On my latest board I got a weird webpattern on all the hot coats, any Ideas what it is? Wiped the board of with both soap and acetone prior to hot coat. Used RR epoxy. My bay is used for both shaping and glassing and it’s really small (12’x4’) so it’s hard to keep it dust free. Lots of zits as well. Could dust be the problem? Insuff mixing? Something in the soap ( haven’t used that before)?
Do you thinkI can just lie and say it’s a swirl?
Sorry to hear about your troubles. I am going to stir the pot here a bit and hopefully others will join in.
-Where did you get the notion to use either chemical on your board?
Neither is any good for either the board (soap keeps things from sticking) or you (acetone is a flammable co-solvent for epoxy allergies).
I have read that it was an old school practice to wash boards with soap and water to remove epoxy amine blush but the newer resins do not need this.
Best practice is to fill coat epoxy less than 24 hours after the lamination. If longer than 24 hours perform a light sanding and dust off with clean compressed air.
-Did you use Additive F? How much? Glassing room, blank, and epoxy temperature?
Some of that could be your Add F on the surface, any dust zits would be airflow and cleaning up the bay. Small bay should be easier to clean, right?
http://www.swaylocks.com/forums/first-epoxy-glass-job-s is a good thread, Stingray gives the how-to
Yup, Jrandy is right. No acetone with epoxy. Not at any point in the process. No soap either.
Personally, no compressed air either. There will be water and oil and whatever dirt is in the hose getting blown onto the board.
I learned a tip here, and I wish I could remember who posted it so I could give credit. Squeegee on a thin layer of epoxy first, and with a hard scraper, scrape it all off and discard. That first pass is going to scrape off all the contaminates and dust on the board. Then right away, do your hot coat.
For your current situation, I’d sand the hot coat all off one try again
Thanks for your response! I really appreciate it
I read about both of the methods somewhere to get rid of any grease causing fisheyes. I knew acetone + epoxy is a dangerous combination and I don´t like using it but I did this time around anyway. I thought soap would be ok, though, after rinsing thoroughly but maybe that wasn´t such a good idea? No fisheyes on this one. WIll try to just use gloves when handling the laminated blank next time + wipe it of with a damp rag. Eventually I´ll get a heat gun or some way to heat the resin in the bucket so I get rid of the bubbles.
No additive F this time around. Glassing room, blank and epoxy temp all about 64degrees. Guess you´re right that I can´t blame it on the bay size…
Everysurfer- yes, the cheater coat. No idea who ‘started’ it.
64 degrees F is on the cool side for epoxy but I have done it too. I prefer high 70’s to lower 80’s. Some folks microwave the resin side a few seconds to get it lukewarm. No nuking the hardener. Also, any Add F needs to be nice and warm too.
Since you didn’t use Add F the patterns must be from something else.
I would just keep going as ES suggested: sand, cheater coat, second fill coat.
You should wipe it with alcohol, not acetone or soap.
And about heating the resin, I put the part A bottle in a bucket of hot water for a while before mixing the resin.
Works like a charm, but I don’t like the fast hardener, it goes of way too fast with heated resin.
As said above, looks like residue from the acetone. Wipe with DNA or nothing at all. 64 degrees is borderline too cold. Doable, yes, but you are handicapping yourself at that temp. No sense heating your resin if the temp in the room is 64, resin will just cool down almost instantly when it hits the cool board surface. My glassing room is room temp (70ish) but I use a space heater when I’m glassing to get the room close to 80F. Also, why would you NOT use additive F? Greg Loehr doesn’t call it a miracle additive for nothing. Just use it. Finally, the black board will make every little imperfection show. I bet you wouldn’t see the “spider webs” on a clear board. That said, follow all the above prep steps and RR over black would be fine.
Good Idea with the heater.
For this board, I think I will just put some wax on The top, keep The bottom out of sight and go surf it. Thanks for everyones input
what are you mixing the resin in?
plastic, clear beer cups
It looks like the solids in the resin separated a bit. I have seen that happen to cold RR epoxy before. Gotta be warm for epoxy to work correctly. The water bath is a good trick, but I would worry about getting drips of water in my mix bucket. I prefer to keep my resin in a cooler with a reptile heater in it. It’s always about 77° that way.
use polyester resin next time, I don’t get trying to use epoxy in a backyard environment. You’ll save money and hassles.
In saying that theres no need for rubbing down the lam with water/acetone etc. wash your hands before handling the board, key the board up which will remove contaminants, blow it off with an air comp then fill coat as soon as possible. Were i work we add 2-3% xylene to kinetix resin to prevent separations forming.
I made about 150 boards in small to extra small 1 bay with epoxy without problems. Your problem come from temperature, you need at least 20°c and a “warm” resin. Solvent is more a problem than a solution so avoid it especially in small place. Water dish is a good solution for clean Blush that can easily build in cold climat. All lamination epoxy resin are susceptible to Blush more it less, addF is the RR solution to tight against Blush. scrubbe with scotch brit pad and water is one good way to prep surface if you don’t work in good weather.
If you want an easy to do and clean finish, sand, prep and use polyester finish coat.
I use eps block foam so I need epoxy for the lam. Guess I could go for polyester for the hot coat but I work in the basement of a apartment building so I’m worried about the smell. Is it much easier to get good results with?
For the record, I’ve always washed my epoxy boards with dawn dish soap and water and let dry before my finish coat and never had a problem. Dust and oils are the enemies of epoxy both on the surface you are applying to and the containers and tools you use.
Would a light pass with a heat gun help in cold temperatures?
dont clean the board with solvents or water or soap. keep it clean, do next step before resin is completely hard or do a light sand if resin is fully hardened. any colors especially dark colors are difficult to get super clear with epoxy.
So much bad information here.
- a fresh sanded surface is a clean surface. Just brush off board with a bench brush. Don’t touch it. Don’t wipe with water, soap, acetone, simple Green, wheat grass or other lame homemade stuff
- make sure the room and epoxy is about 70 degrees or so. Doesn’t need to be hot, just a normal temp…cold is never good for epoxy.
- use a cup suitable for mixing epoxy…i.e., get a paint pail or paint cup. Red beer cups are not a good choice, or anything that can melt or release plastic juju into the epoxy… Use the right cup, don’t get all cheap!
- fold epoxy to mix…don’t froth / whip it up. Your picture looks like little bubbles in a poorly mixed batch of epoxy cold epoxy… Mix it for a few minutes, scrape sides, bottom etc… Don’t whip it.
- Measure epoxy on a cheap digital scale.
Done… It’s fool proof. Just follow these instructions, and you will never have a problem.