I am about to mix up some RR epoxy to laminate my s-glass longboard. I am planning to add blue pigment. I am looking for some guideline as to how much pigment to add (in percent of total material) to avoid having to do a lot of experimentation. My goal is to get a decent level of color saturation without overdoing it. I know this sort of thing is “according to taste” but it would be nice to have a starting point. The pigment jar just says “will pigment several gallons of resin”. I like to measure stuff out so I can reproduce my results. The pigment is System 3 from Fiberglass Supply. I could find nothing about the pigment on the System 3 website.
I hesitated to respond to this post
its a tough call on how much to use
your gonna have to add an amount at a time so you can reproduce on a later date
rule of thumb is to look at the stir stick after incorperating each added amount
let it drain off the stick so you can see where your at with the pigment
good luck
its a big learning curve
If you’re using opaques and not custom mixing a particular shade, it’s easy. There is no specific mix ratios because the pigments will vary in intensity and opaqueness depending on the batch - even on the exact same brands. Weigh out enough epoxy to lam both sides and add pigment. Test for opaque by wetting a piece of cloth over a old piece of glassed board that is darker. Add more pigment to the batch if needed. Stir and then stir some more using a big paint stick. Often, the hardener will react and slightly alter the color. Also, I’ve found that leaving the stirred and colored resin sit for about 15 min allows the color to settle in better. Divide the batch in two, add the hardener by weight, stir the crap out of it again, and lam.
If you’re making a custom color, start with white or whatever light base you want then add tiny amounts of darker color. If using three or more colors, always go from lightest to darkest. For personal boards, I will pre-mix an amount of pigment for future repairs. Keep in mind that if you mix the pigment separately, it will change in shade and intensity when you mix it in with the resin and hardener.
A dab , a hint , a splash , a taste , a glob , a pinch , a smear …It’s art my friend…go for it…the board is going to be Awesome!
Share the stoke
Ray
Eddited to add links…I make lots of mistakes , don’t forget to to have fun!!!
Howzit Kensurf, Excuse me for seeming dumb but I have a project coming up that will need some pigment in epoxy. What kind of pigment/ color agent works best with epoxy? I will be filling a wood carved project with black epoxy.Aloha,Kokua
I remember Greg Loehr saying that pigment flexes the epoxy up
With a -S-tiffer cloths, you would lose the benefit of the clothstifness if you add pigment copiously and obtain a flexiblierrr epoxy.
which is what i believe to be true.
so dont do it, spray paint the foam or st,
wouter
G’day Kokua,
I use regular poly pigments for my colour epoxy work.
I have researched epoxy pigments out here and the price is unbelievable around $100 for about 200grams.
I am using something called epoxy plasticiser for a white board I’m doing at the moment. Tests look pretty good.
I have also used powdered oxides specifically for colouring concrete with good results as well.
The oxide is a powder so you have to make sure its mixed really well.
Regards
Daren
well I did the lamination and here is what I found out. I made a small batch of 1% pigment and tested it on a piece of cheap Home Depot foam. That pigment is pretty strong stuff and the blue color was pretty dark. Not having my whole life to work on this, I decided to just go with 0.5%. The suggestion to estimate resin for the whole job and mix the pigment in that was a really good idea. I figured I would need about 80oz of resin so I mixed it up in a seperate jug. The bottom lamination looks like it came out ok. I made 27oz of total material and that was just barely enough for one layer of 6oz cloth (the board is 9’6" and 24 wide). It took some time to move the resin around and get the laps wet so I am glad I went with slow hardener. It would have taken less time if I had used more material. I’ll use more on the top. Thanks to everyone who gave suggestions.
hey Kokua!
hows it goin on the rock?
just as entity said… the poly pigments work good with epoxy
done 3 boards with it
Howzit Kensurf, Thanks for the info, wasn’t sure if poly pigments would work. Things here are kind of quiet due to tourist slow down but that’s good since it means less people in the line up. It has been a slow start for surf but a new sweel hits today and every one is excited and eager. Aloha,Kokua
+1 on plain old pigment for epoxy.
I was at FH Colburn Street one day asking Ted Wilson if there was a thinner for my old pigments, which had gotten real gummy if I could still open the jars. Ted thought a mo, then said well pigment comes in a glycol base that’s suitable for poly and epoxy, but he could not think of a thinner. Typical, just had to buy more of his pigments. 2 oz red is over $5. Used to be 75 cents an ounce. At least the pigment jars are plastic now, and the lids too, so they won’t rust together.
Howzit Honolulu, Used poly pigment on project and it came out just fine, thanks to all for the help. Red pigment probably has the most color in it and has always cost more than other colors. Aloha,Kokua