In my previous thread I mentioned fisheyes in my epoxy gloss coat.
The reality is they are merely zits…
So in the sake of helping make the forum user friendly (i.e. searchable under this topic) , starting a quick new thread to see what the general consensus is on how to get a nice finish on epoxy after sanding down the zits (without using any other coats of resin, etc.)
I started with 220, then went to wetsanding with 500, 1000, 1200 silicon carbide paper (Harbor Freight). Tried waxing with Turtle wax to see what would happen. Still a rather dullish finish. (I just did one small section of the tail so the rest of the board is still really shiny, albeit with some zits and pimples).
Any recommendations on how to make it shine?
– Wipe some Future floor finish?
– A different kind of buffing compound?
– other ideas?
(I wouldn’t be that overly concerned about it as I think the board looks pretty good as is… but I’m taking the board to California soon and will be showing it to / surfing with a buddy who once told me that shaping a surfboard is “too hard” – so I want it to look as good as possible – yes, so I can gloat a bit — and of course more importantly hoping it rides well too! )
Everyone on Swaylock’s seems to agree that 3M makes the best tape. I use 3M tape. 3M also makes other great products like sand paper and buffing compound.
You have sanded your board well and now need to buff it out. Have you considered using other 3M products? Look in the phone book for Auto Body Repair supply stores. Who sells stuff to the guys that fix cars? Call around. I like the 3M buffing compounds but there’s lots of good stuff out there.
I have color sanded and buffed many, many cars. I cannot get epoxy to shine or hold a shine like polyester resin or automotive finish.
Yes, you can buff out epoxy but it’s not the same…
I’m very happy with RR epoxy resin. 220 grit finish is just fine with me…
You can’t get that sexy high gloss with epoxy… yet. But I’ll bet Greg’s working on it!
I think it has to do with the fact that it has a different molecular structure, reflectivity, etc. Just a different compound with different physical properties. It just only gets so shiny… not matter how much you sweat over it.
No, you can’t get the polish like poly, but on the bright side, poly will never polish as well as optical glass! But you can get close with epoxy…just takes more vurk…
Next time, follow a closer grit progression, and use good paper, the HF stuff I’ve found breaks down way too quickly. Put it this way: to fine grind/polish a telescope mirror after you have a rough ‘shape’, you follow this grit progression: 120, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, then polishing, which takes hours, for an 8" diameter mirror, around 6 hours…but these are the finest surfaces made by the hands of man… For polishing plastics, like polycarbonate aircraft windshields, the grit progression goes much higher before polishing, 3600+ grit before using a compound and buffer. For a surfboard, you can stop anywhere between 1200-2000 grit, and switch to a rubbing compound, most of which are the equivalent of 2000-3000 grit, but they leave a finer finish than the equivalent paper. Polishing compounds are even finer…
The finer paper you use before rubbing, the less time you spend rubbing…
If you’re serious about gloating, consider the gloss epoxy that maxmercy used in a recent thread. That board came out looking unreal!
Another thing that I’ve read about is spraying the finished board with 2-part automotive clear coat. Major shine, and it adds UV protection in some cases. Might be worth some searches in the archives…
Hey Matt, I’ll probably see you before you read this…so for reference purposes, I’m with etmo. A 2 pac will give you a shine like on this tank, my auto body clients tell me they can spray over epoxy, however, it wasn’t inexpensive to prep and paint a board. Might be worth checking a custom car/bike painter in your area for future gloating.
just not sure which brand…