I got asked how I did the polishing on this board and I have gotten so much information out of this forum that its about time I contribute something to it. ( By the way this is how I do it, I am a backyard hack not a proffesional)
After the hotcoat I try to get everything as smooth as possible (without going into the weave) easier said than done… I just leave it at 60 grit no need to go higher, tape the rails and you are ready for glossing, before I used to use Denatured Alcohol to clean the board to remove any oils but after I learned this next step I found that it is totally unnecesary (You can still use the D.N.A. just be sure its a good brand “Klean-Strip” worked for me). I do the gloss in a two step process;
First Glossing Step
For this board i measure about 2 oz of resin and heat it up by putting the cup of resin in boiling water (boil the water and take it off the stove and go outside, dont heat the resin in the kitchen like i use to do…) REMEMBER TO DRY THE CUP OF RESIN OR WATER DROPLETS WILL GET ON THE BOARD. Using a squeegee spread this resin on the board (like really press it in there) move the resin all around the board, it doesnt matter if it gets white or fills up with bubbles you are going to take this resin off after anyway, after you are pretty sure you have abused that resin enough start taking it off, try to remove as much as possible with the spreader (remember that the contaminants are in that batch).
Second Glossing Step
Mix about 6 oz of resin and heat it up just a little bit, just to get it a bit more runny (dont heat it as much as the resin in the first step, heating it up too much will cause the resin to flow a bit too well leaving some spots with thin layers of gloss), let the resin stand so that the majority of the bubbles leave, ( I use a really slow resin about 8 hour cure time, thats becuase i live in Puerto Rico, lots of humidity and rain… with slow resins you dont have to worry about blush and for a hack like me more working time is better),AGAIN REMEMBER TO DRY THE RESIN CUP OR WATER WILL GET ON THE BOARD. I use foam brushes, I know this is blasphemy I know how all you guys love them bristle brushes, I just hate taking the hairs off becuase no matter how much I clean the brushes they always leave hair in the gloss… anyway foam brushes work perfectly for me, now put all that resin in the board and spread it slowly so that you dont cause frothing, I just gloss how I learned here lengthwise, from rail to rail and crossed, then I wait about ten minutes to let the bubbles that are going to form show up and go over with a propane torch (Its fast passes with the torch dont put it up close) and leave it alone, dont look at it, dont think about it just go away, I know the temptation to “fix” some parts just go awaaay!
Polishing Step
Glossing is done, I usually wait about two or three days before polishing so that the resin gets really hard. If you did it right I assure you wont have any fish eyes or craters and you wont have many bubbles, now fighting of the bugs getting into the resin I still cant figure that one out… Depending on how well the glossing came out its the grit you will use, I usually start at 320 grit if you see slow progress lower the grit (the idea here is to remove most of the sheen) this is the long part, look up every grit known to man, this was my grit schedule for this board Wet or Dry for all of the grits (220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500), this couple of tips is going to make this easier for you, tape up your finger tips because you are going too bleed, ok maybe im exagerating a bit but the tape on finger tips helps, now put the sandpaper you are going to use in a bucket with water and dishwash, this will soften up the sandpaper, now start sanding your heart away, use straight movements, circular motion is a big NO, just be sure too sand all the board with that grit before moving up and remember always have the board and sandpaper wet and a bit of soap. I im sure a proffesional can do this 2 hour job in about 10 minutes with a polisher, I just dont have the skill to use the polisher so its all elbow grease for me. When you reach 2500 grit you are almost there, clean the board remove any soap then dry it, its time for the polishing compound, I swear by “Meguiars Ultimate Compound” trust me if you can use this product it will amaze you, just follow the instructions this is what really gives that beautiful shine to the board, then wax the board up and you are finished!
I am not a proffesional maybe some of you dont agree with me on some things but this is what works for me for getting a nice shine using epoxy, dont be intimidated by epoxy you can get a beautiful shine with it.