I’ve never worked with Epoxy before and I was considering using it on a board this winter. My question is in regard to the hot and gloss coats with epoxy. Does epoxy require the addition of wax/hardener for these coats or does epoxy always dry and harden tack-free? Also, what epoxies do any of you gurus recommend? I was considering West Systems (high availability in Great Lakes region, no shipping) but would order cross country under strong suggestion by someone who knew their stuff to use another type. Thank you. Dex
“I’ve never worked with Epoxy before and I was considering using it on a board this winter. My question is in regard to the hot and gloss coats with epoxy. Does epoxy require the addition of wax/hardener for these coats or does epoxy always dry and harden tack-free? Also, what epoxies do any of you gurus recommend? I was considering West Systems (high availability in Great Lakes region, no shipping) but would order cross country under strong suggestion by someone who knew their stuff to use another type. Thank you. Dex” No wax just additive F from resin research epoxy by Greg Loehr. email him at search the archives here on “resin research epoxy” for all the info you need to know
Hey Dex, we’re just getting finished assessing a bunch of different epoxies. We’ve used them all, Gougeon Bros, SB-112, Safe-T-Poxy, JeffCo, Hysol and Resin Research. We assessed the useability from the standpoint of a glasser but also how well they rode. By far the best epoxy in every category has been Resin Research. This material is surfboard specific and very user-friendly. Contact Greg Loehr at the email the guy previous has shown. We mostly do shortboards but also have done longboards with swirled color work and cutlaps. We even did epoxy pinlines and fin systems! Additive F is huge for making the board come out insane. We’re lucky enough to have an oven to cure the finished boards quicker and also have managed to get boards DONE (blank to ready-to-sand) in under eight hours. Lastly, in cold environments, we have found that microwaving the product helps just prior to using; it really thins it out like water. Careful, you must measure the temp with an infrared pyrometer so you don’t get too hot (above 90degF) or the stuff will go off too quick… Hope this helps.