Is anyone familiar with Solarez dual-cure polyester resin for glassing purposes? I'm getting ready to build a 11' 6" hollow-core cedar SUP. I've used 2-part expoxy from Raka in the past and was considering something different.
Why not use an epoxy again? Are you just sealing the blank or actually using cloth? The only tough part about using the UV cure on big boards is that you either have to have a UV light set up or you have to move the big sucker out into the light which can get old quick.
I've have it and use it. Awesome product. I like it's cured hardness. Why use Solarez? -The stuff cures in 3 minutes in the sun down to 20 below zero. Perfect for speed and wintertime lam & glass projects–especially if you live in an area with a high UV index. If you live in Seattle, maybe not the best product (unless you go the tanning lamp route). Their zeroVOC UV epoxy is pricey, but worth it's weight in gold for skinning EPS blanks with fusion plys, preps EPS for poly UV resin lams. Maybe splitting hairs in the end with time lost w/ traditional epoxy and heating costs vs. the money paid for Solarez resin.
Traditional epoxy hot coating cures that are still tacky after 2 hours makes me ask why I like torture; dirt and dust in my coatings, not for me anyone. With Solarez, you can re-bottle what's not used and NO mixing. Fast. I can attest my own quality has gone up while saving time. Hard to argue with that. Less cure time limits exposure to chemicals, and the Solarez stuff is low voc or zero-voc. Which is nice. Professional results in a garage. Weight/strength/techy arguments are for the retired crowd, and they can argue it all day while I'm in the surf.
Just setup some stands in the sun, get a helper. I'm shaping and glassing a 16ft prone board without help; epoxy lamming the carbon and skin layer, but sand-coating and polish coating with Solarez. Just makes sense… While we're young. Better results, and no more misleading advice from dubious characters. Playing wannabe chemist is my last goal in building watercraft.
Side note: triple check that what you ordered is infact Solarez. I recently ordered a gallon of dual cure (not to mention names), but they re-bottled into one of their own containers, long story short: it wasn't Solarez. Order direct from the company. Read the literature about tinting resins. It's not for every application, but it's definitely ideal for most.
Trying Solarez vinyl ester epoxy next, although from what I understand it's not as strong as 2 part epoxy resin, but really strong nonetheless…which speaks to the fact that PE sun cure strength is likely more than good enough for most of the surfing population, need a bump for your Mavericks bombs, get the vinyl ester or revisit 2 part epoxy. Carbon and kevlar fabrics, the new exotic weaves, those are made for epoxy 2 part, plus, I'd be weary of lamming sun-cure into graphite weaves–due to the nature of the fabric, sunlight won't penetrate through fabrics like this.
We make our own UV activator and UV cure resins so we know why people like it. We were asking more specifically why use it on the wooden board that is so large and difficult to move into light…that's all. Also, there's really no such thing as a UV cure surfboard epoxy since because of the chemical structure. It's a mixture of different materials which is why it's not used to glass an entire board. Like we said, there's not a true epoxy UV cure…yet.
http://www.solarez.com/productsnew/zerovocgall.html --stuff is killer no matter how people or chemists label it. Someone show me a competitor of this product because they're eating your lunch in the meantime. I could glass an entire board w/this stuff, but why is a matter price at the moment–and flex of the product. Guessing this tech will improve w/different flex properties, lower pricing.
Bagging parts, veneers, solid graphites & aramids…still need 2 part epoxy. Stoked on it nonetheless.
As I understand it the ZeroVoc product is actually a urethane.
I have used the Solarez Vinylester for certain projects for over 10 years and in my experience it's way better than polyester resin. Noticeably lighter, stronger, tougher, less brittle, and just as fast to use as the PE. The only downside is the amber color, so I usually use some tints or pigments. And you can finish with PE for gloss/polish if you're into that.
It puts out somewhat less in VOCs than PE, but probably not enough to make a difference to most backyarders. You still need good ventilation and a mask.
By comparison the VE blows the PE out of the water for laminations. It adheres to wood, too. I haven't used PE for lams since I started using VE - there's no point.
gdaddy, Solarez is telling me their vinyl ester cures water clear. Any pics of recent shoots you've done with this stuff?
It's actually been a couple years since I bought their resin at which point the amber color was lighter than in years past. But it's always been noticeable and it does get yellower with age. Over wood that would work.
No biggie - I just always mixed in either a little blue to offset the amber or else some white. I've also tinted with blues, greens reds and yellows - never a problem with any of those colors when used in moderation.
Here's a pic of the last one I did in PU/VE (about a yr ago). That's a bamboo deckpatch on the deck so you can see how much I lightened the resin.
Here's one I did back in 2010. I used less white pigment in this lam. This board looks a little darker today but no moreso than a PU board would look.
thanks for throwing those pics up, gdaddy. I have a quart of their vinyl ester getting sent to me. Definitely will let you know if that formulation has changed, and how bad it fades or yellows. Apparently, they have UV stabilizers in the resin; resin has a blue tint out of the can…
Cool, I'll be interested to hear how that works out for you.
Thanks for the feedback everybody. The main reasons I am interested in using the Solarez are:
- the faster drying time; no mixing
- less expensive (than the Raka 2-part epoxy system)
- Not drying clear (I want the wood to show through crystal clear--no amber coloring or clouding)
- Not as flexible or strong as 2-part epoxy
Vaeske says the resin now comes with some blue in it so the amber issue may be resolved. Besides, it was so light I doubt you would notice it against wood. There never was any cloudiness to it.
The VE is not as strong as epoxy, but it's probably 20% or 30% stronger than PE resins. It's plenty flexible for a wood application where your E cloth is going to be the weak link anyway. The thing I'd be concerned about with wood is getting it sealed well prior to going to your lamination. When I use it with veneers I seal them with epoxy first so I know I've got penetration.
It's fast, though. Turn times in 5 minutes and it reaches 90+% of it's hardness right away so you're not living with the continual VOC thing for the next couple weeks. Even if you're slow you can easily start glassing in the morning and be sanding before lunch.