polishing epoxy

General Discussion
1

Hey Guys, i have seen some weeks ago a perfect polished epoxy board here on sway, but i cant find the thread today. My question is, how can i polish epoxy that it will be shiny? Is it possible to do this with an sander or just  by hand.

the guy in the post had done this by hand. I have checked the archives, everybody talk about grit but i could find some informations about the technique.

i thought after painting the epoxy with an brush (it look always smooth) to start to polish the epoxy with an 300 grit.

 

Hope somebody can help me

2

Might have been me.  I was determined to get a glossy finish.

my annual build thread- The Giant Squid | Swaylock’s Surfboard Design Forum

You can get epoxy to shine.  For me it just took a lot of work.  I should mention that the polish I used (after sanding through all the grits up to 2000) was $30 a quart expensive stuff.  I tried various car polishes and they just didn’t cut as well.

 

Actually I still owe afoaf for the polish…

3

I got mine pretty glossy by starting with dry 220 grit, then wetsand with 400, 1000, 2000 and then rubbing compound.  I was going to continue on with carbanuba wax, but I was getting impatient and I thought it looked really good anyway.  My schedule was basically a lam coat followed by a hot coat after the lam gelled.  Then let that fully cure and sanded dry 220 and did a gloss coat.

This is how it turned out:

 

4

@llilibel03: Yes it was your polished board:) Amazing thing!

Hey Guys is the work done by hand? Or can i use a sander for the first parts?

5

Hi da5id -

That is a nice one.  Would you post some additional pics?  Maybe clue us in on the design and construction details?  It looks like a super clean shape!

6

This is a cedar board: 6’8" x 20 1/2 x 2 1/2

It’s a pretty good board.  :slight_smile:

450×600 80.4 KB

7

The Coating is done and i still need help concerning polishing;) I want to start polishing the surface tomorrow but i still dont know, if i can do the job with an sander or just the first part or...or.....?

Would be nice if anybody could help me

 

Greetings Chris

8

i know why the most boards are not polished! I have tried it and it failed.

First ive started to smooth the coat with 120 and 180 grit paper and the sander. After that i have sanded the epoxy with 600 gritt (wet), 1000 (wet) and 2000 (wet) 600-2000 by hand.

Result: the coat looks matt.... :(

9

why did you start with such coase paper?

and you should have done the 220 and 320 and 400 before the 600

you still need to hit it with polishing sauce

or did I miss something

10

Hi Ken, nice to hear from you! After all i hit it with polishing sauce, but the result wasnt really good!

Ive started to grit with 120 to make all smooth. When you are polishing do you polish the coat after the glassing or are you painting an extra coat on the smooth coat? 

11

Did you go from 180 to 600? there’s no way you’ll get out the 180 scratches with 600. That’s why I used every grit I could find. 180 gets out the 150 scratches. 220 the 180, 320 the 220 and on and on.

And you do need a good cutting polish to get the final shine.

12

hey Chris

I prefer to use poly gloss on my epoxy boaeds

but,,,,,

using epoxy

1st I lam the board then sand coat and sand smooth with 100 paper use a block for best results

2nd apply another gloss coat  with additive F and a tad bit of DNA mixed well let set for days so the epoxy can get really hard

3rd depending on the quality of of the gloss coat coverage start with 400 and step up gradualy to the 1000 or 2000 grit then the polish juice

I dont think you will get a shine like poly, I didnt so I use the poly gloss with excellant results

 

13

Where have you been yesterday Ken..., Lillibel.........?:(

 

I need an instruction for dummys:) 

14

Ken, is it possible to polish the first coat? Or is there no way out to paint an second coat?

15

you should be able to polish the first (sand) coat

only drawback is because its the sand coat ,its the layer used to get the board smooth and you have to realy step the sanding in stages to the polish grit. and more chance of sand through.

by doing a second (gloss) coat and done good you can start with 400 then step to 1000 or 2000 and polish, and no sand throughs

poly is harder that epoxy so it polishes better

and yes it sticks just fine to epoxy that is sanded to 100 grit

16

So i think i will do a second coat on my next board. This board should be a lightweigt board.

Can i use less resin for the second coat?

 

Ken i have another question: If i sand the sandcoat down and sand a little bit trough the weave, should i seal  the weave with resin or can i protect the weave with clear vanish because i want to spray it anyway to protect the graphics?

 

THX for all Ken, lill......and the rest for the help

17

hey

i just TRIED to polish a board

did some of it by hand, and now that it is done, you can exactly see where that was… sigh

for best results, use the machine all the way, or be really careful and steady handed with a not so hard block [i used a too hard block]

ok, hope that helps somehow?

18

 

for best results with epoxy?

sand that first hotcoat down as flat as you can with a semi soft pad [if you have 3] with the machine!!

then do the gloss coat

use clean everything by the way

get a wide brush, clean, new

use about 1.1 oz/foot [more than the 1 oz greg loehr advices…

first, warm your resin up, till its luke warm,about 30 degress celsius, gets out nastsy bubbles

then mix in your hardener and possibly F at the same time

mix well, but not batter that gloss, or tiny bubbles will come look you up and haunt you

then, spread evrything on board as well as you can without the brush

then, brush it twice, once width, then length wise

if its not perfectly flat, you MIGHT use a heat gun and go over the surface ONCE, it lowers the viscosity, makes it more fluid… spreads great, gets bubbles out

let it harden super well in a heated room for a full 24 hours at least

then start with the machine, 600 grit if possible, use the softest pad on the machine, and DONT do one spot a lot, feel the board, does it heat up?

if you havetoo many zits and brush strokes, use 400 instead, MACHINE!!

then go the 600-800-1000 etc route, possibly up to 2000, but it will shine already with 1200, then do the polishing compound

i have 3 compounds, rough to fine, so ill do those in that order

if you have lambs wool, use that first, it actually is not soft!! it is very hard, and polishes hard

after lambs wool one, you use the medium soft foam pad, and the finest foam pad to finish

my computer works again!!

i prollyu missed out a lot, but this woudl do it

19

through the weave? or so your seeing weave?

if your seeing weave smeer a little resin on it and maybe it will disapear, if not just just leave the smear on it and litely sand it and move on.

if you sanded through the weave patch it and move on

 

some boards are for the learning curve ,,,do what you can and move on

20

THX Wouter for the informations, i think next time it will be better:)

 

@Ken: I only see the weave not much but a little bit.