Tacky Glass

[Jared D]

I just put my first coat of glass on my stand up rod. I used "thread Master" lite formula, as recommended by the guys at mudhole.

This morning I checked it, it was very tacky and soft. It was mixed exactly 1:1. I had the heater running all night, there was very low humidity in the house. (ran the temp at 74 degrees.)

Two ?s... first off, has anyone had any success w this brand? It created lots of bubbles.
Second, would you recommend me do another "hot coat" over the tacky coat, or just another regular coat?

[CaptLeoNYC]

I never used the Threadmaster lite, but Have had great results with regular Threadmaster high build. I personally find this brand to be the best finish yet and after switching from FlexCoat which I used for many years makes finishing less worrisome. I have had this problem happen to me once with FlexCoat. With regular Threadmaster at 50-75'F I usually keep the rod in the dryer for 2hrs and is tack free in 8-12hrs from mixed. Im guessing in your case is that the ratio could probably be off just a little and you might have more resin than hardener. As for the bubbles, did you flash the finish with a flame to make them rise to the surface and pop? This should be done after the finish has been applied while the rod is rotating. Never allow the finish to be touched directly by the flame, rather waved side to side under the rotating blank at least 2 inches away from the blank. Your best bet is to apply another REGULAR coat of finish mixed well 50/50 and let it cure. Good Luck !

[BYRD]

I use the same finish. It is great.

However I've found that if I'm just a little off with the mix I get a tacky finish. Heck the other I day I mixed some up and thought I had it 1 to 1, mixed it and applied it. When I looked at my bottles the resin bottle had just a touch less than the hardner bottle. You guessed it, just a touch tacky. I was more careful with the second coat and it came out perfect.

Agree with Zip on the flame. It has got to be flamed or the the bubbles will drive you nuts! If it is the first coat you can cut the top of the bubbles and the next coat will fill them in, but be sure to flame over the finish!!!

[FLATLINER]

I EXCLUSIVELY USE THREADMASTER AND WILL NEVER CHANGE. At least this week.... No, seriously, I love it.

Let it sit overnight tonite and then tomorrow, mix another batch and apply over it.

Oh yeah, switch to regular threadmaster. Its much Much better than the lite.

Kevin

[Jared D]

Well, I am glad to hear that at least its a good brand. I used measured cups and took a long time measuring, so I am pretty confident I did mix it right.

I did use the flame to knock out the bubbles. Problem I have is do I put on another coat before I wrap on the guides? I am afraid the glass is still so soft, that if I try to wrap the guides on, the thread may dig into the glass.

[markm]

Kevin's advice is spot on and has worked for me a number of times. Also it may help to slightly heat the hardener and resin before mixing. If the viscosity is a little high due to lower temperatures measuring with mixing cups can be less accurate. You dont need much heat to affect the viscosity. A heat gun waved over the bottles for a minute or putting the bottles in a bowl of warm tap water will do the trick. I have used the microwave at 5 second intervals but don't really like this method.90 F is all you need to reduce viscosity and increase accuracy when measuring.
MM

[FLATLINER]

What I did with the finish heating problem (I too don't like the microwave) is that I went onto Ebay and got scented candle warmers. They are little warming plates that are used to ge the candle scent into the air without lighting the candle.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ELECTRIC-CANDLE-...ht_1405wt_1167

Turn it on and let it warm up and its like mixing water.

Kevin

[Ponce]

What I did with the finish heating problem (I too don't like the microwave) is that I went onto Ebay and got scented candle warmers. They are little warming plates that are used to ge the candle scent into the air without lighting the candle.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ELECTRIC-CANDLE-...ht_1405wt_1167

Turn it on and let it warm up and its like mixing water.

Kevin

I also saw those warmers in Wal Mart they were $5 each.