hey everyone. i was up until 4;30 last night (this morning) finishing my hot coats. everything went very predictably. very well.
9’ poly/epoxy longboard. 6oz cloth. rr epoxy.15 oz hotcoat resin each side, with double add.f.
sanding today. i’ve used 80 grit alum.oxide and a hard block to knock down the ridges where i taped off and major bumps. now i’m going back over the rails and the top/bottom with 100 grit on a soft block, knocking down dust specks and pin holes if that is what they are.
at this point i have some questions:
- if i can see the weave through the glass in some spots (not feel it, just see some of the texture) is it ok? or have i gone through too far?
in one spot on the rail there appears to be tiny tiny holes filling up with dust. perhaps pinholes, because they are too small to be weave. i’m a bit surprised to see them because i overlapped by tape lines on the hotcoats. there should be plenty of resin. anyways…
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can i/ should i stop now at 100 grit, wash the board with water, and do a gloss coat? i would like to keep the weight down if possible. i was trying to not use another coat.
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if i need another coat, can i just dip a brush and paint it on (no pour) with only, say, 6 oz resin each side? just to seal any holes and weave showing.
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i had been planning to take my hotcoat to 150, then wet sand from 220 thru to 400. now if i need to gloss, will my 100 grit scratches always be there or will it be invisible? what grit should i start at? i’m used to working with wood, where there is a grain to follow when sanding. how about resin. do i need to keep the pattern consistant? can i wet sand in a circular pattern?
again, i want to keep the weight (and the work ) down. if i can i would prefer not to use any more resin.
thanks in advance! i’ll post pictures in a few days. after i ride it!
nicholas
Nicolas, A little weave showing through is OK, because you’ll cover it with the glosscoat. Those little white dots are bubbles that got sanded off and are now small craters full of dust.You can blow them out with compressed air before you gloss. It helps to prepaint them with resin right before you do the whole board using a small brush just to be sure they get filled.
If you do a gloss coat, you can stop the sanding at 100 grit, because the resin will fill the scratches. I always sand the rails parallel to the length of the board so the scratches “hold” the resin a little better for less sagging. A circular motion for sanding should be OK for the deck and bottom.
If you plan to apply resin in spots only, there will be some frustration trying to even out the “bump” on the new resin since it does have some thickness to it. The larger the area, the easier it is to feather in the edges so everything is smooth and even looking. Happy glossing. Doug
so, to those who finish their epoxy boards with only a sanded hotcoat (like greg loehr once said he does), a prerequisite is no weave visible and no tiny holes?
will these spots allow water in?
what about a light painted on gloss coat (full board, just brushed on (without pouring) to keep it thin). necessary?
thanks, nicholas
Nicolas, With the weave showing, you may or may not get water sucking into the foam. It depends on how deep the sand-thru is. As far as a thin gloss: You’ll probably do best by pouring it on. It doesn’t have to be thick. Press down your brush as you work using smooth, long strokes from one end of the board to the other, and hold the brush at a slight angle (like a snow plow) That way the resin will get pushed along and move out to the side of the brush as you go.
And just a word of caution: don’t fiddle with the resin too much. Get it down, then walk away from it so the wax can float to the top and seal off the surface. If you fool around with it, you’ll break the surface seal and get lots of tacky areas that don’t want to gel.
AND…once it sets up, you can always sand it down to reduce weight. But how much is too much sanding? That is the question.
You can spot resin the areas that are showing fabric, but go beyond the weave all around so you can feather in the sanding to get it smooth. Doug