So ,
the story is this:
I laminate my eps shapes with epoxy then hotcoat them with polyester .
usually they end up good with no hotcoat dramas.
I've just hotcoated two boards and both of them have pinholes and very small gaps ( mini fisheyes) .
on both boards, the first hotcoated side went absolutely perfect and the second side is the one with the problems.
so , figuring what made the difference on those two boards differing them from all the others, I find that :
1) I hotcoated them at noon and not evening .
2) didn't seal/spackle the blank before laminating.
this and the fact that there are no pinhols/fisheyes on areas such as cutlaps and tail patch where the is a double glass overlap
I come to a conclusion that the reason for all the problems is that the unsealed blank breaths .
since it's already hotcoated on one side , the other side is the only escape to trapped air and therfore generates pinholes/F.E's.
for next time-
1) seal/spackle the eps blank before laminating. OR at least do it to the side which gonna be hotcoated last.
2) hotcoat only on falling tempratures.
Lee
Sounds like resin drained into your blank, or you were too dry on your lam. Squeegee a cheater coat of epoxy on the bottom before a hotcoat. What brand and speed of epoxy are you using?
I don't believe my lam was too dry. it felt good under the sqeegee and I double checked it under good light.
not too dry and no puddles as well. I think it was fine.
as for your suggestion , how would a cheater coat with epoxy help. wouldn't it act as my poly hotcoat did?
anyway , I sanded the bottom hotcoat and gonna re-coat it or maybe go for a glosscoat which is equivalant to your idea.
the epoxy I use is somthing I get localy . it's a 2:1 system , very clear , takes a few hours to dry .
In the summer I can flip a board for cutlaps in about 3-4 hours, winter it takes a bit more to harden beyond the sticky stage.
anyway.. I really like it . had good results with it and even had the chance to try some additive-F in two boards.
I can't tell if there was a difference with or w/o it.
well there you go! You figured out your own problem without any help. Poly hotcoat over epoxy lamination....WTF is that all about?