Andy, you are 95% there with your explanations, I see so much bad glue advice on RU-vid it makes my head spin. This was not one of those times. I’ve been in the structural adhesive formulation and mfg biz for 27 yrs. If you want to talk smart about glue, drop me a note an we can figure out a way to make that happen. Always willing to spread my knowledge around and fill in that last 5% if you are interested.
This was so helpful to me. You helped me recognize some aspects of working with 5:1 Epoxy that I had experienced but was not observant enough to draw conclusions about. BTW I really appreciate that you are a genuine dude in your videos. Real people are my favorite people.
Nice summary Andy. You did mention that epoxies can take a long time to fully cure. That can have an impact on painting. In my experience if you plan to paint over epoxy, it is best to give the epoxy time to reach a full cure before painting. If you paint too soon you may find, depending on the paint you use, that the paint takes a LONG time to fully dry.
Don’t flap at hornets or wasps Andy. They release a pheromone that alerts other hornets/wasps, like a “help! I’m being attacked”. That explains why when a wasp comes for a sniff of your ice cream and you knock it away, five more turn up 😂 Really informative video again. Thanks for posting.
I mixed some fast hardener on board one day in Fl. Very hot day! Mixed resin and hardener fine, before I got the thickener it it became so hot , I thought it was going to catch on fire. I had to toss it over. This was a very small batch too, I thought I could get in on before it started to set, no way! Seldom ever use fast here, even in the winter. Slow or tropical is all I use now.
I asked for a supply of chop strand mat for Christmas and my son was able to purchase it. Not really understanding the differences in types, he purchased some that can be used with polyester or epoxy so, I'm assuming it's a power binder. I couldn't tell the difference. I was just glad to see that it said I could use epoxy and I have used it. I can't tell you if there's any real difference. I haven't done any testing but it seemed to work just fine. It softened up and wetted out, and stuck were it was supposed to stick.
Andy you are a badass. Thank you. Such a great explanation. Even my girlfriend came and watched it. But I think it was because you kept using words like harder stuff faster etc. now that I think about it even the phrase “gel coat” perked her ears up. I have no idea. 😉 thanks.
Andy, quick question. Removed stainless clamshell wire cable vent cover for new finder plug and found rot in-between the two fiberglass deck layers. Should I epoxy with fillers "peanut butter" or fill with 5200? Only goes back about 1/2" or so 360 degrees around the hole. Thanks.
The error in pouring to a line is more common than the difference in density by weight. I’m still using the volume measure but to say that it will be more precise in proportion, I can’t see that.
I'd have been interested to see the hardener test with a more realistic sample - in the big batches once they start cooking off, they go really fast. But if you spread a coat of epoxy out over glass for instance, even the fast one isn't going to cook off. So is the time to recoat hardness for instance, proportional to the cook-off times? I don't know but that would be interesting info. If I'm glassing and encapsulating a plywood hull, it wouldn't be a huge problem to mix up a batch of fast hardener, spread it out on the hull, do a second batch, spread it, etc. If the fast hardener is going to get to recoat sticky in 2 hours then I could get the glass and three coats of epoxy on in about 6-7 hours. And the medium hardener would take 12-13 hours which is starting to be pretty long and the slow hardener would have me hoping I could do the third coat in the am the next day.
probably a stupid question but that is my trademark polyester (excluding gelcoats) is generally not resistant to uv light, it either cure quicker and with prolonged exposure breaks apart into dust i know because as an electrician i often have to deal with early 2000's electrical boxes where top layer of resin turned to dust and exposed some raw glass fiber and we paint those with chlorinated rubber paints as a conservation back to the question how does epoxy reacts to light, i mean raw transparent resin? there is a lot of those carbon fiber laminates that show internal structues of the fabrics trough transparent resin and i was wondering if that a special uv resistant epoxy or just a regular epoxy holds well against uv
As a general rule epoxies do not do well when exposed to sunlight. That said, there are UV resistant resins that do better, but are still not great. Those carbon fiber layups where you can see the fabric likely have a coat of highly UV resistant clear coat over the epoxy. The most UV/sunlight resistant epoxy is the one with paint over it.
So is it worth me getting a small amount of polyester filler/resin to practice gel coating? I've got tubs of epoxy for repairs/filling but no polyester resin, and wanted to try some gel coating.
Are you able to laminate different kinds of epoxy without fully curing? Using system 3 cold cure, ran out and have west systems epoxy resin. System 3 is in gel stage can we use the west systems to do a second layer of fibreglass to get a chemical bond? Or do we wait until it’s fully cured?
Doing a completely new deck on a boat, in Florida. I am getting that I should use 2:1 to seal the new plywood and to secure it to the structure. When doing the glass lay up for the deck, do I just need to sand and acetone whip before the next layer of glass if I miss my window?
