Boat Builder Central - Builder Forums

I haven’t done anything yet. But how long do ya’ll think I should wait for the epoxy to cure before covering it with the expanding buoyancy foam?

I searched the forum for this question no results that made sense. posted the question and the suggested posts had exactly what i was looking for.

Two days would be fine. The epoxy will continue to cure even with the foam on top of it.

Tom

TomW1 wrote: ↑Sun May 02, 2021 5:51 pm Two days would be fine. The epoxy will continue to cure even with the foam on top of it.

Tom

How will Amine blush affect the bond of the foam to the panel? I occasionally get visible blush, but not often.

OneWayTraffic wrote: ↑Sun May 02, 2021 8:46 pm

TomW1 wrote: ↑Sun May 02, 2021 5:51 pm Two days would be fine. The epoxy will continue to cure even with the foam on top of it.

Tom

How will Amine blush affect the bond of the foam to the panel? I occasionally get visible blush, but not often.

The foam doesn't need to bond to the panel, imo. It isn't structural..

fallguy1000 wrote: ↑Sun May 02, 2021 9:09 pm

OneWayTraffic wrote: ↑Sun May 02, 2021 8:46 pm

TomW1 wrote: ↑Sun May 02, 2021 5:51 pm Two days would be fine. The epoxy will continue to cure even with the foam on top of it.

Tom

How will Amine blush affect the bond of the foam to the panel? I occasionally get visible blush, but not often.

The foam doesn't need to bond to the panel, imo. It isn't structural..

True, but it would be nice if it stays put. Any extra strength is a bonus. I'm just planning to give mine a quick scrub and sand before foam, but it would be good to know how this all works.

thanks everyone for the thoughts.

theoretically as long as the epoxy doesn’t have access to moisture it shouldn’t blush, but i would guess 2 days into cure if it was going to blush it would have by that point.

jonnymac wrote: ↑Sun May 02, 2021 10:44 pm thanks everyone for the thoughts.

theoretically as long as the epoxy doesn’t have access to moisture it shouldn’t blush, but i would guess 2 days into cure if it was going to blush it would have by that point.

Yep your right.

Just to be clear, if jonnymac is working on the FS13, the foam is considered structural. 4mm stringers defiantly need the help!

BB Sig wrote: ↑Wed Jul 28, 2021 10:33 am Just to be clear, if jonnymac is working on the FS13, the foam is considered structural. 4mm stringers defiantly need the help!

for sure, the stringers and the deck need that for sure, and like all things boat building. the epoxy is now well cured and no sign of the time to pour the foam yet

My .02 on this:

It would seem ideal to pour the foam on the epoxy wet-on-wet for a chemical bond IF the two products are compatible, but I'll assume they are not.

In that case, if you want a structural bond, I'd think you'd want to let it cure to sandable, remove any blush, and then scuff it as you would if you were adding a another coat of epoxy, wet-on-dry. I tend to wait 5 days before sanding/re-coating epoxy, which is a big reason that I try to work wet-on-wet when possible.