CTS CrystalCoat™ vs Other Rod Finish
  • CTS CrystalCoat™ vs Other Rod Finish

CrystalCoat™ Rod Wrapping Finish

(72 customer reviews)

Price range: $11.50 USD through $34.50 USD

NEW! Faster Cure Formula. Ultra premium rod wrapping finish by CTS. Light and delicate, with unrivalled clarity.

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Introducing a new standard in rod wrapping finish, and our Gen II Faster Cure Formula.

The all new CrystalCoat™ ultra premium rod wrapping finish from CTS. A new formula that inhibits bubble formation and sets with unrivalled clarity. It goes on clear and stays clear.

Crystal clear.

Our lab tests show a significant difference in yellowing after UV exposure, between CrystalCoat™ and other finishes. CrystalCoat™ resin and hardener are clear from the beginning and remain clear. No yellow to begin with, and no yellowing after UV exposure.

We’ve developed a superior rod finish that develops little-to-no air entrapment (no bubbles). The unique chemistry of CrystalCoat™ allows the cured hardness to be adjusted by altering the resin to hardener ratio. If you want a harder finish, just add more hardener. This also means that CrystalCoat™ is highly tolerant of unintentional measuring inaccuracies. View the Specifications tab for mix ratios and measurements.

Working with CrystalCoat™ rod finish is a dream. It applies easy, levels beautifully, the working time is superior to other brands and no thinning is required.

Order a CrystalCoat™ mixing kit in one of these sizes (weight = total of resin + hardener):

  • 60g (2oz)
  • 180g (6.4oz)

NOTE: November 2023 – new mixing ratios

  • By WEIGHT: CrystalCoat™ ratio is 3:2 (resin:hardener)
  • By VOLUME: CrystalCoat™ ratio is 4:3 (resin:hardener)

 

 

72 reviews for CrystalCoat™ Rod Wrapping Finish

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4.8
Based on 71 reviews
5 star
76
76%
4 star
22
22%
3 star
1
1%
2 star
0%
1 star
0%

  1. Daniel H. (verified owner) –

    Very easy to use, with an almost watery consistency. The drying time is long, but you get the absolutely best, glass-like finish.

  2. David W. (verified owner) –

    Easy to use and works well.
    Very clear and functional.

  3. Josh I. (verified owner) –

  4. David W. (verified owner) –

    Good product. Takes a while to cure hard but you just need patience and a spinner. Seems quite tolerant of mix as I’ve been just judging by the number of drops 4:3 / using the eyecrometer.

  5. Chris P. (verified owner) –

    fast shipping as usual great to deal with

  6. Anonymous (verified owner) –

    Crystal clear, goes on easy as because it’s so liquid, and takes a long time to set, so you can do a full set of guides in one go without worrying about it starting to go stringy part way through.
    Definitely need an epoxy dryer (rod spinner thing) because of the liquidity, but the results will have you drooling.

  7. louis t. (verified owner) –

    Great product coupled with great service

  8. Anonymous (verified owner) –

    The resin is very clear and thin when dry doesnt hold bubbles a very good product easy to use can be a littlè sensitve to Air temp

  9. Daniel H. (verified owner) –

    Wonderful epoxy and I will continue to use it. My first experience to use it was during an Australian Winter and I had a couple of challenges getting it to cure properly. Once you can establish (higher than usual) working temperatures, you will have no problem. 😉

  10. Graham H. (verified owner) –

    Initial mix stayed tacky for days as the included instructions had the ratio wrong(CTS are now aware)
    Its very thin and flows well ,which makes levelling so much easier. Also very clear. Cures quite slowly so lots of working time .I would recommend buying a cheap set of jewellers scales and using the mix by weight method. I mixed a small amount and used 1gm of resin to 0.75gms of hardener(its more than enough to do a complete rod) and happy with that result.

  11. Michael S. (verified owner) –

    Looks good, but have not had a chance to try it yet!

  12. John Graham (verified owner) –

  13. michael bakker (verified owner) –

    Great clear coat, ultra clear and easy to mix.

  14. David M. (verified owner) –

    This always give a great finish.

  15. John R. (verified owner) –

    The self-leveling properties of this finish is remarkable. Put it on and let it do it’s thing. Takes a bit longer to set up than epoxy but that’s what I want in a thin ultra self leveling finish. Will be my go-to for the foreseeable future

  16. W D (verified owner) –

    This is the easiest and best thread epoxy I’ve ever used. I’m a hobbyist rod builder that only makes a few rods each year. With that said, I’m proud of my work and try to make every rod I build an heirloom piece. This epoxy is easy to mix, goes on smoothly with no bubbles and hardens clear as glass. In my experience, plan on 48 hours before you handle or recoat your wraps.

