ive just had two seperate orders from friends wanting green tinted boards, ill be starting threads for them but just getting everything ready at the moment.
normally i would mix my tint/pigment with the resin then add the hardener but read a post in the archives that suggested mixing it with the hardener instead, any epoxy gurus care to shed some light on this for me?
im doing a 6’5 and a 9’6, both with surf source epoxy. 6’5 will be a US blank and the 9’6 will be a South Coast.both will probably be green bottom wrapping the rails to a cutlap with a clear deck.
This past winter I finished two green tints and a blue with epoxy and eps foam. I double sealed the blanks with epoxy and micro balloon mix to avoid uneven coloring of blank. worked Ok but not as good as an evenly sanded poly blank would of been. I have found that tints seemed to come out more even colored if done really light or really dark. any thing in the mid range tends to show a lot of dents, blotches etc that somewhat disappear with the lighter or darker tints.
I have been mixing the color in the resin before adding hardener. Recently I did the bottom lam of a board with blue pigment. I was going to add blue to the fill coat but forgot to add the pigment to the resin before adding the hardener. I thought I could just put the pigment in and it would get mixed in as I stirred the resin and hardener together. Big Mistake! The pigment wouldn’t mix in at all. Just formed little droplets of blue in the bottom of the cup. I had to pour it through a filter cone to get it out. Still got some little dark specks on the board.
I’ve always mixed my colors in a small cup with a small measured amount of resin until it was uniformly dissolved and the right tone was achieved. Then I add that color/resin mix to my resin bucket, and mixed it again, reserving some of the color mix on the side in case it looks too light. Then I mix in my hardener/Add F/X55.
The real issue is getting a smooth surface on the shaped blank. A couple coats of epoxy/microballoons is my choice. Takes more time than spackle, but give great results. Tape sticks to it better, too.
thanks for the responses guy’s, some good points there.
i should have said the two blanks are both PU. i got hooked with the extra time epoxy gives you and my last few boards have been done this way with very light tints and ive mixed straight into the resin with no problem but thought id check.
the longboard is for a friends 30th and some of our mates are paying for it, the deal is they are going to come round when its time to glass so they can help choose the right colour, im worried if it is a dark colour and i do something wrong it would not look good.
i have in my colours collection some mid green pigment(opaque) some translucent green and a green glass stain which im told will work!? not sure on that one, also have blues, yellows, reds and amber so plenty to play with!
njsurfer, if im only mixing a small bit of resin with my tint how will i know what it will be like once its diluted by the rest of the resin? also could i add a tiny bit of pigment to still keep it translucent?
once i have mixed it ill strain it through some tights so can see the advantage of only mixing it with a small amount of resin.
I mix the colors together with a bit of resin just to get the right color tone. Once I get the color I’m after, I’ll add about half to two thirds of that mix to my resin, and mix it up. It should be a bit darker than I want it when I smear it on a piece of white paper or scrap foam, because you still have to add the hardener. If it’s too light, add more color mix until it’s dark enough. Once you get it right, add the hardener and mix it all together. If you mess up, and it’s still too light, take your remaining color mix and throw it in to darken it up.
Recall that you measured the amount of resin you used to mix with your color, so you know how much hardener you have to add to get the right 2:1 ratio.
Oh yea… and you should be using the UV inhibitor in the epoxy if you’re using pu foam… the blue stuff. You can also do an opaque, and that will help block a lot of the UV. And yes, a tiny bit of pigment will still allow it to stay relatively translucent.
i mixed my tints for expoxy this way. i add tint,hardener,x55,add F all togeather until i get the color the way i want it. usually i do black or white so i add enough color to make it so its opaque. then i add the resin. mixing it for 2-3 minutes. i havent had a problem yet.
ill keep you posted and let you know how i get on.
i think my surf source epoxy does have the uv inhibitor in it as it is bluish in colour. also as im in the uk ive never seen it on any of my supplier lists. ill ask them next time i phone.
Alway mix any pigment in after both epoxy and hardener are thoroughly mixed. If you’re doing a single color board, weigh out your pigment in a small 3 oz. cup and record the weight for the other side (using the same amount of resin/hardener of course). If you’re still measuring everything by volume, get a scale. They’re less than $20 at HF and you’ll never regret it. Also, it’s hard to get an even tint on EPS with light colors. I always mix about 1/4 opaque pigment with the lighter tints to help this. Works good on poly boards also, keeps the UV fading down.