It has become painfully obvious that I simply do not know how to apply a good epoxy finish. Here is what happened this attempt to clear coat the frame:
Terrible, just terrible. It appears as if the resin does not want to adhere to the surface. It looks like water trying to wet out on wax paper. Here's the story...
As detailed in a previous post HERE, I experienced severe bubbling (or what I thought was bubbling). After some research I found the actual term for my problem is cratering... which is a contaminant or surface defect breaking the surface tension of the epoxy trying to adhere over the top.
To prevent cratering this time around, I did some research for the recommended way to prepare a composite surface for a clear coat. From what I read, prep is as follows: a good soapy water scrub to remove any amine blush on the surface, dry with paper towels, sanding with 120-220 grit paper, and then re-coat. Solvent like acetone or alcohol is not necessary, but also not harmful.
Because I sanded and scraped the frame previously (again, HERE), I scrubbed with a scotch-brite pad and soapy water, rinsed, dried with towels. Set to go:
After letting dry an hour I applied resin, and this happens 30 seconds after applying:
This hadn't happened before, and I'd done nothing differently than previous layups except the soapy water scrub... so I wasn't quite sure what was happening. Quite frustrated I wiped all the resin off with a paper towel:
The upper frame had resin applied, now wiped off.
Just to test, I vigorously wiped the seat tube with acetone and let it dry for a minute. Then I applied the epoxy to the seat tube. Still this:
I wiped that off too.
Then the wife asked what would happen if I applied epoxy onto the surface after the epoxy was wiped-off. That actually did help (no photo). The resin did still want to pull away from itself, but not nearly as bad as the photos above. So I wiped that test off and hurriedly wiped a smear of resin over the whole frame. I'll give it a light sand and re-apply resin later this week.
Frustrating. I am close to finishing and building this beauty up. Very bothered by a delay which is mostly aesthetic in nature.
Terrible, just terrible. It appears as if the resin does not want to adhere to the surface. It looks like water trying to wet out on wax paper. Here's the story...
As detailed in a previous post HERE, I experienced severe bubbling (or what I thought was bubbling). After some research I found the actual term for my problem is cratering... which is a contaminant or surface defect breaking the surface tension of the epoxy trying to adhere over the top.
To prevent cratering this time around, I did some research for the recommended way to prepare a composite surface for a clear coat. From what I read, prep is as follows: a good soapy water scrub to remove any amine blush on the surface, dry with paper towels, sanding with 120-220 grit paper, and then re-coat. Solvent like acetone or alcohol is not necessary, but also not harmful.
Because I sanded and scraped the frame previously (again, HERE), I scrubbed with a scotch-brite pad and soapy water, rinsed, dried with towels. Set to go:
After letting dry an hour I applied resin, and this happens 30 seconds after applying:
This hadn't happened before, and I'd done nothing differently than previous layups except the soapy water scrub... so I wasn't quite sure what was happening. Quite frustrated I wiped all the resin off with a paper towel:
The upper frame had resin applied, now wiped off.
Just to test, I vigorously wiped the seat tube with acetone and let it dry for a minute. Then I applied the epoxy to the seat tube. Still this:
I wiped that off too.
Then the wife asked what would happen if I applied epoxy onto the surface after the epoxy was wiped-off. That actually did help (no photo). The resin did still want to pull away from itself, but not nearly as bad as the photos above. So I wiped that test off and hurriedly wiped a smear of resin over the whole frame. I'll give it a light sand and re-apply resin later this week.
Frustrating. I am close to finishing and building this beauty up. Very bothered by a delay which is mostly aesthetic in nature.
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