Just thought I’d throw this out and see if anyone has any experiences with this technique. I’m trying to do nice hotcoats and gloss coats with epoxy in a pretty cold PNW shop. I keep my epoxy warm in a “hotbox” and I warm the shop as much as possible for the job. But the epoxy still goes pretty slow and bubbles seem to be a problem. They leave pinholes when sanded. So I decided to try a trick we used in doing deep glass floors on boats. The resin was so thick bubbles had a hard time getting to the surface and popping before it set up. We’d use a heat gun on the surface . Keep it moving and you can watch it thin the surface of the resin enough for the bubbles to pop. Trick is to keep the gun moving. I use a Milwaukee on low and it is plenty hot. If you look into the glare of reflected light you can see it effecting the surface as the heat moves over it. Bubbles just erupt en masse and the surface smoothes right out. I have even been able to get the resin to flow over fish eyes trying to form. It only works within a few minutes of laying the epoxy down and usually only works once.
Interesting, just be careful like you say to keep it moving. Those things get hella hot. I’ve done a few stupid things to a surfboard with a heat gun that I really don’t want to admit. =)
Hey Thats a great tip. I also had similar problems with my early epoxy lams but I got round it by getting the room as hot as I could for 30 min before I laminated and then as soon as the rails are lapped I turn of the heat and open the door so the temp dropped…then the blank starts to suck instead of blow…I think a combination of your approach and mine may be the daddy…
cheers
Rich
We used to do epoxy on tables for resturants and bars-----location was an old barn in winter on the Eastern Shore of Maryland–cold room, which I plasticed (new word) up with side curtains and a kerosene heater—used a propane hand held torch to do the same. Just keep the thing moving, the bubbles will rise.
Aloha, Randy
I learned the trick from a guy who used a propane torch. That just looked too scary to me. Especially since we were never sure how flammable each brand of product might be. The heat gun on low is plenty hot and I never let it stop dancing over the surface. You can actually see it working if you watch in the glare. Once it has done it’s job, don’t go back to the same area again. I don’t think I’d try it on a laminate, just hots and glosses.
Yeah, it gets the micro bubbles out…It also works well with accelerating the cure time of epoxy…Just keep the heat moving…
Yep that trick is old as the hills. I like the torch better than the heat gun (because the fan moves the resin around a bit). Just keep it moving. Good for hotcoat and gloss. I just built some resin tables where i did the main buildup with poly resin…hotcoated with poly…sanded to 320…glossed with Non Blush epoxy and used the torch. finish is llike a mirror.
Epoxy glosses are a lot more durable than polished poly. I found this out after building hundreds of resin tables for bars and restaurants. I can go back and see the difference after being in use for years.
Did you Kids know that an unpolished poly gloss is twice as scratch resistant as a polished gloss? Yep…when you polish a board youy remove that little layer of hard wax.May not look as good but lasts longer.
Hell for that matter if you are good glasser and can lay down a smooth hotcoat all you need to do is sand the rails and ride da Buggah. my rant for the day. RB
What brand of epoxy are you using for gloss coat? I glass / hotcoat with Resin Research epoxy. Would love to finish up with an epoxy gloss coat.
I’ve heard of an epoxy that can be flame treated after it is totaly cured. You are able to get perfect gloss finish by letting the epoxy flow when flame treated. Then it sets withing minutes
I’m just using Resin Research for everything. Don’t want any bonding issues. Wetsand to 600 and it polishes out pretty decent. Not super wet-look show room, but not bad.
I know with boat and car finishes, there is a rise that comes to the surface when it cures. If you break that surface with wet sanding and or polish, it opens the subsurface porosity and the shine never lasts as long. That’s why the spray painter who can shoot a hull with a wet-look finish that doesn’t orange peel or need sags sanded out is top dollar. His stuff stays shiny longer.