In an earlier post, I described having good saturation in my lam but “still having a roughish texture and the weave pattern visible” after the sandcoat. Have any other epoxy users come across this when using 6oz – a couple of posts in the archives suggested that this was not that uncommon with 6oz. I was working outdoors and it was around 80-82, which may have ontributed to the epoxy being more fluid.
Anyway, just curious for my next steps to move forward - Should I light sand, do another hotcoat, sand normal, and then gloss - My concerns are it will be too heavy. Or, just normal sand and gloss - Concerned there not enough sandcoat/bufer (hitting weave) and the board will be weak.
In retrospect, maybe I should have cut back on additive F at that temp??
I’m having similar issues with 4 oz It’s like the epoxy fill coat is so thin that clings to the contours of the fibres in the laminated surface (I only put 200ml on each side of a 9’6") I have given it a light sand today trying not to hit the weave and will put another fill coat on tomorrow.
I would keep to the correct amount of add-f , 1 cc per oz of hardener, doubled when glossing/hotcoating. 80-82 degrees is not that warm and should allow the resin to flow well, it is 95 where I am and have no problems. If you are still seeing weave don’t sand,add another filler coat/hotcoat then sand it down, then gloss if ready. For your first board I would not be concerned with weight, more with a good water tight lamination and a smooth finish.When you are done, throw it on a scale and you will see you are not far off other boards of similar dimensions/construction. Have fun…peace and waves…
I’m going to follow that - Will I need to light sand this present coat since it will be well past 24 hours or can I just wipe it with alchohol? Also what grit can I stop sanding at when I’m prepping for the gloss coat?
Thanks for helping last week too - making a chose between this and polyester. I’m, really glad I went with Resin Research epoxy. A lot of pros for using epoxy - especially for a first timer. Really, really simplistic stuff…
No sanding is necessary, just rough it up a bit with a scotchbrite pad a little. That is what G.L told me, he said to rough it up with the pad a little, but even that was not really crucial to the adhesion of the next coat. I do it that way and have had no problems. I usually go to 120grit before a gloss coat,but have done it over 80grit with no problems or scratches showing through. Maybe a gloss expert will chime in and say whether you can go to a higher grit. I love the epoxy too,easy to use and super low fumes, not to mention tough as nails…peace and waves…
With RR epoxy you double the amount of additive F when hotcoating or glossing, they are the same mix. For glossing/hotcoating you add 2cc of F for every ounce of hardener used. When you laminate you just use 1cc per oz. So , yes…just another layer…with double the F…
Thanks O23 I’m going to have to search the forums on this additive F and research resins and availability in Oz I have currently been using a resin called bote cote.
It itrests me to hear all the talk of hot coating etc with epoxy,Ive never used polyester so I am not that familiar with polyester methods
All the boards that I have built (around 20) I have laid the cloth down squeegied it gently,I find if you are to hard it foams.
After this I use the same system that I have used on boats
When the resin has just about tacked off I squeegie o filler coat on ,that way there is no problem with bond or amine blush
From there once every thing is cured I simply sand with a large diameter random disk 120 grit down to 600 wetndry if I want a glossie finish I wetndry with 800 then 1000 then hit it with the buffer,it comes up shinier than a car duco
This finish stays glossie for years and if you need to do a repair simply do the same then buff it and you are back to that purfect shine again
I’ve also read that others too are putting the fillcoat on at the lam’s slightly tacky stage with good results. It might even be the preffered method??
I did experience a little foaming as you mention and backed off with the squeegee. I think it’s just that ‘polyester rush’ I need to get over. The best exp I had was with the laps - since it was my first time at them, it was really great having all that time to adjust and compensate.
Whenever doing any kind of work with epoxy, it’s always best to apply new epoxy over cured-but-still-soft epoxy. It’s the only way to get a chemical bond between layers. But sometimes this just isn’t possible, so you gotta sand.
Sabs, Sounds like an exellent idea and would speed things up a bit. If you lam the bottom first then fill coat do you lam the deck and wrap the glass over the rail and onto the bottom which already has filler on it?
