James get some painters tack cloths. To wipe your surface down. Just before you apply your resin. The floor damp it down. To prevent dust being kicked up. Whilst you're working. Hope this helps.
It's dust, James. Hoover the boat from stem to stern, including the ceiling and walls, then wipe the board down with proper tack cloth, before applying the resin. This is why proper paint shops have sealed rooms with fans and air filters. Just you, moving around, is shedding skin flakes and dust from your clothes. Get some of those disposable overalls. Good luck for the top coats.
I know it’s dust not air bubbles - I’m going to try to hoover and clean everything many times - keep movements to a minimum and stay off the boat. I’ll cover the piece once the resin is down and leave it
If you’re going to be sanding down the resin, I would recommend doing a second coat so you don’t sand through it. Also remember to wear that respirator when you were sanding the resin. Probably a good idea to start with a lower grit, sandpaper and work your way up, but not too high to keep that matte finish. Good luck!
Follow all the previous cleaning advice and also very important, once you have finished the coating build a tent of plastic sheeting over the whole project. There is a huge amount of airborne dust around falling on the still wet coating.
Doing the underside, is a test on what has to be done on the top, he'll see? ;-) That's why you should do passenger side auto body repairs first, for practice.
If you are doing a dark or opaque apoxy then you can use car body filler on the edges sanded back for a strong smooth edge or you can make a faux stone edge by slapping it on and sanding back the high spots. Nice effects can be acheived.
Some of your power tools like the track saw have hoover attachments.... If you attach a hoover with a long hose then that will catch some dust at source. Or, like someone else suggested already, do the sawing and routing outside.
There’s no more sawing to be done until the resin is on so I’m just going to clean and clean again. I did try the hoover hose on the router but it was nearly impossible to see or use
You need a much better dust free environment to get a good finish on the top. Get enough plastic dust sheets to create a tent around your working area (including ceiling and floor!) and disposable coveralls (ideally two sets, one for each worktop). Do all the prep, routing and sanding, then hoover. Spray around with a fine mister (this traps dust particles floating in the air). Leave to dry. Tape the plastic sheets around your working area, leaving an overlapping curtain entrance. Clean the top surface of the piece you're going to work on, put on the coveralls and move the piece inside the tent. Now you're ready to pour.
That is looking really good James, the only advice I can give regarding resin is try warming it up before mixing it.I used it years ago in my work and we kept it at temperature whilst mixing and pouring.
Treat yourself to some silicone jugs for mixing your resin as any remaining epoxy is super easy to remove so you can reuse it, also definitely treat yourself to a car paint buffer kit and a great selection of super fine wet and dry up to 5000 sandpaper this will really help, sanding, then using cutting compound and buffing will really give the best finish. Plus you get to use it again when you paint the outside of the boat 😉🤗
800 grit is still very coarse and scratchy on a hard surface. In my experience you’ll need to go down to about 2000 or 2500 grit to get a smooth Matt surface which is also hygienic. Halfords do a polishing pack of wet and dry which would do you or it’s available online.
That’s good to know - I have 1500 grit but that’s it. I’ll be testing this out a few times before the main pour. Wet and dry is the way to go I think too
Hi James when your doing your Epoxy top when you have finished applying it, when it's still wet run a blow touch over the top and it will pop any little bubbles and it will level out before it sets. This can also be done on the edges when you let it roll over if needed. Doing a great job we love your videos I watch it with my wife 👍
Looking good. You should put the black pigment in before the hardener as it will give you a bit more time before it goes hard. Put the hardener in last.
Hi james, i used to work with Epoxy on a much smaller scale when doing my art but apply heat a small handheld blow torch to it after you pour it on to erradicate the air bubbles. 😊
Hope you don't mind me saying (and you might be finished this now anyway) but it's a good idea to use a respirator with an organic vapour cartridge when using epoxy. It can be pretty nasty stuff and you can develop issues with it. Polyester and polyvinyl definitely need a respirator.👍
Don’t burn it though….Resin can be a world of pain. I did a lot of art work with it. Weighing the solution gives you the wrong formula ,it’s by volume not weight - the hardener is heavier than resin….. I can’t remember, you need to look it up. The final finish will be softer otherwise. The room needs to be scrupulously clean I built a tent over the work. You will never get all the dust out of the room. Good luck.
It's likely too late to suggest this, but general clean up (vacuuming) of the area, would help prevent dust infiltration, also as part of your prep work, especially for the top (visible) surfaces, "tack cloths" would help in removing dust from the panels, before applying the resin? ;-)
The resin looks pretty tricky to use but I think you are on top of it. And if you are going to buff it down to a duller finish it'll probably look perfect. I think the dust particles in the first coat are probably 90% just from the bare wood (especially being picked up from the routed out channel). The second thicker pour may well come out much less contaminated. How are you going to get enough on the edges? Good luck with it all.... thank god for the bigger brush!
Did you see the 'dressed fleas' in the museum? I went there when I was at school in Tring over sixty years ago and I believe they are still there! Good work. Regards, Doug
your working it to much James, pour it, spread it, leave it. then blow torch quickly to get rid of the bubbles. work quickly then leave the boat so you don't disturb the air. Also you need to totally clean the boat then leave it for a day to settle the dust.
@@jcgreen926 I think you’re right but I’m not 100% sure - they don’t feel like air bubbles tbh but I’m coming to use a blow torch for sure - got a few more practices before the main pour Thanks
Hi James. Fabulous build and brilliant attention to detail too. May I suggest that for the epoxy finish, you build a clean room area with polythene, just big enough to work in and vacuum the floor prior to applying the resin, including a small area to stand on before entering. There is a lot of air contamination at the moment due to the various sanding, sawing and related work. Also keep an un-opened cover all inside this area which you can put on before starting work in there. Good luck with this job as it’s going to be the focal point of the whole build. Keep the videos coming as I can’t wait to see the finished job.
Yes my plan is to shield the area after lots of cleaning. Once the resin is down I was going to arrange a cover so no dust can fall on it during the cure
Routing inside? Why can't you put it on the towpath.... do it outside? Doing it inside, the dust will just be in the air inside the boat and settle on your wet epoxy.
