Lots of questions about clear coat over the last few years etc. it seems everybody here thinks it’s witchcraft, or a long laborious process? so I thought I’d take a few pictures of the materials I use in my set up for shiny EPS boards. It’s all done outside under the old Magnolia shaping tree. There is no reason why an EPS board can not be as pretty as a poly board…too a point…just saying.
I start with a colored board basic stuff, no art work. I lay the artwork down in either acrylic paint, or automotive laquer. using krylon paint sometimes wrinkles up from the stuff in the clear coat.
All mixing is done by weight in disposable quality sprayer liners. When done i just throw out the liner, and clean the nozzle with a little laquer thinner…very simple and fast.
Matching mandals and spray mask is optional. But please wear a mask and suit when spraying anything…anything
Any high quality high build 2 pak clear coat works well. that could be UPOL etc. in this instance I used High Tech, because it had flames on the packaging…that’s what sold me.
The yellow board in the bottom pic is the finished spray and buff out from a week ago. I tried to get a good angle so you can see the finish.
The material is lighter than gloss, because you put it on thinner than gloss. My goal is / was to get poly like apearance with the light weight high performance you can only get from EPS / Epoxy.
It’s a 2 part finish so it catalyzes like poly. Yes you can sand out the imperfections, but remember it’s a light thin coat, so you better have a proper prepped surface (320) grit. But In my opinion it’s more durable than gloss. 2 pack is an automotive finish that has had way more durability testing than poly gloss. Remember this is automotive industry stuff, it has to with stand sun, rain, bugs, small rocks, etc. to pass the muster.
Coats depend on what you have going on for art? Lots of ridgeline from art work will need 2 coats. if its just a clear board you can do it in one. It all depends on your skill set with a spray gun.
Out of the can pictured I have sprayed and 8’8", 7’9", 6’9", and a 6’5"
Sure. It works on fiberglass, metal, wood, plastic…etc. it’s a floor wax and a desert topping.
I use it to cover the dings and scratches on my wifes cars bumper…Just tape it off and shoot a clear coat, it hide all the scratches as long as they are not down to the paint. I resprayed the engine cover of the seal slayer 2000 so it looked all new. I got rattle cans of Johnson /Evnrude white…then covered with auto clear coat, then put a new 20$ sticker from ebay on the beast. .I think that time i used UPOL rattle can fo that job…UPOL can is pretty easy.
Ive been looking into this a lot recently. I just got a compressor for graduation, and im hoping to jump into this. I already purchased a great regulator and filter, what would you recommend as a good gun? Im not looking to spend too much on it. Max 100$.
I use a 3M gun, but then I always use quality 3M products. But I have a cheapo Habor Frieght gun that atomizes well with thin material, shoots clear coat pretty good. I’d just make sure its a HVLP gun becuase then you won’t throw material all over the place, and you can get away at lower PSI. Get one thats easy to handle, you don’t need a giant gun if you are only spraying surfboards. I think i paid like $30 for the harbor freight one?
ResinHead, love it. Such nice work on the pinlines. I dabbled in UPOL way back and had mixed results but your yellow board is beautiful. I am doubling back for another try.
So you started at 500 grit? and on to what? then polish?
I’ve been doing the concrete sealer thing with a matte fiinsh. But I would love to try gloss again. Any further tips will be cut and pasted into my notebook. thx
I’ve been using the upol spray can to finish ding repairs for a little while now. blends in pretty good when using it on a gloss finished board, also blends in good on sanded finish boards too if you use some scotch brite on it.
The shiny toes is a clear coat from Revlon…just saying. I also keep my toes open so they can breath. You should know that.
Jrandy: I sand the boards hotcoat down to 320. I run through the grits 100, 220, then 320. Once i get to 320, then I can lay the pinlines down with out any bleed through or sanding scratches bleed. Also just like a car clear coat, the finish must be smooth to 320, that way any left over scratches won’t show up. The scratches at 320 will fill up wih the clear coat and buff out. You need to make sure your sand job is flat and true, if not the clear coat will show any imperfection. There is no layer of fill to sand down like a poly gloss, it’s a very thin coat of material.
Greg: (once in a while I’ll start at 400 if I layed down a crappy orange peely, over sprayed finish) 500 sponge is the go to most of the time.,then I use 3M perfect It with the black foam pad, then if needed I use the 3M perfect It Ultra with a blue pad. The Ultra is used to take swirl marks in dark colored cars left from some polishes…I know you have seen them, you know the car…some fancy BMW or MBZ with swirl marks that show up when the sun hits it just right…from some dirty ape of a polisher. Ultra Perfect It takes all that BS out. . I really don’t see the need to take the grits down beyond 500. The liquid polishes do a lot of work taking out scratches and making it shiney.
As long as the finish is hard and cured, 500 grit doesn’t leave an scratches. Biggest problem is getting contamination mixed in with the 500 grit, ie, little rocks, bits of wood. ants that jump from the Magnolia tree etc. But harder surfaces are harder to scratch, so let it cure real good for the polish out.
You can throw away the nozzle, the liner, and the top. I throw out the liner and the top. The top has a built in strainer, so you just pour the material in and shoot. never gets any chunks or boogers. The only junk comes from airborne stuff, or ants that leap to there death from the Magnolia…Strange phenomena the jumping ants.
Some day when I grow up I’ll have a shop. I’ll post up some pics of the gun and liner etc…