  17. Larry B. (verified owner) –

  18. Jasen C. (verified owner) –

    Best epoxy I’ve used. Super clear. Does take longer to cure but so worth the wait

  19. Stephen Mills (verified owner) –

    Easy to use. Light viscosity gives excellent bubble release and you can keep your build very light

  20. Joseph M. (verified owner) –

    Crystal clear finish best I have used will be buying more my new go to finish

  21. Victor Pino (verified owner) –

    Worked fine, really translucide after almost a year. Seems durable !

  22. Stephen Mills (verified owner) –

    I found this very easy to use and the finish is amazing

  23. Christer Pålsson (verified owner) –

    The glue flows out very well and there are no air bubbles. You don’t need to heat to get rid of bubbles. The best glue I have ever used.

  24. Gregory Jouflas (verified owner) –

    Excellent product, clearly superior to any
    other finish.

  25. Alberto (verified owner) –

    Great product. Slow cure

  26. Peter Smith (verified owner) –

    The CrystalCoat product description wasn’t simply sales hype. It performed brilliantly as described, creating an unblemished, clear coat. I’ll definitely only be using CrystalCoat from now on.

  27. Mirko Giust (verified owner) –

  28. Jeff Rodgers (verified owner) –

    Really good product. Made my rod look like it was built by a professional. Highly recommend this. I’ll definitely use this again as I’m now addicted to making my own rods.

  29. Trevor (verified owner) –

  30. Graham Singer (verified owner) –

    A really easy epoxy to mix and use.

  31. Marc (verified owner) –

    Excellent finish! Perfect viscosity and clarity. Curing time is slightly longer than expected, but the finished rods wraps are reproducable outstanding.

  32. Nicholas Foster (verified owner) –

    Extremely clear finish long pot life and slow to set completely.

  33. Jim A. (verified owner) –

    tricky to use take a lot of drying

  34. Michael Jenkins (verified owner) –

    mixes well and dissipates bubbles quickly, thinner than other well known rod epoxies I’ve used and quickly realized it’s not worth trying to apply more at one time as it will simply run more/further. Better to be patient and use a higher number of thin coats and the results in the end are well worth the wait! will keep using this product going forward.

  35. DON FRASER (verified owner) –

    Prompt service – thank you.

  36. Audun Lange (verified owner) –

  37. Chris (verified owner) –

    Certainly crystal clear.

  38. geoffvanveen (verified owner) –

    Longer set/cure time than other brands, but well worth it.

  39. Niko Pesaresi (verified owner) –

  40. Peter Turnbull (verified owner) –

    The instructions are to mix 4:3 (by weight) resin to hardener, or 3:2 by volume. Two issues: why sell equal volumes (100 ml of each part) if unequal amounts are required for making the epoxy? For most rod builders, it is far easier to make volumetric measurements with syringes—why not provide?

  41. Heinz-Josef Schäfer (verified owner) –

    If you follow the instructions exactly, it takes a very long time until the CrystalCoat is dry. 🙁
    I have built a small drying chamber with a cardboard box and a lamp. With this I achieve a temperature of 28-32 degrees, which shortens the drying time very much. 🙂

  42. Andreas (verified owner) –

    Excellent product!!

  43. Ichiro N. (verified owner) –

  44. JOSE LUIS SUAREZ VAZQUEZ (verified owner) –

  45. James U. (verified owner) –

    Crystal clear. No bubbles. Allow a bit longer time for cure.

  46. Ulrich Gölzer (verified owner) –

  47. Alex Price (verified owner) –

    What a quality product. Crystal clear by name and nature. Its probably best to use it with a drying box or similar as it takes so long to cure to prevent any dust contamination.

  48. Keith Kline (verified owner) –

  49. Marc (verified owner) –

    this stuff gives you a complete new tool to produce quality rods

  50. Matthew Beaumont (verified owner) –

    Love this glue! Ultra clear, great for silk.

  51. Anonymous (verified owner) –

  52. Peter (verified owner) –

  53. Tom N. (verified owner) –

    Finished my first rod with CTS CrystalCoat (3R/2H) and I’m impressed. Little to no bubbles during the mixing process and it goes on and finishes clear as glass. Like most have experienced the curing times are a fair amount longer than other epoxy finishes but the end result is worth the wait.

  54. Nathan S. (verified owner) –

    Simply on a whole other level, no messing around just mix it and apply it with no worries

  55. Steve Rose (verified owner) –

    Easy to apply, ultra clear

  56. Gary R (verified owner) –

  57. Anonymous (verified owner) –

    Haven’t had a chance to use the CrystalCoat yet but look forward to using it on a couple of rods I plan on building this Winter. Shipping was super fast and I’m happy with the customer service from CTS. Thank you.

