Re: Sanding epoxy?

Posted by Steve Miller on Oct 4, 2005

Its tough to sand but not hard to do - if that makes sense.

All sanding leaves scratches the size of the grit. Once you do the basic smoothing and overall sanding then all the subsequent sanding with finer and finer paper is done to remove the marks from the first grit. So if you start with 100 grit then go to 150 to 180 and finish up with 220 all the grits above 100 are just to remove the 100 grit scratches.

I am not a fan of 80 grit on epoxy as some on this forum are. Especially on a ROS. Too coarse for me. I start with 100 or even 120 if on an ROS. Yes it will take a bit longer (or not longer at all if you do the carbide scraper thing first) but you have a much reduced chance of sanding through or into the glass cloth. Most of the sanding I do after the first cut is by hand.

The sanding will take the nice clear golden epoxy and turn it dull white-ish. It goes clear again when wet or with varnish. Be sure to sand to at least 220 or even 320 or the varnish will NOT hide the sanding scratches.

As long as I am on a roll about sanding, think about sanding between coats of varnish or paint. I use 400 wet between coats. Any thing coarser, even 320 wet, is for paint salesmen. It just removes too much of the finish film you want to have ON the boat. No sense doing 6 coats but sanding 4 off so to speak.

The nice thing about boat building is that by the end of the project you will be an experienced builder with lots sanding under your belt!

In Response to: Sanding epoxy? by Mulepilot on Oct 4, 2005

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