I’m planning on using it tomorrow on a 6’ fish and wondered if anyone has experience with it? Good or bad?
Sorry Greg, I didn’t have time to order R.R. from you.
Sr Pato
Howzit SrPato, Used it a couple of years back when repairing a racing canoe. Works good, the only thing I didn't like was how the hardener gets a dark color when exposed to environment and will discolor the epoxy if any of the it gets into the batch.But I think it's not the only epoxy that does this. I'm a poly guy.Aloha,Kokua
Thanks Kokua,
According to the guys in S.B. this is a new recipe and they’ve managed to eliminate alot of the old problems. It also has a fast cure of 20 minutes. Hmmmm…
Anyone else?
Sr Pato
Email or PM CMP (www.surfgear.cc)
he uses it exclusively and knows alot about it.
he can clue you in…
Crystal clear, easy to sand, easy to use. I love it. I use to use the old school RR and I gummed up about 1 in 5 boards. When I switched to FH 2:1 aluzine clear, I magicallly woke up and was able to sand without problems. To hear all the talk about additive F and RR its hard to believe I can even make boards with the FH brand. You have 20-30 minutes if your ambient temp is below 70F. The long cure hardener will discolor, but I never use it for the fiberglassing portion, only for vacuum bagging wood on the top part of the board. Color pigment just like polyester if applicable.
If you are just fiberglassing foam, no need to get the long pot life.
Whenever the new and improved RR gets to Hawaii I will give that product a go and me and oneula will give a detailed comparison. Much of a muchness or all that and a bag of chips??? Can’t wait to find out.
Thanks CMP,
I’ll be using it today with a light blue tint. The weather is supposed to be in the low 70’s and dry today which means my garage will be close to 80. I’ll post pics when it’s done.
Sr Pato
Howzit cmphawaii, R R epoxy is available here on Kauai, PM Rick Holt since he lives with the distributor for RR epoxy. Hope this helps. Aloha,Kokua
Thanks Kokua,
I have emailed the Oahu distributor, no response yet. I can’t wait to do a head to head comparison. It will be a randomized blinded study. The glasser and sander will not know what product they are using or sanding. I have heard only talk saying it’s great or no difference from FH brand. Looking forward to checking it out.
Ok, here’s the update. Sorry not photos yet. I’ll post em this weekend.
The weather was dry and warm in the afternoon. Garage temp about 77 - 80 degrees. I used the 2:1 ratio reducing the hardener by about an ounce. Warning: this is not enough in these conditions! The epoxy is much easier to work with compared to poly but the measurements have to be as precise as possible. Just to be safe, I mixed a combined total of 20 oz. for the bottom. The stuff spreads beautifully and is really nice to work with. Anyway, I glassed the bottom and was 3/4 of the way through rolling the lams when the bucket starting getting really hot. I poured some into a second container but it was already too hot. The first bucket started smoking and I had to put it out in the driveway just to feel safe. Then finished the laps with a little additional mix. All looked well aside from my mini volcanoe that got the mailman’s attention.
I checked back 3 hours later and lo & behold resin is dry but there are two strips of dry spots on the belly. What the??? How did I miss those? Oh Well, I’ll have to deal with it. One small issue though: there is a small dry bump in the glass about half the size of a dime. Almost like a mini delam. Is this a fisheye? I was going to sand it down and fill it with the hotcoat. Will this be ok?
Deck turned out great. Used 24 oz. for a 6/4 glass combo and it was plenty. This time I made sure that there were no dry spots and lowered the amount of hardener by a couple of ounces. It made it much more manageable for the current temp. I am very surprised at how easy it wets out a double lam. nice.
I’ll glass on the fins tonight and finish the hotcoat this weekend. Will post pics on Sunday.
Let me know if I’m on the right track with that “bump”
I can see how the amount of resin can be reduced. It just takes a little time to learn the qualities and quantities and I’m sure I can use less on my next board.
Thanks,
Sr Pato
I’m a little surprised that worked. Usually, you can’t mess with the resin-hardener ratios at all with epoxy and still get it to harden. Its not truly a thermal reaction like poly, where you control the speed by reducing the catalyst. It does get hot, but only because the chemical reaction is occuring in a small container.
The best way to reduce the heat is to pour it all out onto the board. Now that you’ve got an idea how much it takes for your cloth schedule, pour it all on. Move it to the sides, but not so close to the edges that it drips off. Then squeegee it in a pattern just like brushing a hotcoat - 45 degrees across the stringer, from one end to the other & then change to the other 45* and go back the other way. Then pull the resin thinner & out to saturate your rail cloth. Pull off any excess and then tuck your rails.
If you pour it all out, you’ll have twice as long before it gels - maybe 3 or 4 times as long - than you will if its in the bucket. But I wouldn’t change the ratios. I think you stepped through a propeller; you might get lucky, but I wouldn’t want to try it too often…
Thanks Benny I’ll take your advice.
I’ve wondered about how well it would work but, the guy at Fiberglass Hawaii said it’s better to put too little hardener than too much. so I figured “what the hell?”. I’ll be much more precise with the hotcoat. Luckily, the resin cured nicely and can be easily sanded.
Sr Pato