Hi guys,
I am making a board using Epoxy Resin. On previous boards I used Polyester and for the hot coat added Wax in Styrene solution and Acetone (small amount). This worked really well, and I was able to cut back to a really nice glossy finish.
Do you use the same additives with Epoxy Hot Coats, or just a straight Epoxy mix?
Will be laying up tonight, so any advice today would be great.
Thanks
As above, the resins are very different. you add wax to polyester to exclude air from the surface layer, as air inhibits the resin setting. Great for laminating coats, it lets the next layer bond really well, but makes sanding/polishing almost impossible.
Epoxy setting isn't inhibited by air, cold is the biggest inhibitor. as long as it's warm enough most epoxys properly mixed will be sandable in a day or so. But don't expect to get the same polish, epoxy isn't as hard as polyester and won't polish to quite as bright a finish, (well I haven't been able to).
And don't try and add more hardener to make it go off faster, if you want a "hot" coat you have to find a faster hardener.
^^^+1 for gods sake don't add wax or try and make a coat of epoxy go off fast
Yup no such things as a hot coat with epoxy. Dunno if you will find a clear resin/hardener combo AND a fast hardener to acheive what u can with a polyster hot coat - the fastest hardener I have takes a couple of hours not ten mins and is not clear enough (yellowy)
You can sand and buff if you wish but won't get a clear gloss like a surfboard easily, that's why almost all epoxy boards are painted. Also epoxies yellow in the sun so a clear epoxy surfboard won't be for long... unless you buy a non-yellowing system, and then it isn't fast.
If you want it to look like a polyester surfboard but be mega glossy clear, better off with sanding and spray with a 2K clear
addative F from resin research is just some parafin wax in Xylene. you use it kind of like you do for polyester resins but only at about 1% instead of about 2% with poly.
only use on the hot coat aw with polly unless you want to do more sanding.
it supposedly makes for a harder finish. better to sand or something. Look up "resin research", but note it might not work with other epoxys as well.
Hi guys
I just launched a new resin Epoxy/Acylic. With Epoxy you can add xylene, though that's what we tried to get rid of in ours. www.sanded.com.au/pages/surfset-resins
PM me if you want to ask any epoxy questions
^^ I'd be interested to try but your website says it has to go dangerous goodS (crazy expensive). Soooo:
(1) are you sure, another brand does normal post....
(2) if post is d.g do you have a WA stockist I can buy from?
Ta
Thanks Mark
Yep.. the other brand I don't know how the do it? I looked into it and if I got caught the fines are out of this world!!
Plan is that we get a manufacturer rep and a retail outlet in WA! So if I can ask without annoying the mods.. Which retail shops are the ones you guys buy off over there? I have googled and got some recommendations- though want to ask the people who would use it? And hopefully get into the right shops for surfers, windsurfers and kiters.
If you can get it stocked at
Fibreglass and Resin Sales in Kewdale
Kirkside Products or Colin Earle Surf in Osborne Park
And / or one windsurf or surf shop that is reasonably central, then that would be do WA guys just fine I reckon.
I am 400km away from Perth though, so that's why I asked about post.
The other mob over there on the wrong side of Oz who are happy to post say it is not a D.G issue, dunno why... they also claim a lot less solvents in their product than say West Systems. Maybe that's why? Although I can't see any epoxy is less flammable than others.... I have also bought Devcon metal filled epoxy from USA cheap and normal post twice - geez that would have even gone airmail.....
If u can send normal post, not d.g, so a 4L kit costs me $20 post or something I'd be in as that still makes it way cheaper than the main few brands avail here and it would seem a superior product.
