source for them? Also is the 85 degree a SWAG or do you have some type of adjustable holder for what you are polishing?


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## basstardo (Jun 5, 2006)

Can you post pics?


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

Cyg, yes it is a swag, but since I have been making knives for many years, I've got a real steady hand for this kind of stuff. The stones I have were purchased when I was in Japan. My father and I do quite a bit of furniture making and many of our handtools from Japan have blades that can only be sharpened by me, so I needed the best stones I could find. Unfortunately, they are all in Japanese and I have no idea what any of them say. 

If you plan to re-wrap a rod, let me know. I'll make you one. 

Basstardo, I don't know if any picture I take with my phone would do any good. It's just a small disposable exacto blade. The only thing different about it is the side and the back have been polished to a shiny finish. And the back edge is now slightly beveled, but it's not really even noticeable.


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## narfpoit (Jun 16, 2004)

I got a nice set of Japanese water stones on ebay 1000 and 6000. It is amazing what they will do to a filet knife. Anyway if you cant find them there then you can get them from several wood working companies online. Just google Japanese water stone. They are kind of expensive but worth it if you like to have sharp things and dont mind putting the time in. Anyway did you do this to the scalpel type blade or the Chisel type blade.


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

narfpoit said:


> I got a nice set of Japanese water stones on ebay 1000 and 6000. It is amazing what they will do to a filet knife. Anyway if you cant find them there then you can get them from several wood working companies online. Just google Japanese water stone. They are kind of expensive but worth it if you like to have sharp things and dont mind putting the time in. Anyway did you do this to the scalpel type blade or the Chisel type blade.


Yep, nothing sharpens quite like a fine water stone. 

Narfpoit, it's the triangular blade. The back is straight.


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## Mark G (Nov 15, 2004)

*Do you*

warm the epoxy first? This will make removal a good bit easier.

Don't over do the heat, you don't want to melt the epoxy, just warm it to soften it up. Heat gun on low setting should do the trick.


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## narfpoit (Jun 16, 2004)

I like to do it while it is cold as it seems to make the epoxy a little brittle and it just flakes off rather than flexing and bending.


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

Thanks for the tip. I'll try that on my next one.


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## Mark G (Nov 15, 2004)

narfpoit said:


> I like to do it while it is cold as it seems to make the epoxy a little brittle and it just flakes off rather than flexing and bending.


I made the assumption (silly me :redface that we are talking about the epoxy over the thread wraps on the guide feet. By softening the epoxy in this situation and then cutting down on top of the guide foot thru the layer of epoxy and then into the thread itself, you should be able to grab hold of a thread at some point and pull- unwinding the wrap- as you do the softened epoxy should come off with the thread as everything unravels together- you will then have only the epoxy on the blank that extended beyond the thread wrap to clean up.

This may not be the best way to go if we're talking about epoxy alone on the blank- such as when marbeling or painting a section of a blank- and then having to remove that epoxy.


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

Not sure which one Narfpoit was talking about, but I was referring to the residue epoxy left over after you remove the threads and guides.


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## Mark G (Nov 15, 2004)

fishbait said:


> Not sure which one Narfpoit was talking about, but I was referring to the residue epoxy left over after you remove the threads and guides.



OK let me review a DVD I have on the subject and see it there is any additional tips on removing that left over epoxy. Will get back to you.


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## narfpoit (Jun 16, 2004)

Yeah the hard part is the epxoy with no thread. Usually I just carefully cut it off with a scalpel blade, but there is a risk of hitting the blank. I found that when I heated the epoxy the blade would just get stuck in it where as if left cold it would sort of flake or chip off in little pieces. This is WHere fishbaits tool would help as it would allow you to cut with your blade flush to the blank with less risk of digging in to the blank.


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## Mark G (Nov 15, 2004)

narfpoit said:


> Yeah the hard part is the epxoy with no thread. Usually I just carefully cut it off with a scalpel blade, but there is a risk of hitting the blank. I found that when I heated the epoxy the blade would just get stuck in it where as if left cold it would sort of flake or chip off in little pieces. This is WHere fishbaits tool would help as it would allow you to cut with your blade flush to the blank with less risk of digging in to the blank.


That's making more sense to me now. It's probably why I am cautious about getting epoxy too far past the threads- more clean up later if repairs needed.


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## Charlie2 (May 2, 2007)

*Epoxy Removal*

My method for removing the residual epoxy after the guides are removed is accomplished with plastic picnic knives; the throwaway kind that come in multiple packs. Use the back edge of the knife.I don't like to.use metal on a rod. JMHO! The epoxy usually chips right off without causing rod damage.

I've had to heat the epoxy one time when it was obvious that someone had used household epoxy, not the proper rod king.


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