Exterior finishes

[stripermaineiac]

Before flexcoat an all those nice epoxies we used to use Zip guard urethane as a rod finish.I still have some of my old ones an the stuff is still holding up.a few cracks at the guide feet but the stuff went on easy and I'd use 2 to 3 coats of it. rods got beat with all the use an the stuff held up fine. these new finished that meet the VOC regs don't hold up at all . recoat every couple years an redo as needed. Try a thined coat or 2 then a reg coat. might make it last longer. Ron

[ed morini]

you can also try an epoxy primer made with acetone and epoxy(60-40mix) , similar cpes but much cheaper. This will establish a well bonded coat to the surface and allow other finishes to last longer. Epoxy is not UV resistant so It needs a covering over it, spar varnish or an opaque finish. Spar varnish is good exterior finish, but must initially be applied in multiple coats, then as the finishes degrades a light sanding will get you back to a good layer and you can recoat, but with this method you do not have strip to bare wood. For opaque finishes any good boat paint, waterborne exterior or latex, will work well. I cannot stress enough how important the primer coat is to good exterior finishing particularly with some of the South American hardwoods, and teak in particular.

Ed

[Grapenuts]

Originally Posted by stripermaineiac

Before flexcoat an all those nice epoxies we used to use Zip guard urethane as a rod finish.I still have some of my old ones an the stuff is still holding up.a few cracks at the guide feet but the stuff went on easy and I'd use 2 to 3 coats of it. rods got beat with all the use an the stuff held up fine. these new finished that meet the VOC regs don't hold up at all . recoat every couple years an redo as needed. Try a thined coat or 2 then a reg coat. might make it last longer. Ron

zip guard everything else was just ca-ca....down to my last pint after 44 years of using it.