Explorer 2/3wt Classic build

[ShaunF]

Devlin, take it to work, park your car outside in the sun and leave the rod in the car. Don't just leave it on the dashboard. You need to somehow support the rod so that none of the epoxy is touching anything.

[dpammenter]

thanks Shaun - is one day enough?

[ShaunF]

thanks Shaun - is one day enough?

Devlin, thats all I left mine in for, but remember it was Summer. If you're not planning to fish it within the next week or so, I wouldn't stress much about this. After a week the epoxy seems to have cured to be rock hard.

[dpammenter]

cool. i'll make something so it can sit on the parcel try for a week

[smallstreams.co.za]

cool. i'll make something so it can sit on the parcel try for a week

Dev

Gonna write something re this today - just no time now. Easy curing chamberl for you.

[dpammenter]

cool, thanks Mario
much appreciated

[Michael]

it's finished. i put on the final coat of wrap finish on the butt section last night. it's drying now.

next question - post curing? how does it work? i've heard that leaving the rod on your car's dashboard for a while works a treat. how long do you need to have it there? does it matter that temperatures drop to a little above 0deg a night? do i need to take it out the car at night? ?????






pls help

I dunno about this leaving on the dashboard story...it gets seriously hot in there...surely it MUST cause some sort of damage to the glues that bind the graphite fibers together? Why not just leave it on stands in the garage or something?
I leave mine dissasembled in my wendy house that never gets used, for about a week. After that the finish is rock hard. In fact, it's rock hard after 48 hours...I just leave it for another 5 days to be sure. No interference, no dust, etc. Safer than the harsh sun, all day long, and extreme temperatures that it can get in there.

[smallstreams.co.za]

I dunno about this leaving on the dashboard story...it gets seriously hot in there...surely it MUST cause some sort of damage to the glues that bind the graphite fibers together? Why not just leave it on stands in the garage or something?
I leave mine dissasembled in my wendy house that never gets used, for about a week. After that the finish is rock hard. In fact, it's rock hard after 48 hours...I just leave it for another 5 days to be sure. No interference, no dust, etc. Safer than the harsh sun, all day long, and extreme temperatures that it can get in there.

Mike, I've spoken to a few engineers who specialize in polymers and such, and they reckon 95% of all epoxies MUST be post-cured. They went into technical details at which my mind immediately went into standy mode. I've post-cured all my rods, so I would not know what a rod that is not post-cured would look like - the epoxy I mean.

Anyway, the dashboard thing is NOT to leave the rod in the direct sun.

You need:
1 x PVC Tube
Hard foam (the ones Hard Drives come in is great, also free at any PC shop)

Cut the foam so that it fits securely in the tube (only need at the ends).
Cut some slits for the rod pieces to slide into.
Stick the whole business in the car, and leave in the sun.

OR

Empty a cupboard somewhere, stick a fan heater in there with the contraption descriped above. 1 Postcuring chamber done!!

[dpammenter]

thanks for the advice gents. i've had the rod in my car resting on the stands i made for building. it's been on the back seat - cos it doesn't fit on the dashboard - so it's not had direct sun on it. i bought a rod tube for it over the weekend, so as from tomorrow, i'll just keep it in the rod tube in the car for a few days. i'm not going to be fishing with it soon, so there's no rush.

thanks again for all the advice, i'll post a few pics of the finished product soon.

[Michael]

OR

Empty a cupboard somewhere, stick a fan heater in there with the contraption descriped above. 1 Postcuring chamber done!!

Or...then you'll have 1 x fire brigade calling at your house....

Fan heater in cupboard may be hazardous to the house!

Good idea about the tube in the car though...but I've never had any problems by curing it in a room, for 6 or 7 days. Finish is rock hard, smooth, and all the rod building guys in the States say it's cool.