Cutting Laps on Tinted Resin

General Discussion
1

Have had great luck cutting tinted lam laps because I was using UV lam resin. While not a deep tint, the UV worked fine. And letting the side towards the sun bake a little allows you to flip the board for an easy lam lap cut because the laps side hasn’t been hit as much from the sun.

But if I want to go with a real deep tint or opaque, it means using catalyst, of course. If I wait to flip the board as usual, then the lap cut side will be too fully cured for cutting the laps. I guess I wait until everything just starts to gel? Flip and cut? Still use wax paper on the racks so the flipped side won’t stick? I also guess that you have to cut the laps pretty fast at this point, since it’s a run with the clock.

Also, at what tint level will UV resin not work? Any guaging on this? All the tints I’ve done so far were light. Does a medium tint warrant catalyst or will UV still work? It’s impportant because who wants a resin tint that will never cure. I guess, when in doubt, always use catalyst? Do you use less catalyst if the UV resin is involved, using the sun too? If using the sun, will the resin kick way faster because of the added catalyst?

2

Hi Liki,

I always use catalyst when I use pigment whether it is light or dark just to make sure I get a complete cure. I don’t use as much Cat. as I would if I were not using UV. Still gives me plenty of time to saturate glass and get my laps before pop it into the sun.Why take a chance? Also,I have not forgotten your template. Try to put it together this weekend. Mike

3

Not a UV laminater, but masking tape keeps the resin from setting up anytime soon, as long as you leave it on. Most times, you have up to 4 hours to easily cut, even if the flat surfaces set in 20 minutes.

4

That’s good reasoning Liki. Use some catalyst, it doesn’t have to be near the normal ammount maybe 1/2 your normal proportion or less. I don’t use polyester much anymore, but when I did most was UV cure. Just run a pigment test with some scraps of foam. When doing swirls and stripes the UV cured resins can really give you an edge in perfecting your technique and quality of lam.

Tom S.