  58. Heinz-Josef (verified owner) –

    The first test was excellent

  59. Ernie B. (verified owner) –

    What an awesome experience! Great communication, same day shipping, and an amazing product. What more could you ask for?

  60. Gary K. (verified owner) –

    This product performs slightly differently then other rod coating but be patient and enjoy the stunning results.

  61. Anonymous (verified owner) –

    good stuff

  62. Paul McRoberts (verified owner) –

  63. Joseph (verified owner) –

  64. M. L. (verified owner) –

    amazingly fast shipment to CA

  65. Mark Talmo, via RodBuilding.org (store manager) –

    When I started rod building some 4 years ago, the tackle store I purchased my “start-up kit” from only sold ProKote so that is what I used. It has always worked well, both regular and high build, and I had no reason to change. With a few years experience, I decided to experiment with other popular brands that you other builders use and speak highly of, and discovered that while each may have subtle differences, all were quite similar. The most common among all of them is the yellowing of the hardener in the bottle as well as the cured epoxy over time which is the same as with the structural epoxies I had been using for 30 years and with which I was more familiar.
    Enter Crystal Coat by CTS and imported by one of our own, Herb Ladenheim. Even though Norman Miller spoke so highly of it, I hesitated to try it simply because it is more expensive than the others. But now I am glad to have tried it as I consider Crystal Coat to be superior to all the others. The benefits noticed are; 1.) It truly is water-clear and has remained so since received, 2.) It mixes very easily, thanks to Norman’s 3R / 2H volume ratio, and is actually difficult to introduce bubbles while mixing, 3.) The thin viscosity assures full, deep penetration, 4.) The pot life is very long allowing an entire rod of many wraps to be coated at one time, even for someone as slow as me, 5.) It flows-out astoundingly, impeccably well, 6.) Bubbles, if they even exist at all, release astoundingly and impeccably well. Not only does CC perform better in these respects than any of the other brands tried, it does so by a huge margin.
    There may be a price to pay other than the price itself, though. As for the price, yes, it is a fair amount more expensive than the others, but in this case, you get what you pay for. Additionally, if one factors-in how many wraps / rods can be built from one kit, it is doubtful CC will cost 50 cents more per rod, an extremely small price to pay a superior product. There are two factors which may be unappealing to some though; 1.) The thin viscosity may require an additional coat, possibly even two, if a deep, high build coating is desired, 2.) With the extended pot life also comes an extended cure time. Personally, these two issues are of little concern to me but I can appreciate others’ priorities may be different.
    The mix ratio, by volume, of CC (3R/2H) falls somewhere between common, typical, for-the-masses epoxies (1R/1H) and application-specific structural/laminating epoxies (basically 4R/1H). This indicates to me “Them Aussies” did their homework to come-up with something at least different, possibly better. The ability to slightly alter the ratio to produce a harder or softer result is also a nice feature and could be considered one of the six attributes above.
    Admittedly, I am playing “Doubting Thomas” on the yellowing-in the-sun issue. If CC does not yellow while exposed to the elements and bombarded by UV, then it will be the first epoxy I have encountered to not yellow or chalk-out. Considering how truly clear CC is, especially the hardener, if any epoxy is capable of not yellowing, it might just be this one. Even if it does eventually yellow, I doubt it will be to the extent of the others. One way of the other, I consider it a small price to pay for an outstanding product.
    In conclusion, thank you CTS for the product, Herb Ladenheim for supplying it, and Norman Miller for giving all of us an easy, volume mix ratio. My only suggestion (other than supplying me for free) is to color-code the writing on the bottle and cap differently for the resin and hardener to avoid confusion as do most other brands of epoxy of all types.

  66. Anonymous (verified owner) –

  67. Peter J. (verified owner) –

    a bit tricky to measure, but very high quality finish – easy to apply and super clear.

  68. Justin (verified owner) –

    Beautiful easy to use coat, but does take longer to cure than other epoxy brands. However, well worth the results especially after several coats.

  69. Graeme McIntyre (verified owner) –

    The rod wrapping finish was easy to mix and apply and has given a great finish to the bindings. The time taken for the epoxy to go tacky was longer than expected, 10 to 12 hours, but this may have been due to the ambient temperature.

  70. Ian Miller (verified owner) –

  71. Cory (verified owner) –

    Very clear with no air bubbles. Thinner than other finishes but goes on well

  72. CHAUVET Pierre (verified owner) –

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