I’ve had similar problems with weave showing after hotcoating, however not as extreme as described here and only on the rails. I glass in much lower tempratures though. What I’ve done to prevent this is letting the resin sit in the pot ‘a little while’ and thicken after I add the hardener so the resin is a little thciker when I brush it on. It seems to work well for me, but I’m not sure that it’s a good idea. It might weaken the hotcoat for all I know(Greg?). And you have to be careful and not wait too long or the pot will start smoking…
Yes I generally sand/surform the bottom lap to a feather edge ,also when fill coating the bottom I stop along the rail where the top lap will come down to.
Then when doing the deck the fill coat goes over the lap to join with the bottom.
Peelply
I have used this many times its very good, with peel ply you can lam the bottom squeege slightly more resin on than normal,then apply the peel ply allow enough to go round the lap smooth it out with your squeege.
Now turn the board over even though the bottom has no cured yet as long as your supports are soft an have reasonable width it wont leave any mark.
Now lam the deck as per the bottom,when you get to the lap because it is still wet you can peel the ply down enough to wrap the deck cloth over then put the ply back over.
You can now peel ply the deck ,when you get to the lap put a thin amount of resin over the top of the bottoms peel ply,this will help the top ply stick to the bottom peel ply.
With this method you can pull and fair the whole lap with the peel ply so it wont need sanding after
Even the hard edges at the back of the board ,the wraped peel ply will hold down almost any thing
Now if you put just the right amount of resin on before peel plying you will not need any fill coat just sand with 240 etc till you reach your finish
If however when you peel the ply off you find some weave spots just fill them only
As long as you do this with in 12 to 24 hours no sanding will be required as the ply will remove any amine blush and leave a good key
Over 24 hours you should give it just a light scuff
So there you go the whole board done in one go -lots of fun
I’ve just laminated the bottom of my board with West Sytems Epoxy, a 5-1 mixture, slow setting. I realised I’ve put the resin on too thick and am currently sanding out all the highs and lows with 180 wet and dry without water.
Going to glass the deck with 2 layers 4 oz. I’ll probably have to do some sanding on that as well. After I’ve done that I’m planning on putting a gloss coat using the same epoxy as the laminate.
Is a squegee the go for this layer or can I use a brush or roller. Any advice from the gods of glass.
We used to use West (with glass) for everything including finish coats, and you can brush or roller it easily. I have never found squeegees much good except when applying the cloth. With West you can expect a nice satin gloss but not a high gloss. Also West isn’t that good with sunlight, so when it is all finished if you polish it with a good uv resistant car polish it helps the resin life enormously. If you find that it’s taking forever to sand that stuff back (it gets very hard!) then you can get into it with 60 grit if you are careful.
It is a good idea to get the next layer on within a day or two or sooner so that the layers bond together. When rollering with a foam roller don’t be too vigorous or you will entrain air bubbles and the resin will go creamy looking. If you get exotherming bubbles you can carefully ‘tip off’ the layer with a new foam roller, just as the resin is at the right stage of tackiness. For finish coats remember to do them in the evening, this will mean that the atmosphere is cooling which will prevent an exothermic bubbly mess! With foam rollers you can do many micro thin coats, like a few pumps on the whole board, wet sanding in between.
Hello Hicksy, No, you want a bunch of foam rollers. They are common at paint shops. If you have a short roller frame you can cut the roller in half and save resin and money (rollers are disposable and $8 each) For rails, or if you are really frugal, they can be cut into one inch sections. Some roller frames handle small pieces better than others, there are a few different designs around. Also, do what I hardly ever remember to do and take your used piece of foam roller off the frame while it is still wet, or you will need heavy machinery to get it off the next morning. Are you managing to get those resin bumps off with 180? when I have tried 180 for that kind of a job I end up with bulging arms and a bunch of polished bumps. If you are fairing the surface, rough paper and a gentle touch is better (and faster) than heroic polishing with fine grits. Roy