- 1). Snug the wraps of thread holding the ferrules to the rod by scraping your thumbnail along the rod, towards the ferrule. Make sure there are no gaps in the wraps and they are aligned and tidy.
- 2). Place your rod carefully in a rod wrapping cradle. Make sure the cradle guides to not touch any of the wraps. If you do not have a cradle guide that allows the rod to spin while cradled between a series of padded, rolling wheels -- sometimes powered by a slow rpm electric motor -- you can make a simple one. Just cut three or more identical V-shapes in a piece of wood and screw them perpendicularly to a longer board, spaced every couple of feet. Glue a strip of felt in the crotch of each piece. This will cradle your rod and allow you to conveniently spin it as polyurethane is applied to the threads.
- 3). Spin the rod in the cradle very slowly with the thumb and forefinger of one hand. With the other hand, apply polyurethane to the threads with your paintbrush. Use the rotation of the rod to control the application; your brush hand should remain stationary.
- 4). Paint all the threads, making sure you don't overcoat them, causing drips. Apply multiple light coats, instead. Make sure your brush overlaps the thread onto the rod about 1/8-inch, creating a mechanical bond to the rod and providing protection where abrasions are most likely to happen.
- 5). Rotate the rod frequently as it dries. If you have an electric rod cradle, use it, set to its lowest setting, to help the polyurethane dry evenly. Otherwise, you can occupy yourself watching television while the rod spins one-third of a rotation every minute, until it's firm, then every few minutes until it's set.
previous post
next post