is Add. F the devil

seem to be getting fisheyes in my top coats. and remedies.

Welcome to the world of epoxy. Tell us your process for the hot/gloss coat - exactly step by step including the amount of epoxy you used and the temperature and time of day you applied the stuff.

well first ime was
5 oz epoxy
2.5 hard
2.5 cc f
maybe 4pm 85 f

2nd time last night

3 oz epoxy
1.5 hard
1cc f
6pm at 85 f

the first time i used a brush but did not like the hair falling out of the brush and last night i used a pink glassing roller. the circles are smaller than a dime in size , this sux.

It sounds like a surface tension issue. I read a discussion from Greg Loehr describing that when you use too little of the epoxy it would separate like that - leaving the craters. Zits are typically a dirt issue.

Can you do a test panel? If so, try slopping it on heavier/thicker about twice what you tried above and see if that takes care of the issue.

Also, always gloss on falling temperatures and I like to make sure the surface is uber-clean.

Matt, do you concur?

do a quick wipe with acetone ?

DNA, I never use acetone before epoxy application to avoid contamination, plus the combo of acetone and epoxy is shown to cause health issues...something about transporting it into the blood stream.

how about wurth clean-solve , yea acetone seems to melt the epoxy or get it sticky

Sorry Mark, I've never heard of that product. As you're discovering epoxy isn't always that easy to work with on the gloss coat. Always seems tempermental to me. The surface needs to be expectionally clean and free of residual solvents...the only product I have ever used is Denatured Alky. I've read that Additive F is supposed to eliminate the DNA wipe down, but I've never had success without doing it.

Have you tried Polyester after your hotcoat? Ployester gloss'es up with no issues. That statement probably makes purists cringe, but to get a decent gloss I think it's an easy process. Make sure the board is sealed on your lam and hot/filler coat then use water white polyester for the gloss and save yourself the headache.

i have no problem with the shine i get , i think i will use the denatured alky and no F , how hard do you think it will be to color sand with 1k to 2k wet/dry paper then polish it. i will sand down tonight and try again hoping that it will fill the voids that i left behind from not sanding it all out.

Honestly don't know Mark...only one way to find out! Report back as you grind away!

Hi Mark,

Getting the showroom finish on epoxy is really really tough. Jeff is right -- the easiest way is to use a poly gloss finish on top of your sanded hotcoat.

I've sanded with a progression from 100, 220, 320, 400, 500, 800, 1000, 1200, then buff and polish, and it is acceptable, but still doesn't look like poly gloss.

You probably know -- DO NOT use Acetone around epoxy -- if that combo touches your skin it sends the toxins straight into your bloodstream. For clean up I use a GoJo type cleaner.

WELL THEN , I will sand down as much as i can then coat again and not sand it , the top of the board will have alot of grip on it anyway. i was not going to put a gloss coat on top but it will show off the glitter better on the black back ground. the bottom will be sanded as always.
http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l295/saltyoysters/?action=view&current=lakewakescom_08569.jpg

Filter, filter and filter.

On my prototype I cleaned the heck out of the bottom of the board and got fisheyes.

On the top side a cleaned again, but this time I filtered through one of those anti static mop fabrics. They were what I had within reach. Much better.

ok , cleaned board with denatured alky before i sanded again then cleaned before top coat and only had about 7 fisheyes this time , i am happy about that . you say that you CANT get the gloss back on epoxy after you colorsand with 2k grit like on car paint??

I sand 220, 320, wet 600, wet 1200, wet 2,000 then polish. The end result isn't as glossy as the original epoxy finish but pretty good.

thanks Show ,
not sure what i want to do ,

this is what the pad will look like after i cut it in

bottom art