Trying a new technique in search of that final finishing touch to my boards. In the past I’ve glossed with epoxy, but as we all know - epoxy doesn’t polish as well and the thread on fixing a polyester board with epoxy made me think I should leak and fill with epoxy and gloss with poly. So I got some to try.
what is the best application for this? Guessing same as epoxy - with a chip brush?
thanks!
I do it a lot with success, for sure not as strong as epoxy, gloss can spider web or chip a bit if dinged but no drama for me just an easy repair. So first let cure fully epoxy layer. Then sand/scuff it thoroughly with coarse grit, no higher than 80 grit, then use isophtalic resin apply with brush. You can clean poly brush well with acetone.
Thanks!
Yes the key is to sand your Epoxy hot coat really well for a good bond. The problems people complain about are so minimal that they are not likely. Unlikely that your gloss will chip or spider. So unlikely, it’s not worth fretting over.
Yes good prep for mechanical bond and fully cured epoxy for chemical reactive free surface. Some epoxy (cheap with solvant) can inhibit poly cured but not most good 2:1 epoxy used for surfboards building nowadays.
Last trick is to poly cover a “stiff” epoxy skin, a single 4oz epoxy on soft eps is so flexy that stiffer lower stretchable poly gloss will cheap easier. And do this poly layer thin.
Thanks guys. Exactly what I was looking for.
I plan to Lam with RR and hot coat with Keli Kick over volan… let cure… sand completely with 80 then apply a gloss poly.
Full polish after.
Oh Lemat - I’ve never worked poly. Typically epoxy loosing surface tension when very thin. Is poly not the same? Do you achieve thinness by just pressing harder with the brush to move more material? Or squeegee for a film type cover?
thanks
Poly had solvant in so you can spread it thin without problems and it flatten well.
Me, I’d sand with 100 grit. But that’s just me. Plenty of ‘‘tooth’’ and even smoother.
A lot of excellent advice and dedicated threads in the archives relating to Gloss coats. First off start with the best Gloss Resin; " Reichold". Still the best. If it ain’t Purple, it ain’t Reichold. There are lots of tricks that will make it spread thin, even, and no brush strokes. There are lots of tricks that will give you a scratchless Wet&Dry sand and Polish. Thin and even is the key. Wet&Dry sand the resin. You sand it, you do not sand it off.
I used this resin first but can’t have it anymore, moved to silmar249bb, then to iso10X. Find this last one better for elastic strengh, good over epoxy, but not so good for a real deep polish finish like with Reich old top gloss. I don’t care I do mat finish LOL
Most is said already…
I glass and give an additional epoxy coat (Fillcoat/Hotcoat). Let it cure completely, which may take week, depending on epoxy used. Sand as descibed above (I used 400grit, orbital sander, with lots of water, i.e. wetsanding)
I do not know what the others recommend, but I use a 2k PU Boat varnish and apply it with a spraygun. Far better results than brushing and coming after with a special foam brush to get rid of micro bubbles…, the stuff hardens quite fast)
I ´m not a professional and I can live with minor flaws, but spraying improved my finished boards a lot. I have no need for further polishing. And the varnish get more scratch resistant than epoxy. If you have a friend doing car repairs, they may spray and varnish it for you.
2k pu varnish is probably best way to finish epoxy but need go tools and well ventilated painter cabinet, very toxic product/process.
Great points and I have finished all my epoxy boards with epiphanes 2 part varnish with good results, but still doesn’t polish as well as poly.
if I were able to spray then I probably wouldn’t need to wet sand, but I’ve been applying with a foam brush which isn’t as good as spraying I’m sure.
I do not know how the technique is called, but you can roll on the varnish with a foam roller, and more or less immediately after you need to follow with a foam brush. Best somebody is helping.
This gets quite good results.
My spray gun is motor driven and cost new about 30€. It gives even better results.
I think that’s called the roll and tip off method.
ok I’ll look for the spray gun if I go back to varnish. It does yield nice results and solid UV protection for boards
Hell! Thei last time I lammed an EPS blank with Epoxy, I did the hotcoat with Poly UV. The guy has rode the p!$$ out of it for the last couple of years.
Now would be a good time for someone to drop Kokua’s personal gloss recipe. I’m sure there’s some old threads where he explained it all.
I’ve never glossed, and I sadly haven’t saved any of that golden info that he freely shared for years. No doubt one of you old codgers has it handy, though. ** ; )**
I’ve never heard of this but gladly standing by if someone does!
in the meantime I’ll do some searches
It’s back in the archives somewhere. I do something everybody else would say “never do”. I use Reichold for Gloss(and only Reichold). I buy it in pint cans. It lasts longer that way. Longer shelf life because I am not exsposing it to air like I would with a gallon or a five every time I open it. I add a cap full of wax solution to whatever amount I am using. I then do the big “no-no” and thin it. Not with Styrene, but Acetone. It’s a judgement call on how thin. I probably thin in the neighborhood of 5%. Amount depends on how long my Reichold has sat around on the shelf and thickened. I can lay it on and lay it off real fast that way. I use a 3 or 4" brush. Pour and spread and then lay it off. Most of the time these days I don’t even cross stroke. Nice, even and thin. Then when I sand, I am careful not to over sand. A thick gloss coat is harder to sand and polish. Brush strokes are harder to get out etc. it’s a finish coat not a filler coat. You did that when you hot coated.