Has anyone out there used a white pigment to tint a resin as opposed to an opaque? I’m making a board for a customer that will leave the board exposed to sunlight. To prevent the foam from discoloring(yellow), I’m debating between spraying the blank white or using a white tint in the resin so the stringer is still visible. The customer is wants an all white board w/o color. Any suggestions about what would be the better choice?
M.
Yes, I started doing it on my personal boards in the late 60’s. It takes very little to get the best effect. Think of a glass of milk you just emptied, and then refilled with clear water. You want that cloudy/ clear look. When you lay-up your board it will look clear to anyone that has not been told that you added pigment. One drawback, it takes very little pigment to weaken the glass.(dent prone) If you intend to tint both sides, mix a double batch, and use half on each side. It does retard yellowing from sun exposure.
Bill hit this one right on. One more thing that helps is to filter you resin after you add the pigment.
I sprayed the foam white on a couple…seemed to work well, too.
I’ve only white PIGMENTED [not tinted !] a multi-coloured fin panel, so I can’t help you on the white tinting a board issue, sorry. From what Bill says, it sounds fine though…
ben
MW-
Good info from both BT and Bagman on the benefits of a little pigment in your lam. I use it often with epoxy. Have done some tints with faint gray and very pale blue etc. with good results. An old pair of panty hose goes a long way for filtering your batches, just cut off a section and stretch it over the mouth of your quart mixing cups. Filtering your pigmented resin takes care of those little bits of unmixed pigment that seem to screw up your color work from time to time. Always good to strain your glossing resin mix too to cut down on the final finishing steps. Good luck.
Tom S.
BINGO on the filter! It’s an absolute must.
The faint white is a great suggestion! Here is the ultimate “stay white” method: Spray the blank white but not on the stringer. When you lam, add 3-4 drops of white pigment per side (slightly less on the deck than the bottom). We used to call this color “jizz clear”. The two of these methods make for a board that stays white longer.
Best method to keep a board white is to avoid excessive sunshine. Keep the board out of the sun except when surfing it…
My thoughts exactly about keeping the board out of the sun!!! With the white tint, do you recommend a cut lap and inlay technique so there isn’t a visible color difference between the overlaping top layer of tinted cloth? Then after that, a clear resin/cloth on the deck overlapping the rails onto the bottom. I’m thinking back to doing regular color tints. There is a visible (usually darker) color difference at the overlapping cloth around the rails and extending to the bottom side of the board.
M.
I had the same concerns, and as a result ended up doing variations. I’ve done this trick successfully with polyester, epoxy, and AST resin. As long as the white pigment is ‘tint’ rather than opaque, I found that typical free-lapping techniques to be very good. “Tint” implies about 4 drops for the bottom and 3 drops of white for the deck (assuming 2 layers of cloth). I even put logos under the outer cloth no problems and the excess of resin from the free lap onto the blank presented no problems either. I imagine if too much pigment (we are assuming typical “out of jar” concentrations) is used then problems may arise. Keep it simple and you won’t be disappointed. The board will look cleanest w/o cut laps…HTH.
Thrailkill - hi on that filter note, I’ve always used the nylons untill recently, but I found that my local art shop sells small silk screens made for printing, they are about 4" in diameter and cost about £2.50 each, and work much better