I saw some videos on it and I couldn’t believe it. They laminated a board with it and just threw it out in the sun for 5 minutes and the resin cured completely. Do a lot of shapers use this stuff? I heard its real affordable too. Are there any downsides to it?
I’ve used the vinylester version of it quite a bit. It does kick that fast and unlike MEKP catalyzed resins it gets a lot closer to the hard cure right off the bat because there is no evaporation. I like the VE because it’s a fair bit stronger than the polyester.
can you put it over EPS?
My understanding is no… you can’t use it over EPS, as it also contains styrene.
I’ve never laminated a whole board with it, but I have done major repairs, like snapped boards and major delams. Works well enough for that, but I don’t know about long term results with it being used in board construction.
Yes, alot of shapers (glassers) use UV cure resin. It is very popular especially with clear glass jobs. Dark Tints/Opaques won’t cure w/o adding catalyst to the mix.
No, you definitely can’t use it over EPS, UNLESS you seal the EPS blank with something to protect it. Solarez makes a “zerovoc” sealer that works but I’ve heard mixed reviews on yellowing. You could also laminate with Epoxy and hot coat/gloss with UV Cure polyester resin. Just make sure your lam is completely sealed. No holes to the blank.
I just heard that Greenlight is now stocking Solarez Polyester in pints/quarts for us East Coasters. Cheaper/faster than Epoxy but not as strong. Does probably sand/gloss better, though.
For PU blanks my favored combo is VE lams and fills, and PE just for the finish. No drama and there aren’t any adhesion issues with the Solarez brand of VE, although I’ve heard some other VEs don’t play nice with other resins. You still get that nice ride and the hard finish, and you don’t have to worry about the foam shrinking. I used it over my bamboo veneers (bagged on w/ epoxy) and didn’t have any trouble with adhesion. The next time I do veneers with a PU blank I might even try a catalyzed VE for bagging the veneer on the blank. The VE is literally just a few dollars a gallon more than the PE resin.
The VE has significantly better flex than the PE, so it takes more to snap it. So far I’ve never had a VE board break. It’s also a little lighter and supposedly puts out fewer VOCs. I don’t anticipate ever doing another PE glass job.