Epoxy resin application

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jmoss
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Epoxy resin application

Post by jmoss »

What is the best method to apply epoxy resin to the hull? If it’s by paint brush can you clean and reuse the brush?

Dougster
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Re: Epoxy resin application

Post by Dougster »

I like foam rollers. Bateau sells nice ones. For small jobs I use chip brushes or foam. I would not try to clean any regular brushes up. I guess one could try but, basically, epoxy rules.

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fallguy1000
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Re: Epoxy resin application

Post by fallguy1000 »

Every boat guy has preferences.

I use brushes on rare occasion and I buy the crappy China chip brushes the leave paint brush bristles in the work. They sand out.

I never try to reuse a brush. It takes too much time and acetone to clean.

I always get solvent proof squeegees. They can lay in an acetone bucket (with a lid) and they clean easily.

My go to tool for laminating is a 1/2"x6" bubble buster roller, but it doesn't move resins.

For light woven cloths, I generally use both the squeegees and the laminating roller. I only use chip brushes if I need to around the edges.

For larger projects and heavier cloths, I use a cheap paint roller cover. Sometimes I cut it down with a bandsaw to 3 or 4.5", depends on the need. Then I have a 3" roller frame. The rollers are resin thirsty and I almost always use a squeegee and go around them to retrieve resin unless it is not needed or can't be used or will interfere with the main work. Excess resin does not belong in the boat.

It helps a bit to keep a list handy of the epoxy needs. Then you can remember to use any excess or add some filler to it for a repair or small task.
My boat build is here -------->

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TomW1
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Re: Epoxy resin application

Post by TomW1 »

jmoss if you go to poduducts-tools-application you will find all the various tools that fallguy is talking about. You will need a bunch of disposable brushes, the plastic spreader for layering plywood, laminating roller, and other rollers for applying epoxy.


Tom
Restored Mirror Dinghy, Bought OD18 built by CL, Westlawn School of Yacht Design courses. LT US Navy 1970-1978

silentneko
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Re: Epoxy resin application

Post by silentneko »

After using squeegies, brushes, foam rollers, glass rollers.... I found using short nap rollers work by far the best for me. For applying, moving and smoothing out resin and glass a 1/4 or 3/16" by 3-4" roller is awesome. I then follow up with a 3/8" glass roller just to make sure there are no bubbles. This is the cleanest and best bonding method for hand laminating I've found.
Built: 15ft Skiff, 16ft Skiff, Modified Cheap Canoe, and an FS17.

OneWayTraffic
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Re: Epoxy resin application

Post by OneWayTraffic »

Aside from tools:

1. where possible to work on flat horizontal surfaces. For the major glass jobs you don't really have a choice; you need to stitch the panels before glass. For other parts where they will just be epoxy coated before installation, e.g. cleats, do that in the shop.

2. Precoat plywood before heavy biaxial glass jobs. If you have help or for small pieces like tape you can roll the glass on it immediately, you will have easier wetout and less bubbles bottom up. If it's cold, no problem the epoxy will go on thick then a heat gun sorts it once the tape is on.

3. If you don't have help rolling out the cloth or can't handle the glass alone it's better to precoat, wait for it to just tack off and then apply glass with a quick sand while still green imo. Not everyone agrees with this, it depends on the conditions you are working under, but regardless you need to consider that dry plywood will absorb resin from the glass. If you don't precoat, then keep an eye on it and be ready to reapply.

4. Glass in steady or falling temperatures and NEVER in direct sunlight. Otherwise you will get bubbles in your work. I had to remove two layers of 17' by 6' glass off my boat because of this. Lesson learned.

5. Start on smaller jobs where possible. Post photos.

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APLJaK
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Re: Epoxy resin application

Post by APLJaK »

jmoss wrote: Mon Sep 06, 2021 8:54 am What is the best method to apply epoxy resin to the hull? If it’s by paint brush can you clean and reuse the brush?
By the end of my build I had conditioned myself to buy every good deal on cheap chinese paint brushes that I came across. Some days you will use multiple brushes. They can often be found for less than a buck a piece. Buy lots! Dollar stores are always worth a look. Priness Auto (Canada) or Harbor Freight (US) are good sources as well. Don't try and clean them. In fact, once the epoxy starts to setup, don't keep using the same brush for the next batch. Same for disposable gloves. You will go through A LOT OF THEM!

The only opportunity to buy that I missed was a 20 gallon bucket FULL of cheap brushes at an auction. I let it go to someone else then regretted it every day afterwards. ;-)

Edit: I agree, for large sections, pour the epoxy and use a spreader to move it around. I still used brushed to "dab" out any air bubbles before it cured. And I also used rollers on large areas. The rollers I tried though soaked up a lot of epoxy and didn't last too long so I only used them for coating relatively large areas. The other comment about using hard rollers is intriquing. Perhaps there are better rollers than the ones I tried.
Last edited by APLJaK on Fri Sep 10, 2021 5:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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BarraMan
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Re: Epoxy resin application

Post by BarraMan »

I glassed my boat with hard foam rollers - hundreds of them!
I tried all of the commonly promoted methods but settled on the hard foam rollers as giving me the most reliable and consistent results!

Matthew Anderson
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Re: Epoxy resin application

Post by Matthew Anderson »

I use both chip brushes and bondo spreaders. Depending on the particular application. I buy them each by the gross from Amazon. Use once and discard.

wpstarling
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Re: Epoxy resin application

Post by wpstarling »

I actually use all 3 mentioned, chip brushes, plastic spreader/squeegee, and foam rollers. The chip brushes and rollers need to be changed out as the epoxy in them dries/hardens and the squeegee/spreader shouldn't have any dried epoxy on it or it'll tug/snag the fiberglass. Basically I use a spreader on large horizontal surfaces as it uses less epoxy than a roller BUT I use the roller on horizontal surfaces if the spreader doesn't seem to be getting all the way into the fabric/cloth/tape or if it's a small surface (usually when taping the seams). I use the roller for surfaces that are not quite veritcal as well if I can pour the epoxy onto the surface and then roll it out otherwise I use a brush for any vertical surface or corner/tight spot that the spreader/roller won't reach. Don't limit yourself, find what you like to use and what you feel gives you the best results. Sometimes I change the above depending on what fiberglass I'm using. I don't use it often but if i use anything with mat in it I won't touch it with a brush if I can avoid it.
Boats restored: 1973 Glastron CV16, 1990 Proline 17 CC, 1993 Bass Boat
Boats built: custom 15ft flat bottom skiff, Soon-to-be-built TX18 (originally dborecky's build)

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