How are you guys going about doing this? I did the whole additive F thing and went to use my Perfect it 2 and the buffer but it doesnt seem to really make it shine… just kinda… reflictive, nothing like a cheater coated poly board, not even glossed…
Used poly gloss on some. After RR, sanded out and sealed with lam resin, then glossed. So far its worked pretty good but I am still skeptical. I have just put an automotive clear coat over sanded epoxy. Looks real good and provides an excellent UVa protection. A potential option in the still to be explored universe of Epoxy. The classic good looks of a polyester gloss coat will probably always be just that - the true classic.
Bob, I sanded my epoxy hotcoat with 100 grit then applied poly glosscoat. Polished out beautifully, and no problems with separation. Doug
I cant get poly gloss though… even shipped my supplier dudes dont got it… no one buffs out the epoxy itself?
i’ve glossed RR and it’s come out pretty good. can’t get that liquid/mirror finish, but plenty glossy for most. lay on the final coat w/ extra Add. F and VERY thin (thin it with a little denatured alcohol) so it’ll lay super flat. sand to at least 1000# (if sanding is even necessary) and use a multi-stage polish.
Hey bobmarley,
The secret to a high gloss on epoxy is in the prep after the lamination. You need as perfect a surface to shoot you hot coat (finish coat) on as possible. I baste the bottom and shot the speed bead first then I do some sanding on the obottom to get the surface as perfect as I can cause that’s what produces a finish coat that you can both sand and polish. The new Abranet sanding system is the best on for epoxy, but for the home builder buying it is just too coastly. You can get the grit from 80 to 600 and if you get all the low spots out you can go throught he grits very quickly. You’ll want to go all the way to 1200 or 1500 before you polish caust epoxy is so much harder than poly. Some high quality wax finishes things off nicely.
If you have a good enough surface to start with 150 so much the the better. If you have to put on a second coat you’ll add some wieght to the board but you can start and a finer grit. In addition I’ve found that 80 grit wet dry is great for preparing things for you fill coat. Use it wet and then wipe to see where you are. It cuts really fast. I go straight from 80 to 220 and it works out fine.
Poly’s pretty but you do risk a weak chemical and mechanical bond. Pretty and strong is better than just pretty.
Hope this helps, Rich
Thanks guys, ill have to give this a shot… it just seemed like the epoxy was either not getting enough time in one spot to make it shine, or if i let the buffer sit too long it would get to hot and have a faded look. I’ll have to try what you said and give it another shot on this next board.