I finished my first board and have started my next one. Using the Solarez UV resin was super easy but I am thinking about trying the RR epoxy. How much would I need to do a 5'6" mini log...lam. and hotcoat? All I know is the ratio is 2:1 and additive F is a must. Do you mix a surfacing agent for the RR hotcoat or is it different? Any tips are welcome!!! Thanks!
You don't need as much epoxy as you do poly, which is good, because the stuff is expensive. You have time to work, so there's no need to pour a "resin curtain" down your lap. Simply spread the stuff out, let it soak into the cloth, then start pulling and lapping. I can get by with about 12oz for a single 4oz bottom, and about 15oz. for a double 4oz deck. That's total mixed material at a 2:1 ratio. Laminations get 1cc of Add F per oz. of hardener; double that for hotcoats. Hotcoats are a little more than an oz per board foot of mixed material. So for a 6'0, I'll mix about 9oz and get some on the floor. Letting it flow out will get you a nice, even hotcoat. There's lots of tricks to help minimize waste that you'll figure out as you go.
The resin hardener mix for the lam and hotcoat is the same the only difference is that you use twice the amount of additive F on the hotcoat. There is no surfacing agent used other than additive F which I think has wax in it, I have seen it coagulate when I left it in the cold. Epoxy drys non tacky at every coat and is able to bond to itself that way, unlike polyester resin that needs to be tacky for the hotcoat to stick. You will need about 2 quarts of resin and one quart of hardener. There will be leftover if you skip the gloss coat. I never do a gloss coat anymore, seems like a waste of money and adds a ton of weight, I would just sand finish and seal after the hotcoat. Epoxy is back breaking to bring to a shine anyhow. Lets see the first board!
As a beginning shaper/glasser you should count on having to put on a gloss coat (really a second hot coat) because most likely you will have a lot of burn-throughs to the weave when sanding your hot coat. You need to seal these burn-throughs or else they will wick water. The best way to do it is with another thin hot coat (or gloss coat, same thing). You don't have to go all the way polishing the gloss coat, but at least sand it to 220-400grit or so. Get your resin from Greenlight. Brian is the best. Get the new Quick Kick Resin Research. Same price, cures faster, stronger.
To add to the good info that's already been given, Add F has wax, and is a surface agent. But, it also addresses other issues older epoxy systems had... namely amine blush. while the epoxy without Add F might cure tack free, it may blush, which can compromise the bond with your next layer. Add F also increases barcol hardness, which helps resist dings and denting. I use it in every batch I shoot because of the cooler temps and higher humidities we have here in Jerz. It also helps make the resin a bit less viscus, which helps wetout.
Wow, looks great! Love the color work, is that pigment or did you spray it? Great job, can't wait to hear how it rides.
Thanks Zippy! Spray with Kraylon h2o and laid it off with a foam brush to give it more of a resin look. Can't wait to get it in the water, hopefully it's surfable and not a total dog.
Every board I have made is surfable and yours will be also. It's really cool to see what different rail shapes, fins etc do to the way it rides. Even the boards I have made that were terrible could still be ridable if I wanted to take the time to get to know them. It's just too much fun to start a new one and try to get it just right. I love that krylon H20 and have used it on a couple of boards.
If you're talking about waste, yea... there's always a couple of foamy oz left in the bucket. If you're talking about too much resin in the lam, no. My laminations are tight and flat, with no dry spots or puddles. Every time.
Agree with LB Crew on this one. 12 oz mixed material for a single 4 oz epoxy lam is not too much, nor is 15 oz for the double-4 top. (Assuming a 6ft shortboard or fish). ESPECIALLY for a beginner. LB Crew is a very experienced glasser (I think) and you should use at least 10-20% more than him if you are new to laminating epoxy. Hot coats you can be closer to LB Crew's numbers, but be generous with lams.
All true, nothing worse than wetting out the flats and finding there is not enough to soak the laps. Having extra is better than having to rush a mix to complete the job before it goes tacky although that rarely happens with Resin Research.
Do you guys wet out the laps with a squeegee, like with poly resin, or something else? I read somewhere that you can paint the rails with RR then fold the laps down. I'm really comfortable working with the poly but if there is a better way with RR I'll try it. Also, how much Additive F will I need for one board either 5'6" or 7'10? Thanks.
You heard right... You can cut your cloth, fold up the lap, and paint the rail, from the apex down and around to where your lap edge will be. Don't go above the apex, or you you can have problems with the cloth bunching up. Then fold back down your cloth, pour out the resin, and start spreading. Spread it all out on the flats, let it soak in, then start to pull, lapping the dry cloth onto the wet rail. The extra step can help minimize waste. Use the volumes above to figure how much Add F you'll need, but everybody sells it in quantity. So get a bottle, and use as needed, but a couple oz. of the stuff is plenty for one board.
Did you have any problems with the color going into the white when you were sanding it? I've used carbon fiber on the rails for a stringerless board, and for some reason when I'm sanding the line between cf and the main part of the board, it kind of bleeds over. It is totally dry, but still gets "in" the white area.
