I was wondering in anybody has used accelerator additive X-55. Or knows of another way to get epoxy to set up faster.
My fill coats stay wet for too long and I would like to speed things up.
I saw a mention of this accelerator (x-55) in the archives but know nothing about it.
…and by “decreasing” you mean “increasing” right?
*edit…hmm, i see what you mean, i guess it would be a decrease…
decrease the length of time until full cure…i guess it would be the process of curing of resin that would increase, not time… ahhh, now i’m just confusing myself…hahahaha
Yeah, increasing. I guess. When I read what I had posted I was confused by it.
I want the cure to take less time. Decrease? Increase the rate of cure?
I spend alot of time confused while trying to learn this art of making surfboards.
Temperature has alot to do with it too. Figuring that’s not a problem though…you being in FL?
Shouldn’t be a problem. I did a fill coat at 10AM, the temp was 70F exactly.
The resin stayed too tacky to pull the tape til after a surf. Around 2:00 PM.
Is that normal?
I did a fill coat that never hardened a few weeks ago and I’ve become very cautious of mixing correctly.
I’m sure it was an exact mix.
You want to speed things up, right?
Where I’m living we had high temp of 60 and lows in the 30s. I’m working outdoors and even with a cure box I’m using the accelerator X-55. Overnight cure leaves me a workable material the next day so I’m not setting any speed records.
I was told to use no more than 6%. The MDSD indicates it is some serious stuff. You might think twice if you are glassing indoors or not wearing a mask.
Hey,
RR epoxy right?
4 hours at 70 degrees F could still be a bit tacky.
Once you hit 6 hours and it’s still tacky I’d worry a bit.
If it’s over night and still tacky then you have a problem.
Def make sure you mix properly. I measure well, and stir 200 times.
Probably overkill but have never had a bad batch.
Later
Rick.
I am an epoxy idiot. That being said, I found that by waiting for 5-10 minutes (including stirring…in fact, I might have stirred the for 5, then waited 5), I would get a manageable exotherm which wouldn’t be problematic once I poured the resin on the board. This seemed to help it harden up faster without accelerator. However, if you have enough time to go for a surf between flips, I would say that sounds perfect!
–BCo
I am an epoxy idiot. That being said, I found that by waiting for 5-10 minutes (including stirring…in fact, I might have stirred the for 5, then waited 5), I would get a manageable exotherm which wouldn’t be problematic once I poured the resin on the board. This seemed to help it harden up faster without accelerator. However, if you have enough time to go for a surf between flips, I would say that sounds perfect!
–BCo
I’d be very, very careful with that method. Me being an epoxy idiot too, I’ve tried to do something similar in particular to make the sand coat on the rails to thicken/go tacky fast enough not to run/drip off the rails. It worked as intended, but the little that was left in the paper cup (very, very little) started smoking…
regards,
Håvard
Fill coats take longer because they’re so thin and there’s not enough volume to get up any real exotherm. Accelerator works great, but will only cut your cure time by about 30 minutes. I’ve used in the lam, too, with better results, but unless you have help you could run into some problems at the very end due to the fact that you have to slow down the whole process when using epoxy.
BTW… don’t be afraid to flip it when it’s still tacky. It can be still tacky when it’s firm enough to flip. Just put down some waxed paper on the rack. If it sticks, you can sand it right off. Just wait until you’re sure it’s set.
Check with the manufacturers. Most of them do a fast hardener and some an ultra fast hardener. Don’t rush a good thing! Epoxy is SO much better than polyester, be patient and let it do it’s stuff, the results are worth waiting for…
Use RR 1980 for hotcoating. It’s quite viscous and makes hotcoats come out a little thicker.
Thanks. I just looked at Fiberglass florida’s website and saw there are three hardener speeds.
I didn’t realize this.
I’ll try the 1980.
My problem is simply that I am a newbie. The resin seems to just run off the rails and I don’t get
a thick enough coat to sand.
I’m hoping a faster hardener will help with that?
I use a hot box, it gets up to about 45-50 celcius (sorry I don’t know Farenheit) hard and ready to flip in 2 hours. also after mixing your epoxy, let it stand for 10 mins to build up some exotherm. I use SB 112 epoxy.
cheers
Hey Riddim,
Bammbamm is on the mark for the easiest implementation of a thicker coat. You must realize, though, that the thicker resin will leave a thicker coat, which means you must use more material. Just use 1cc per oz of hardener of AddF. Have an extra batch of resin/hardener ready to mix in case you run out. DO NOT try to spread too little resin all over the board, that’s just asking for separations
JSS
DO NOT try to spread too little resin all over the board, that's just asking for separations
Not to mention an ugly burned/sanded through board!
Yeah, I found much more than 10 minutes and it gets a little dicey.
–BCo
Hey Riddim,
Like Shoelesspat, I’ve been using a hot box with good results. I basically made a box out of eps foam insulation that sits over the surfboard on the racks. I put a space heater under it and at 110 F for 2 hrs I can sand it.
Be careful letting your epoxy sit around. You’ll be walking a fine line between oooh yaaa and OH SH*T! I’ve poured beads of epoxy that way. Meaning that I poured it out and by the time it hit the board it didn’t change shape. No spreading, no saturation just a bead of hard silicone like epoxy.
Heat is the answer.
H
I was wondering in anybody has used accelerator additive X-55. Or knows of another way to get epoxy to set up faster.
My fill coats stay wet for too long and I would like to speed things up.
I saw a mention of this accelerator (x-55) in the archives but know nothing about it.
I use a cheap syringe to measure my Add-F and X-55. So fill coats get 1cc per ounce of total mixed resin. 6 oz. gets 6 cc’s of X-55. If it’s clear, dry and 85 degrees I can sand in just over an hour.
Remember that the X-55 is hydrochloric acid and even though it doesn’t have a strong odor you need to be careful in it’s use and handling. The RR website has the MSDS sheets on all their products and are advisable to read.