.
As Larry Bertlemann famously said, “Anything is possible.”
Sand it with ever finer grits of paper, just like you would with polyester resin. You may not get a showroom finish, but it will shine.
Get some DuPont urethane paint additive 259S and add that to the resin. Flows like glass. I’d use KK resin too.
getting a good shine on epoxy is perfectly doable… it just takes a little more effort. sand it all the way up to 1600 grit, then compound and polish it up to a nice shine. it is possible to get that mirror wet look, if you’re willing to work for it! i also find it helpful to heat the resin prior to laying down the gloss coat (before you mix in the hardener, obviously), and i also add a cap of denatured alcohol to the mix alongside a double dose of the ever important “Additive F”. good luck!!!
RDJ, here, has been polishing out his epoxy boards to a very impressive shine. Might want to reach out to him.
I also believe that Matt Campbell (of ResinX) has a new product that glosses-out and is usable on epoxy boards.
I'm quite confident that I could get a nice gloss on epoxy. I just get lazy and stop when its just an OK gloss.
Greg,
You just dropped some serious knowledge on us here. Quick google search shows that Dupont 259S in the $25-30 per pint range. Please expand on use. How much per ounce of mixed epoxy? Is it good for hot coats too? Or just stick with gloss coats? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Sunovas are epoxy and polished to a bright shine. Looks like gloss rein to me, so it can be done.
Got the tip from longtime epoxy guru Henry Fry about a year ago. Epoxy glossing has always been a crap shoot with many variables. There are still some variables like all glossing but if you keep it clean and have everything prepped right this stuff works. For hot coats Additive F is still the call but for glossing this goes a step further in that direction. Use in the prescribed amount … not expensive compared to all that sandpaper.
A big thanx for that tip. Just happen to have some in my shop and just ready to glass a new board with KK.
150 (not always necessary depending on how smooth your gloss coat is)
220
320
400
600
800
1000
1200
1500
2000 (not necessary because most compounds are lower grit but I like using it)
Compound
Polish
You have to be very thorough with the grits to get rid of all of the scratches from the previous grit. It helps to have a good variable speed grinder for the high grits. You can use a random orbital for the lower grits.
As Hackeysacky said, CD3’s (Resin-X Matt) Clear Coat is an excellent alternative option for epoxy gloss coats. You can brush it or spray it and it will gloss up better than epoxy.
I don't think anyone's mentioned it yet, so I'll just ask: Doesn't epoxy polish better when its had a few weeks to "cure"? I know pe can be buffed up pretty quick after it sets up, but epoxy doesn't "kick", it dries, then cures after awhile?
Make sure you follow Gregs advise here about only using the Dupont 259S product on the final gloss coat. I was thinking about trying it, and did some Googling. I found a discussion about it on the hotrodders.com forum.
http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/fisheye-eliminator-129409.html
These guys state that adding it to the hot coat will inhibit adhesion, and cause more fish eyes in subsequent coats. They are talking about paint, but it’s probably has the same effect on epoxy.
I just finished a board with Merton's system 3 SB112. I didn't like it when I used it before, but I had some leftover, and so I thought I'd use it again, so I could use up the old stuf... When will I learn?
its doing the same thing it did before, driving me nuts with ripples and fisheyes on the gloss coat. It goes down smooth, but just won't stay that way. The lam and hotcoats are fine, but that last coat, aarrgghh!
So, since I'm ready to gloss (after I sand the crappy finish off LOL), where can I get this "KK and Dupont 259S"??
Or whatever anyone suggests - I'm all ears.
I have a product from BASF called R-M 812 fisheye eliminator. I used it in the mix to paint my truck, but the fellow at the shop had never heard of it being added to epoxy. I can’t find enough info on this and the Dupont product to compare them. Does anyone have any experience with this product or should I just get on with the experimenting?
Thanks for the info gents.
I dunno. I just tried to buy the DuPont product and was told it was illegal to sell it in California. They tried to sell me another product from DuPont at about $100/pint, but I declined.
You might check posts by Jeff (llilibel03) - he has had some great epoxy gloss results.. http://www2.swaylocks.com/forums/my-annual-build-thread-giant-squid
hey rhdubois,
Let me start by saying i am NO expert but this is what has worked for me.
After hot coat, sand with 100 grit to to take all shine out.
tape rails and apply a surfboard gloss coat ( call Foam EZ, they carry…ask for grant). I do my in a plastic tent with racks…will eliminate all those specs…check out pic
flip and repeat
hit rails with 300 grit then board with 300 400 600…wet 1000…all by hand
apply 2 coats of surfboard Polish…again Foam EZ
and 2 coats of Car wax.
Dont know if this is over kill but here are pis of out come.
dg
just another garage builder
https://swaylocks7stage.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/IMG_0212.JPG