I have my best epoxy finish coat results with hot (fluid) resin, no additive, and new brush well prep. Agree with you surf clear finish better than RR. Here (France) surf clear is cheaper than RR, now i test other local brand even better that is not yet marketed…
Mate you are in deep shit. You’ll be chasing your tail forever trying to fix it. It will keep seperating forever and we’ll be old men by then. And poor if we fail to understand poly-ester and epoxy are NOT compatable mechanically but CAN be chemically. When you mix the two you MUST have a PE. friendy Epoxy otherwise you will have a very uncomfortable time un-apliying what you initially thought was your finish coat which now turns out the beginning of nothing resembling a finish … more like an entrance to a sanding and scraping hell.
It might be quicker and less painfull to start all over again.
Poly-ester friendly resin in your local must only be a search away.
Regards.
~Q~
Next time you want a gloss coat on an epoxy board but don’t want to use epoxy for the gloss I suggest using clear marine bottom paint. It’s epoxy based, similar to a gel coat and very strong. It’s what surftec uses to get their gloss coats. It’s a bitch for the repair man to match but its much stronger and wont ever chip off if you prep it. Also, I think 80 grit is a bit rough to go under a gloss coat just for a mechanical bond. I feel like you must’ve had some gnarly scratches showing through. usually we do 400 with no problems
AAHHH HAA so now we nave breached the topic properly!
Huzzah ,to quote an ols seaman’s exalted Cry.
noq , what poly is a compat of Resin Research?
as I only have used the illustrious
Greg L’s formula(the blue one)
this morning I sand RR lam and will gloss
with same on a dihg repair.
This existing finished surface on this board
is def seperate and not chipping an yet appears to be diffrent,
this leads me to thing it’s poly…
so what great wizard of chemical bonds
would you suspect is the compatible poly to RR?
hard facts get us somewhere …
…ambrose…
all in appreciation
we can go forward
to the promised board…
huzzah.
I have spoken to my friend, explained the problem and told him what the options are. He would prefer that I rather provide a permanent solution and remove the existing polyester gloss resin to prevent any possible recurrance of chipping and the need for further repair. He is insisting on paying for any costs incurred even though I feel that I should take responsibilty for this.
So at the moment I think my next course of action should be - carefully chip off ALL the poly with a suitable tool, assess the condition of the underlying board, repair any dings, prep (properly) and apply a suitable epoxy gloss coat which I can proceed to fine sand and polish.
I have done some more experimental chipping and the way it comes off so easily makes me wonder how it did not just fall off earlier.
Will keep you posted.
but…it won’t just chip off, I tried removing the gloss on a SUP, it lifted off in about 2% of the board, what the customer thought was peeling gloss was a knee impact right along the stringer, hard enough to crack the gloss, sanding back down to epoxy was harder than sonofabitch
I have start chipping. An inch wide chisel kept low seems to be working the best. Safety glasses required as the pieces shatter fly up into the eyes. Mostly is coming off easily but there are a few stubborn bits I will come back to. Am thinking that the rails might not be that easy. Hope I have more success than the SUP.
I have now entered a NIGHTMARE from which there seems to be no escape.
Having only done a bit of exploratory chipping a few weeks ago, yesterday I set to completing this arduous task for once and for all. However I soon realised with HORROR why some of the resin chips off and the rest does not. I noticed that when I pressed the chisel down onto the board the underlying epoxy laminate flexed easily enough for me to get the corner of the chisel under the poly and chip it off. This only happened in some broad areas on either side of the stringer on the bottom. Where I could not press the glass down I could not chip. I have exposed several ragged square feet of underlying epoxy board.
I have now realised that I have exposed an underlying structural weakness and my handiwork has come back to haunt me.
The bottom has a single layer of epoxy impregnated 6 oz cloth which I must have under resined or over sanded (or both). Without the protective (ha) covering of polyester gloss resin the underlying epoxy laminate yields to the pressure of a thumb and I can quite easily induce a pressure ding - something I would not expect from epoxy. I seem to have a made a weak bottomed board and covered with the infernal poly which I can only partially remove.
I abandoned the use of the chisel when in an effort to remove the stubborn bits I have sliced the cloth in several places. I tried then to sand off the poly with an 80grit disc but realised that not only would this take forever but I would not know when it was off and when I was weakening the cloth. After further desperation I have sanded the entire bottom of the board and tried to blend in the ragged edges of poly.
Now I have stopped to contemplate my fate and decide on my next course of action. Sadly none of my options from my current perspective offer any true hope.
They are:
-
Continue chipping - NO. I have lost sight of what is poly and what is epoxy and the chisel will destroy the board.
-
Sand off all the poly until I can see the cloth weave, knowing the poly is gone then applying a generous coat of epoxy which I will sand BUT this sanding will surely weaken the cloth.
-
Sand off the whole board down to the cloth and then apply more cloth and epoxy resin. The labour and expense is too much to consider. AND the weight.
-
Sand lightly and add another gloss coat of poly BUT it does not solve the underlying problem and its going to chip again.
-
Go back to sleep and hope that on awakening the nightmare has ended. No chance.
-
Wait in vain that a Swaylock sage will bring me a word of wisdom.
-
Give the guy a refund - No chance. I’ve spent the money.
I am now cursing this illicit marriage of poly and epoxy and the whole matter has undermined my board making confidence and feel I never want to make another board for another.
Please help or reprimand or ridicule or do whatever to see fit while watching me clinging on broken nails to the edge of this near vertical learning curve.
to err is human to forgive divine.
Yes you have documented your humanity with humility
bless you my son.Now is the time for you to allow
the guy to exhibit his divinity: let him buy the additional materials.
your pennance will be the labor which you have so far invested like a saint,
you have made this board for far less than the $20.00 an hour you richly deserve
or would deserve digging ditches or waiting tables at dizzyinyland .
now as to the weight , start writing down all the reasons why weight
is a prefered elemental off shore winds,sustained glide…et alvin.
in these papal days believe in your heart that yes you have sinned
against the spiritual precepts set forth by St Simmons
but light a candle at the alter of saint velzy and get this overwith
you can be redeemed.
And then run for the hills and dales of the ranchos as a good cowboy.
If the guy cant hack the extra expense because you charged him $2,000.00
then donate the board to the poor and make a new one.
…ambrose…
paint the board with enamel paint
before you give it to the poor.
maybe with a big crucifix on the deck.
oh yeah ,pray to the holy ghost
just in case…
…ambrose…
I am now cursing this illicit marriage of poly and epoxy and the whole
matter has undermined my board making confidence and feel I never want
to make another board for another. When the guy comes asking about his board just answere with What board? Don’t know anything about no board! In the mean time cut the board into small peaces ,put in black garbage bag and deposit it in a trash dumpster ,way across town.
I commented earlier that this is a repair. I wish I’d been more forceful in my comment. Sorry.
Why not put a fill coat on it sell it cheap but hopefully for enough to buy materials to build another for your friend.