I was putting the finishing touches on a PE gloss coat today and going over it with rubbing compound and a foam pad. After I was done I noticed a bunch of area that were pitted. It looks as though the gloss coat is flaking off or didn’t bond well. Any advice?
scratch the hotcoat up with 100 grit and blow it off and wipe with acetone
Really not to start any drama, but please be careful before giving bad advice… You might really mess someone up. Acetone eats resin, cured or not. Never put acetone on anything you want the resin to remain.
So W1978, or anyone who reads this takes a little problem, and turns it major. Little pits from dust contamination can be sanded out. Wash with water, wait until completely dried, and recoated if necessary. Problem with blowers is they scatter the dust everywhere, and it has to settle eventually. Moving air can cause static, which attracts dust.
Now I feel bad 'cause I sound like GhettoRat. I gotta go eat some ice cream, enjoy
everysurfer,
I am open to your advice, but I have never had poor results taking a paper towel, folding it into quarters, and wiping a small amount of acetone on. By the time I tape stuff up and get my gloss resin mixed, everything is dry and evaporated, and looks really clean to me. my thinking was that this would completely rid the surface of oil and dust from fingerprints, etc.
If this is the wrong way to do things, I’ll try a new method on my next one.
ps. do you wipe down finboxes, etc, with acetone?
thanks
[quote="$1"] ...do you wipe down finboxes, etc, with acetone? [/quote]
It is recommended.
The hot coat needs to be sanded with no shiny spots. Shiny spots can be hit with red scotchbrite. I have glossed thousands of boards. I blow off the blank really well. I use a paper towel with acetone to wipe down the board. The paper towel is not super wet. Glossing is easy to do but hard to explain. I worked in a Hawaii glass shop where they washed the boards off with a hose before bringim them to me in the glossing room. I still wiped them off with acetone. My theory is that the acetone lightly tacks the hotcoated surface and lets the gloss stick better.
There is a difference between zits and pits. (yes I am a poet). Zits sand out…pits don’t. Even a great master such as myself fucks up a gloss so just keep you fingers crossed. Since I bragged and called myself a “great master” the glosses I am planning on shooting tomorrow will probably go bad. The gloss Gods are ever vigilant.Have fun
Thanks for all the replies. The board looks pretty good and the areas are only seen if up close. Instead of shooting another gloss, I am just going to surf it and thats that. Hopefully my next will be pit free.
Finboxes are made of plastic, so wipe away, I’m talking about keeping acetone from the hot coat resin. And even if you wipe it with a cloth and acetone, ot wont be as clean as freshly sanded, wiped with a horsehair brush, and vacuumed with a shop vac. The towel is full of lint.
On a total distraction and side track, I do my boards with epoxy, and I wish that someone would make boxes and plugs from epoxy. I hate how when I laminate over them for strength, the epoxy doesn’t bond. This wouldn’t happen if they were made of epoxy. I think I need to set up a mould, and start making my own!
The original poster asked about glossing with polyester…not epoxy. If the question had been about glossing epoxy I would not have answered at all as I am not in to epoxy boards. If paper towels leave lint then I guess I need to back up 40 years and take back all of the boards I have glossed. It’s getting where there are to many experts around here anymore that don’t have a clue as to what they are talking about. I say this not as a personal deal…it’s just a general observation after being here on Sways since the gitgo.
I was afraid I’d start drama! Cleanlines, I’ve seen your work, and it is outstanding. Also I don’t call myself an expert either. I’d never “back seat drive” those who know much more than me.
Lint leaves zits. Acetone softens and breaks down resin. If you can avoid either, it is better. A vacuum and brush remove dirt. That is also better.
As far as too many non experts, I’d gladly be silenced by the pros.
Maybe I’ll keep doing my same routine…for a second there I thought I had been doing something completely wrong this whole time.
w1978-
gloss coats seal all the pin holes and will make your board last longer. I do them on all my own boards for that reason.
good luck… hope this helps
Astevens.... you're smart.....you do nice work.......what are you thinking????
It's time to stop dealing with toxic chemicals and solvents...Get on board my friend....Acetone is nasty, and sterene and mekp......what else are you exposed to? Bad stuff...
Resin Research Epoxy Resin. No more solvents...Low VOC....no more smell......Time to join the club.......Come on board....
Ray
[quote="$1"]
Astevens.... you're smart.....you do nice work.......what are you thinking????
It's time to stop dealing with toxic chemicals and solvents...Get on board my friend....Acetone is nasty, and sterene and mekp......what else are you exposed to? Bad stuff...
Resin Research Epoxy Resin. No more solvents...Low VOC....no more smell......Time to join the club.......Come on board....
Ray
[/quote]
I plan on switching to epoxy once I get a new shaping shed with heat, should have it in a year or so. Kinda tough to glass when its 10 degrees out. UV PE works in any weather.
I might clean out my shed and try it this summer. I try to use as much protection as possible(full face respirator, gloves, fan, etc).
I kinda acted a little grouchy on this deal and I apologize. There are always alternatives.
The pits aren’t from dust or anything like that. They form just under the waxed surface so they aren’t exposed until after you fine sand. They start to appear when glossing in temperatures below 60 and wherever the resin is thicker the pits are worse. No resin expert has given me an answer for why it occurs but I do know that temp and thickness are factors. I heat the room to 70 when glossing in the winter time and the problem disappears. I always use straight finishing resin, with sanding resin the problem is worse. Whether you wipe down with acetone or not it won’t change the pit problem since it’s not a contamination issue.
I'd look closely with a magnifying glass, and verify whether it's a dust speck, or a pin bubble (void).
If the later, sand the area with 120, then treat it like pinbubbles in your hotcoat.... squeegee gloss resin into the pinbubbles with the squeegee at 30 degrees to press the gloss resin into the voids.
Then sand again, then gloss.
if it's pinbubbles untreated, it will allow moisture to permeate over time, like 10 surfing days, especially if the board is allowed to heat in the sun after surfing, and turn the area into moist spots.....and start the delam process.
Not to be confused with pin-air. The pits we’re talking about are only in the very surface of the gloss, thousands of them, no permeation threat. If you can’t live with the pits then just sand the gloss off and re-gloss in a heated room, otherwise you’ll be chasing it forever.
Heated rooms are nice, but still air and negative ions make for great glosses regardless of temp. I keep waiting for a pic to assess what really is going on. i used to do pretty good work even at 28 degrees, with the right additives. Still would have loved 72 degrees.
I've glossed maybe 100 boards.
Had great gloss coats at under 50 degrees, and some at over 90.
Mostly, one in 10 would totally run, pit, or fade. Never figured it out, decided to just shape.