Re: Epoxy Sins

Posted by Howard on Dec 22, 2005

Ed,

I'm with Mac on this, primers will not hide any significant defects in the epoxy surface.

That being said, the primers, if used properly, will hide minor imperfections like pin-holes and surface sections where the weave of the cloth was not completely filled.

Working with primer, however, is not exactly a quick process. As Mac said, it almost all has to comes off. But the result is one nice smooth surface.

You can get a smooth surface without primer....it takes a lot of attention to sanding and may require a couple extra fill coats of epoxy to ensure that you fill pin-holes and any depressions in the weave so that you can then sand it back out to a smooth surface. In the end, i think primer may be a bit quicker for an ultra smooth surface. it has the added advantage of higlighting in white exactly where your problem areas are. when you don't use a primer, you really can't tell how smooth you got your surface until you put on that first coat of paint.

Longboarding, as Mac points out, is still necessary to ensure a fair surface. The issues addressed by longboarding are not really addressed by primer. Think longboarding for "fair"...a uniform curve to surface...and primer for the "smoothness" of the surface itself. Both are important for a great finish.

In Response to: Re: Epoxy Sins by Mac on Dec 22, 2005

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