Here is a trick: the problem with Pearsalls gossamer is that, even after spending weeks learning to wrap the stuff without breaking it or overwrapping, you can still end up with a wrap that looks perfect when dry, but shows flaws when varnished. I keep a bottle of extremely dilute varnish on my wrapping bench, and put a drop on each wrap as I finish it. Any flaws show up immediately, and you have about a minute to hit it with the burnishing tool before it begins to tack up. It is rather surprising what can be fixed.

25% varnish, 75% thinner.

It also tacks everything in place and gives a beautiful clear wrap that allows a clear view of the guide foot and the pencil marks you forgot to erase.  (Jeff Schaeffer)

I have an odd thing that has happened to a rod that has never happened to me before.  After about the third coat of spar on a set of wraps.  It suddenly has developed "dimples".    Unfortunately, they are not cute.  They are evenly covering all the wraps.

The only thing that I did differently was to place a small space heater in the room to keep the temp up during the night.  It is an older can of spar.

Thoughts?  Get rid of the space heater, new spar.  (Doug Hall)

I'd try thinning the varnish with mineral spirits and warming it prior to applying it to the wraps if you are working in a coolish environment.  Keep the heater.  (Brian Creek)

I would also try straining it with a small mesh to remove dust.  (Rich McGaughey)

That has happened to me, but it was not as a result of the space heater. I found that when I put the rod together and tried to cast too soon or before the wraps were totally cured something similar happened to me. I wound up redoing the damaged wraps, and as hard as it was, waited until it was fully dry before stringing it up and casting it. I only mention this as a possible cause. Did you flex the rod too soon? Just a thought.  (Bill Bixler)

Did you sand between coats?  Could the surface have been contaminated from wiping it off?  I think I may have done that with a previous rod.  I'd be interested in what might work.  (Greg Kuntz)

Only after the third coat or so. I use a thin mixture for the wraps of about 25% mineral spirits 75% spar. sand very lightly just to get the bumps. When the wraps are done I then finish the entire rod in my drip set up.  (Bill Bixler)

I get a pretty nice looking finish with a drain tube on the blank itself but I'm not happy with the wraps.  Larger wraps are not level after a sufficient build is reached.  Get a sort of bumpy appearance.  Am I missing something?  I thought about sanding them down between coats in order to keep the build level but I'm afraid of getting crap buried in the finish.  Any suggestions?  (Lee Orr)

I use a couple coats of wipe on varnish, then wrap, finish the wraps, then a final dip

I like to have the wraps barely covered, with almost a starved look before dipping. But if I apply too much finish, or I decide the rod needs two dips, I sand the wraps.

I take a half sheet of sandpaper and spray the back with 3M spray adhesive. Then press popsicle sticks on to the wet adhesive and cut them apart with a razor blade. A lot of folks use 1000 grit, I have found that 600 grit makes it go much faster and you end up with the same result. Make sure that your varnish is dry- two days for poly, and a week for spar. It will look rough as all get out, but the next coat of finish makes it all go clear. I am sure that it is possible to get crud in the finish, but you can always blow or wipe the dust off the rod before the next coat.

If you sand the wraps while wearing an optivisor, you can really control the popsicle stick well and make sure that it goes flat without going too far into the finish and boogering up the thread. I probably have more tolerance for slight bumps than most, so as long as the surface is reasonably flat I am OK with it. But it works best if I pay attention to the wrap finish and don't let it get to the point of having to sand.

Another trick: try finishing your wraps with flex coat epoxy dissolved in acetone. It produces a beautiful transparent finish with no air bubble shimmers, and you won't need to keep reapplying coat after coat of wrap varnish. It takes longer than varnish to tack up, but it seems to harden up much faster after the initial drying. If you thin it out well, you get complete coverage but with no build up. Start with an equal volume of acetone and flex coat, and add more solvent if you need it.  (Jeff Schaeffer)

About 2 years ago, I made a rod based on the Martha Marie taper and it turned out quite good. After only a couple hours fishing, however, one of the thread wraps on a guide had cracked and began to peel off like a section of tape. I went back to the shop and put on a new wrap. Several weeks later, I used it again on a fishing trip, and this time the wraps on 2 different guide cracked and began to peel off. I dutifully repaired those wraps and put it away for the winter. I recently took it fishing and guess what? 2 more wraps began to peel off. I've now stripped the rod of guides and varnish and plan to refinish.

My first thought was that it was the  thread that  I used  (YLI #100-228) or the varnish (Helmsmen). Last winter I made a different rod using this same thread and varnish and fished that rod extensively this summer - no broken wraps.

The breaks normally occur right at the glue line. Although these lines are tight, they aren't particullarly sharp - no more so than on other rods that I've made. I've dismissed that as the problem.

The only difference with the Martha Marie rod is that I used Potassium Permanganate to darken it slightly. I noticed that when I removed all of the guides, the varnish sometimes peeled away from the rod surface for 1/2 and inch or so beyond the guide. Is it possible that the Potassium Permanganate is the problem?

Any insights that you would have on this problem would be appreciated.  (Mark Lenarz)

Did you rub out the varnish before wrapping the guides?  If so, maybe something in the polish you used kept the wrap varnish from sticking?  Some car polishes FEEL as if there's silicone in them.  (Neil Savage)

I had a similar problem recently of varnish de-bonding from blanks that had been treated with PP.  In my case this was no problem as the varnish was a sacrificial protection whilst waiting for ferrules but more than I would expect detached when masking tape was removed after ferrule fitting.

I put it down to the fact that I had varnished it in a hurry shortly after the color toning and perhaps the water had not fully dried out before the varnish was applied.

I've just applied the first coat of final finish after stripping the old varnish so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  I'm using Schooner by the way.  (Gary Marshall)

My experience with delamination came from using color preserver (the water soluble kind).  Yeah, it preserves the color but it has NO adhesion to varnish.  After I threw that stuff out, no problems.  (Al Baldauski)

Me, too.  I thought it might be the FlexCoat not sticking to the Tru-Oil I used, but it could certainly be the C.P.  That's the only time I used either FlexCoat or C.P. and I've not had a problem since.  (Neil Savage)

It's the CP.  I've used Flexcoat over varnish with no problems as long as the varnish is cured and scuffed with steel wool or sand paper.  (Al Baldauski)