other names for surfacing agent

General Discussion
1

hey all, just wondering about any other words used for surfacing agent. I asked for it at some local plastics shop but the lady just gave me some big lecture on how i dont need surfacing agent if im making a surfboard, shes been working with plastic and fiberglass for 11 years, i have no idea what im talking about, etc ,etc. all of that might be true but i wasnt in the mood for it. anyways, yeah… what else is it known as?

she was also going off about polymor and monomor or something… i tried to ask her about styrene wax but she wouldnt help me.

2

well you will get this alot…ive heard the whole thing,…basically you need to know exactly what what you need…if they dont have it just say ok thanks anyway…i cant count how many times ive heard the “well what are you trying to ?” speech . you just need to take the hank hill approach and say “damnit what im trying to do, is find ______ , do you , or , do you not have it?!” these people dont know , ive asked them for styrene and they say, well we have some mekp…thats just as good…just use the hank hill approach…

3

They might have mixed containers of Lam/glassing, hot/sanding, and gloss/finishing sitting on their shelves.

Why didn’t you just say you wanted some hot/sanding resin, so you can fill in the weave in the lam coat, add a layer, and sand everything smooth?

Then she’d know.

Or maybe she doesn’t know anything, but works at the store…hummm, could that possibly ever happen?

4

The word you are looking for is “surfactant.” Surfactants are detergents and reduce the surface tension between the solution and air.

The surfacing agent or surfactant is “used to modify or change the surface of a layer of resin or polymer. Usually used to form a film on a curing resin, producing a tack-free surface…” so you can sand it!

How long has she been building boards?

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5

Swaylopedia - Surface Agent

The idea behind the stuff is this: polyester resin won’t completely cure to a hard, sandable or polishable state when it’s in contact with air. The thin film of wax ( styrene monomer is used as a ‘vehicle’, like the linseed oil and turpentine in paint ) goes to the surface of the resin as it goes off, like a soap or oil film on water, and makes a barrier between air and resin so the resin will harden up completely.

Wherever you got your surfboard-grade resin in the first place should have surfacing agent or ‘wax solution’ or whatever ya wanna call it. If they don’t, and if they don’t even know what the stuff is, perhaps it’s time to find a new supplier, no?

More here including handy recommended mix ratios.

hope that’s of use

doc…

6

Try “Wax Solution” or “Waxsol”. RB

7

Mod-C