So I’ve had some problems with sanding my homemade gloss coats on my last boards.
Since I can’t get a hold of real gloss resin I mix my own.
5% SA and 10% styrene and UV cure.
Once on the board I let it even out for about 10 minutes then I start my sunbed for about 30 seconds, let it rest for 10 more minutes and then cure it under the sun bed.
The surface turns cloudy from the wax. Really slippery tack-free surface.
The problem comes when I start sanding it with 320 grit paper. The paper clogs up in no time and it takes forever to remove the surface and get the sanded satin feel.
I am not sure if I am using too much or too little SA. My guess is too much since the board fills up with wax residue as I would have been using a pen eraser all over it.
Been trying to go down to coarser grits and it feels like it goes better at around 180, but still not easy to sand out.
I have solved the problem by doing it all wet 320/400/600/800 but I don’t like the feeling of not really know the result straight away + the mess. The board still fills up with wax but it seems less of a problem when wet sanding.
Any advice?
I need to have a solution for this problem before I gloss more boards.
I wish my gloss sanded as easy as the fibreglass hawaii movie on youtube.
Next time, try it with MEKP instead of UV and see if that changes anything. Not using the UV lights won’t be any more difficult and a gloss coat will harden up relatively quickly in comparison(few hours ready to sand) If you have the same issue, you can maybe deduce it is your SA. I have never had this issue but I do not use UV. Usually my gloss coats are hard to get the low grit stuff to even start to make scratches when starting sanding(I go sanded finish) and have never had a gloss coat gum up my paper.
You could go one further and add a little MEKP to your mixture in addition to the UV powder. This might help it cure up harder.
Maybe someone else can weight in, as it may also be the worst advice ever given.
Print out the green light surf supply Surfacing Wax and MEKP chart. it has not failed me. Do hotcoats and gloss coats with MEKP. fully catalyze these at 2%. UV resin and sanding coats do not mix well unless you have a lot of experience. You are on the money MrMacdugal. Let the MEKP gel the hotcoat/glosscoat until you can pull the tape. Pull the tape and then let it sit for a few more minutes. Then stick it in the sun for a full cure. This method has worked well for me Good luck!
The greenlight chart has not failed me either. They make it super easy for dummies like me. The only time the chart failed me was when I actually forgot to add the MEKP(not the charts fault)
Man was that frustrating
Combination of time and also the wax paper trick. Time was the real ticket. Just waiting and trying to decide what to do next to solve it and each day it had dried or hardened slightly more. after about a week it was hard as a regular hot coat, sort of and just proceeded as normal. That board already broke unfortunately. Probably due to my sucking
