I just received an order of Kwik Kick epoxy and need to attempt a ding repair that will require a little cloth in the tail section of a board. I have never really used Kwik Kick or epoxy for that matter. Anything anyone can share with me about it? Do i just mix is 2:1 and go at it like a pretty normal repair? After laminating, what is the deal with a hot coat or gloss coat? What kind of additives do I need for those stages. I want to do the repair right for the customer, but fear not doing an adequate job. Wish I knew it was epoxy before taking on the job. Any tips or warnings will be welcomed. Its pretty warm out today, around 80F
do it like a normal ding repair.
if it’s warm and dry, you don’t need any additives.
here is a cut and paste from an ERBB topic recently about epoxy ding repair:
Here is my process…
1 - I pour out and eyeball enough or slightly less epoxy RESIN than I will need for the whole job. Do this on a digital scale set to grams. Of course you zeroed out your scale with your empty cup on there. When you have enough RESIN in the cup, remember your epoxy RESIN weight.
1b - if the epoxy is cold and thick, I will microwave it for 5 to 10 seconds depending on volume. Sometimes, 5 seconds is enough, sometimes I need to microwave it for 10 seconds several times stirring in between. It all depends on the temperature and the volume of epoxy… Basically, when I can swirl it around in the cup, it’s good. BUT, do NOT NOT NOT heat it too much. Any more heating than just enough to make it swirl can lead to exotherm… On the other hand, the benefits of the microwave are real. Less bubbles and it flows and wets out MUCH better.
2 - Put cup back on scale (if you microwaved your epoxy, be prepared for the weight to have magically dropped a little. I don’t know why this happens maybe somebody can clue me in on this? Ignore the drop in weight and just go with your original RESIN weight number). Find your RESIN weight number on the chart above… Let’s say, for instance that, 98 grams of resin looked good when we weight it out. Now find 98 grams under one of the RESIN columns. My buddy Scott who made this even color-coded it for idiots like me ha! So, the resin columns are green. Anyways, we find 98 grams of RESIN then look over to the corresponding amount of HARDENER. Which happens to be 44 grams… Zero out your scale and add in your hardener.
3 - Stir. REMEMBER, epoxy is NOT like poly. You have to stir epoxy THOROUGHLY. I like to count 30 stirs clockwise then scrape the sides and bottom then count 30 stirs counterclockwise then scrape the sides and bottom and repeat until I have hit 3 minutes. I use either a tongue depressor or a popsicle stick to stir depending on the volume of epoxy I have to stir… Remember, when you are stirring epoxy, you are not beating eggs, you are just stirring it. You do NOT want to froth it up and make a ton of bubbles. Those bubbles will mess with you later. Again, microwaving helps with this a ton.
If you do decide to microwave your epoxy, like Everysurfr said, only microwave the resin. NOT the hardener.
Also, a heat gun helps a bunch to get rid of bubbles after you’ve put the epoxy on the board.
Just hit it with the heatgun and watch 'em pop
Chrisp, you are the man. Thanks very much for your advice on this. Will post more when I screw up or get confused.
Thanks again very much!
Also, if you have a link to that thread, I would like to read it. I’m slow and dont know what ERBB is. A member here or a different web site for all I know. Like I said, I’m slow
http://forum.surfer.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2606318#Post2606318
by the way… don’t overdo it with the heatgun IF you decide to use it…
It might heat the EPS and cause gassing.
Another tip is to mix up your epoxy, and put half in a ziplock and pop it in the freezer immediately after mixing.
Use the stuff left in your cup on the ding… A few hours later (or the next day) after you’ve sanded and are ready to do the fill coat, grab the bag, cut off a corner, and squeeze that epoxy out and use it… Might need to warm it in your hand for a second or two to get it flowing… Also, a gloved finger works to spread it around smoothly.
For small epoxy jobs I weight the trimmed cloth and use that much resin + the right amount of hardener. If there is a bunch of raw wood or foam then I would mix resin+hardener to make 2 times the weight of the cloth and slop a little on the foam or wood before doing the lam…
Mac, what are your plans for filling the hole, fairing the tail, and matching the color?
Once the epoxy is no longer runny, you can tape over it with 233 3M, covering the whole repair area. This will save a lot of sanding.
When I repair an area needing cloth, I will cut the needed layers, oversized, then tape them to the board with 233, pulling them tight from all directions. And then tape over after it just begins to gel. So much easier for me. Maybe you too.
Going to use a little of everyone’s advice on this. Didnt see the tape offerings until I have put on patches. The little hole is going to be successively filled. The first piece of glass took up some of the space. I didnt want to put on two pieces of cloth right away so I can do it in a couple stages. This is probably the wrong way to do it, but I’m going to do it is stages anyways. I should have made a little q-cell filler or something but I didnt. I’m actually not even going to try to match the color, and the customer was ok with that.
Tomorrow will put some more cloth on and probably use a little tape when complete. This will cause me to do more sanding, but the lack of anyone teaching me the ways in person, I’m doing it the safest way I see possible.
Greg, I have seen videos where folks stretch plastic film or peel ply over a wet epoxy repair, but never raw tape at the gel stage.
Very interesting…
Mac, I sent you a PM on another matter, no hurry. -J
Finished the repair. Came out pretty good, but not perfect. That little chunk out of the foam gave me the most trouble. It kept wanting to blow bubbles under the glass. I thought I had it right and left for the night, came back and had a small bubble under it. No big deal. Put another piece of glass down over it all and sanded smooth and then did a final “hot coat” if you will and sanded out smooth. The bubble is really hard to see and unfortunately the entire repair is very obvious due to not using any color, but it looks kind of cool in my opinion. Only going to charge the guy like $15.00 as it was good practice. Pics of original damage and final repair.
Looks good Mac!
saw this somewhere on internet, poor quality screen grab, but corners are $30, I don’t think there is anything under $30, yet prices are very reasonable. It does mention epoxy repairs are a little more.
Any idea what page that image is from, Huck?
Can’t recall where I saw this, but it impressed me as having been pretty well thought out, and I saved it because I think a lot of times people don’t charge enough for fixing their buddy’s boards. I realize there is really no industry standard for ding repair prices, but this seemed like a good start in that direction, with a variety of different types of dings illustrated, explained, and estimated, with some leeway for pricing, and an explanation that epoxy costs a bit more, and rush jobs cost a bit more.