Wow, what a mess.
I am glassing my first SUP (first anything really). It went about as bad as it could.
I laid the glass on my board, trimmed it nicely, leaving about 2" of lap beyond the rails, cutting slits where necessary (at the pointy end and at the back end where there’s a tight radius).
I mixed up a big batch of RR Kwik Kick: 32oz of resin, 16oz hardener, some random amount of Additive F.
I started laying on the epoxy. Problem #1: I could not get the laps fully wetted and laying down nicely. And this while getting epoxy ALL OVER the place. I had a little trouble just getting the rails fully wetted and pressed down.
Then I noticed my epoxy was getting warm. And THEN I noticed my bucket of epoxy was smoking. This worried me, so I took it down to the end of the driveway. I tried to pour some into a cup but it was already hard, like 15 minutes after mixing.
I pulled the glass off the board and scraped off the epoxy, and the board is in good shape.
So what exactly did I do wrong? How can I get it right next time?
Maybe this first timer should have used a nice slow epoxy and not that KK stuff?
What about the laps - what’s the secret to getting them wetted out and lay down nicely? Should I maybe first brush some epoxy under the lap - on the board?
I now know I can’t put 48oz of mixed epoxy in a single bucket. What’s the biggest batch size that’s safe? Should I mix a big batch and break it up into smaller cups, or should I mix little batches as I go? If I mix little batches, wouldn’t I have a problem with the last section I was working on hardening while I mix the epoxy for the next section?
Believe it or not, I read lots of stuff and watched that Keahana Glassing Manual carefully, taking lots of notes. I’m not generally stupid.
So have a good laugh, maybe share some fond memories of your first time, but please help me figure this out.
Thanks.
Lee