First I'd like to introduce myself, Names Peter Douma, some of you may know me from other sites and my rod building business

what I am wondering is do any of you have any experience painting blanks. Merrick sent me a lami blank that was red, but my customer wants it blank, so I am gonna paint it. Any one have any tips or pointers or paint suggestions? thanks

Hi Pete,I've been buildin since 70. Yrs ago Clemens had some pigments that you added to what ever epoxy you used to get the color you wanted. Ist you have to test an waste a couple mixes to get the color down pat.Doing 2 batches made a rod have 2 colors no matter how hard you tried. The fix was one batch. Then how to hold the blank so you had no braces. Fix put on a tip you don't mind wasting with hot glue and rig one of your roller so you can put a nut n bolt then slide it into the tip opening and lock it in place. Next put a dowel wrapped with maskin tape that will jam into the but and lock on your rotator. Now you can paint the whole blank gettin one color.
Krylon has some plastic paint you can paint your blank with. however you need to put a finish over them or they'll peel once scratched. Lami went through this in the mid 80's on their 13 ft blanks. Had to come up with a spray on epoxy that worked. They hung their blanks then sprayed them then baked the finish on.
No matter how good a job you do it will eventualy get knicked or scratched showing the color underneath. Hope this helps. Ron McKee-Aka Striper Maine-iac

thanks man, 1 queston when you say finish do you mean like a regular wrapping finish or a 1 part something like permagloss or lumiseal.

2 part finish like ug 40,Aftcote,Flexcote an so on.Most 1 part types yellow very fast in the sun an weather

You need to search the web and read a lot about it. There are many different ways to paint a rod. To me , the best approach in your case would be to spray on a matte black finish. You have to be careful which paint though and use several light coats. There are also ways to apply paint without spraying. Some include wiping on with a rag or foam brush. Some include drawing the blank through a sponge with a hole in it. Some include dipping the whole rod and squeegying the excess paint off.

You really need to search and read a ton before risking a blank.