Epoxy texture

[Pudgey1922]

I put my first three coats of epoxy on the plywood for my center console. This is my first build so I figured I’d start small. I put each coat on 6 hours after the one before. It was around 65 degrees. Now the epoxy has a leathery looking finish. Is this normal or what did I do wrong?

[jbo_c]

How’d you apply? Looks to me like maybe you rolled a little far into the gel stage?

Jbo

[jbo_c]

Looking back, maybe at 65F, you were lifting tack from the prior layer. I applied some at 63F today (marine epoxy slow) and 5 hours later it was still tacky. Bet that’s what happened if you were applying with a roller.

Lots smarter people than me here will maybe chime in with another idea shortly.

Jbo

[Fuzz]

Are you sure that is not blush? Try cleaning it off with some warm water.
I know most folks work in warmer conditions but all my work is done at 60f. Does not seem to matter both fast and slow are hard by the next morning. I use 90% fast so blush is something I keep an eye out for. My temp is steady al 60f indoors and I do not get much blush.

[bklake]

My kayak is 3 coats of epoxy. The suggested method was to let the first coat cure then sand with 80 grit to knock down the high spots. Apply second coat, let it cure and sand with a finer grit 120-220 depending on what you think it needs. Sand more completely than first coat but don't sand it all off. I think I stopped sanding when about 50% looked sanded and 50% looked untouched. The third coat goes on carefully like you are painting for a fine finish.

This filled the weave of the fiberglass cloth and was almost mirror smooth when done.

When laminating layers of fiberglass, wet on wet is the goal but when coating for appearance do the above. Stacking the coats just magnifies the high spots. You can sand it down to level but it's going to take a lot of sanding and you may have to top coat it for the smooth finish.

[Jaysen]

Do not chemically thin epoxy to make it flow either. That messes up the chemistry. Use slow hardener and warm the resin to 80-ish in a water bath. Mix in small quantities and apply quickly. It will be very watery while warm. So follow the “finish quality surface prep” before this step.

[Pudgey1922]

Thank you for the answers so far. I should have mentioned this is after I sanded some with 80 grit. I think I’ll try waiting longer between coats on the backside of these panels to see if that helps. Glad I practiced on the center console!

[joe2700]

Thank you for the answers so far. I should have mentioned this is after I sanded some with 80 grit. I think I’ll try waiting longer between coats on the backside of these panels to see if that helps. Glad I practiced on the center console!

Looks pretty normal to me for sanding an epoxy coated surface. Epoxy is much thicker than paint and does not self level as well. I just put on several coats then sand back the texture to level. Doing the work at higher temperatures does help by making the epoxy less viscous, but you need to be careful with curing times because if you work it while it starts to gel that will be even worse.

[fallguy1000]

Thank you for the answers so far. I should have mentioned this is after I sanded some with 80 grit. I think I’ll try waiting longer between coats on the backside of these panels to see if that helps. Glad I practiced on the center console!

Looks pretty normal to me for sanding an epoxy coated surface. Epoxy is much thicker than paint and does not self level as well. I just put on several coats then sand back the texture to level. Doing the work at higher temperatures does help by making the epoxy less viscous, but you need to be careful with curing times because if you work it while it starts to gel that will be even worse.

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Epoxy is too thick to self level when temps are low. Repeated coats means more and more orange peel.

Sand it, scuff it with a scotchbrite and do again.

you can also warm water bath the epoxy, basically find a container that fits into another one and use tap water hottest available to warm the mixed resins ~ will kick faster, but like Joe pins well here, it'll level better