I have watched the 101 videos and have seen a couple of blanks shaped. In the videos the resin used, both laminating and hot coat, are a clear blue color. When I went to glass my boards I had not looked at the lam resin. It was a darker color, almost a brown other than clear. The board has come out all right, but it is a darker shade than most boards. Does anyone know what different resins there are? The type used in the 101 videos? The type that I used was a 50/50 blend of Ortho/Ico(think thats it)Seacor polyester resin for the lam and the same brand name for the hot coat. The hot coat was also a darker tint. Any help on this would be much appreciated! Thanks!
The most common type used is sylmar 249A. It is blue in color liked you mentioned. Use straight 249A for laminating and use 249A with wax solution for your hot coat. The resin will be blue until you add your catalyst, then it will turn an emerald green. When it kicks it will be clear. I would stay away from mixing resins, especially if it has a brown tint to it. Sylmar 249A when it has been sitting around for a while (especially in the heat) will turn clear and will be thicker. You want to stay away from that, you can use it in a pinch or for setting fin boxes etc. but it is harder to work with and seems to kick at a different rate than the fresh stuff. As long as you get your 249A from a good source you will have no problems.
I forgot whether the Silmar 249A is ortho or iso resin. I thing ortho. The other stuff (I think iso) is much stronger. However, it’s darker and more opaque. Reportedly, mixing ortho and iso resins provides a good lamination compromise between clarity and opacity, between strength and weekness. A mix of the two resins tremendously strengthens glass lamination over a 249A lam job. Glass will lighten any resin used for glassing, and the results of iso/ortho lamination is reportedly acceptible. On the other hand, hotcoat and gloss resin add little strength to a board, and offer no glass to clear out the resin. Use straight Silmar 249A for glass covering aplications.
Thanks for the help guys!! Much Appreciated!