HELP! My boat got struck by lightning and got on fire... inferno kind of type. My question: is it possible to restore fiberglass that has been exposed to intens heat and burnt?
Do you ever use or recommend using a plastic sheet to cover epoxy fiberglass work to let it set up and then you can peel it off leaving a smooth finish?
You need to use peel ply if you are doing that with epoxy so it stops the aiming blush on the surface. The aiming blush still happens but it happens on the outside of the peel ply and comes off with you rip it off
not so much a question related exactly to the topic BUT i'm getting ready to make a custom mold for a part which is about 6ft long by 12in wide if i brushed gelcoat on the plug and the gel wasn't exactly mixed exactly correct. IF i then follow with resin and CSM (to make the mold) would i be ok ? or will i be peeevved after a few hours?
Thanks. Really helpful. Now I understand why I have to mix 100g base plus 47g hardener. Didn't make sense before. Guess if you're mixing hardeners, you should stay in the same brand as well as ratio family. Super helpful, thanks.
Hey man could you please help out with your personal opinion. I applied and buffed off wax 3x. I then sprayed 3 coats of pva. I then applied a coat of gel coat, turned out good. I waited nearly 3 hours then applied another coat of gel coat. Unfortunately after the second coat my gel coat wrinkled on my as if it shrunk! Most importantly What did I do wrong? Second most important question is can I keep moving on with the project or do I have to attend to this before moving on and applying my epoxy/fiberglass lay up? I would greatly appreciate any advice you would be able to provide. Just please please please be as detailed as possible. Thank you kindly.
Priority #1 is getting the new shop up and running, then get the Bertram moved here so that project can get wrapped up :-) After that? I'll be looking at potential project boats over the Summer to keep me busy and out of trouble for the Winter lol
I have a question for anyone that can answer. I want to use polyurethane paint on the bottom of my boat instead of the anti fouling paint that's on it now. Is there anything other than sanding off the existing paint that I need to do to prep my boat for painting? My boat will be trailered and not stored in water which is why I'm choosing to not use the anti fouling paint and I want a nice smooth bottom instead of the coarse finish of ablative anti fouling paint. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Sand it to 120 then use glazing putty or filler to fill in all the minor imperfections, sand them bits again then use a primer to seal the gelcoat, filler/glaze and GRP, if you have lots of small imperfections that be a waste of time sanding flat you can use a High Build primer and run extra coats over the dodgy bits. You need to do the primer stage or you won't get the proper lifetime of the paint. I've seen un-primered paintjobs last one summer and winter and it peeled off. Clean the area prior to sanding and make sure it's especially clean when you get to bare fiberglass, as you will sand the contamination in. Buy lots of sanding pads in 80 and 120 grit and keep the sander running quite slow so you don't gum the pad up. When you get the black rubbery stuff smearing on the gelcoat that's the oily rubbery contamination so don't drag it into the bare fiberglass and ideally dab some iso on It then when it dries out you wipe it off with another iso soaked cloth. That should take most of it off and even the parts that it misses will have been dried out so sand off easily. If you smell glue during the sanding phase back off and let the GRP and sanding pad cool as it will either be the epoxy in the GRP or the epoxy on the sticky bit of the sanding pad melting. Don't use rags that leave lint when you're cleaning up... and once again, Keep Everything Clean and if you are rollering then buy an epoxy roller.
Also, don't go too glossy underneath unless you want the boats characteristics at speed or tight turning changed. I repeated tell small boat owners (mainly dejon) that they are already a bit skiddy during high speed turns, then they want me to paint it to a car like finish with spray guns, only to come back and ask for a less slippy coat on the bottom 3rd as the boat is "gunna kill someone" with their 15hp motor.
Epoxy has its place but I think the novice overuses epoxy in most cases. Part of it is not truly knowing all the details of the products and then falling victim to unknowing salespeople pushing you into the West System cult. One of the reasons I watch this channel is because they don't just goop epoxy on everything as most so-called "pros" do. Every product has its strength and weakness do your homework and choose wisely.
Kinda this. But this is the first video where Andy explained which is for what/why they are different. The previous video were just "um, one if the same, kinda" :P So me being the novice, wanted to do everything in Epoxy, but stepped back from the gelcoating, as I could not understand any of it (other than it's done one certain way, except when it's not ;) ). So slowly building up knowledge on gelcoating before I give that a go. As to repairs/buildup. I've got epoxy, but will look to see what areas/uses the slow cure (I have fast) or polyester based glues are going to be better.
Lots of info, but the good content drowns in far too many words and to quickly spoken. In my view a calmer presentation, some clarity and focus on what is important will benefit the message.
