It might be a bit stiff starting out, but I've always been a bit fuzzy on condiments consistency. 😊 It will tend to stiffen as the pot life is approached. Even with slow hardener, I figure on maybe 10 minutes before gelling starts, during the summer. One trick I just learned was to cut half the length of bristles off with scissors before using the disposable brush. It makes for stiffer brushing but not coarser. Don't use foam brushes for spreading epoxy, thickened or not.

   Thanks much @Mummichog. That's a great idea and I can see how that would be more productive for spreading. I'll definitely give it a try in the a.m. Thanks again. 

Just starting, eh?

Ever used epoxy before?

Epoxy (I'm speaking here of the mixture of resin and hardener, no matter what brand) is the glue. All the other substances you can add to it (and there are many, believe me!) serve to alter its consistency when mixed and more importantly what the matrix can do for your project once the epoxy's cured.

(Here's a link to a video that explains additives pretty well [try to ignore the commercials, or just click through them!]

Trying to spread epoxy mixed with pretty much anything, using a painbrush is going to frustrate you no end.

Save the brushes for the unthickened mix. Or paint rollers, or foam brushes, or even spreading it around with a plastic squeegee like when you're saturating fiberglass cloth or tape.

Filled epoxy needs stiffer things to spread it properly. Those squeegees can sometimes come in handy but more often it's some kind of thin, shaped stick to move the sticky stuff into place where you want it.

I'm rather partial to plastic syringes myself. Plastic Zip-lock bags work too, once filled with your mixture then rolled up to exclude as much air as possible. Cut off a corner, push the goop out the resulting hole & onto your project as close as you can where you want it to harden up once you're done with that batch.

If you're just getting started, take some time to review the plenitude of builder hints you can get to by clicking the Tips for Boatbuilders button at the top of this forum page.

And come back with more questions as you discover new skills!

   To be fair, the CLC manuals show them using chip brushes to spread the cellofill mix for scarf and puzzle joints. I also tend to use sticks, but a brush speed up puzzle joints with all those curves.

   Hi @spclark. Thanks for the feedback. Not new to epoxy and have been glassing and repairing surboards (fiberglass and wood) for ages. And, while I have used silica in the past to fix pulled out fin boxes and deep gashes from lost battles with rocks, I never had to get it to the mustard level of consistency and then brush it on wood. Definitely a learning curve. Worked out fine, but I figured there had to be a better way. I was thinking a plastic, notched tile trowel might work well too. Anyway, thanks for the feedback and tips. Much appreciated. :)

+1 on the plastic trowels. Rounded to same radius as a nickel for fillets, flat for scraping excess and filling cracks, and notched for gluing large flat surfaces (like bonding plywood sheets to make a rudder).

Syringes are good for small holes, especially deep ones.

Laszlo

  I have been using the plastic trowels for a while because they are reusable but I never thought of shaping them. Thanks Lazlo. And a definite yes to trimming the chip brushes for unthickened epoxy. Worked really well for me.

Chip brushes have their utility, I agree, Used a bunch so far putting my Waterlust kit together. I worked out a much more satisfactory method for puzzle joints though using plastic syringes. Much easier to place thickened epoxy where it would be most effectively employed after wetting out the edges with a brush.

Never having built a NED I was unaware the manual recommends pushing thickened epoxy around with a chip brush but agree cutting 1/3 off the bristles makes them much more effective than if left whole. I've been doing just that lately where I want to bring more pressure to bear when placing unthickened pix prior to any number of other operations.

Learning what works is how experience is gained. I take the manuals for direction (in my Waterlust's case it's sketchy at best!!) rather than as a 'bible'. The details that can't be included are why this forum exists, what keeps bringing me back here to learn what others have discovered with their projects.

Passed a milestone yesterday with the bonding of my deck to the completed hull structure. Need to update that thread I initiated nearly eight months ago.... Excellent LONG one with three other builders on a forum in the UK with lots of pictures.

   @Laszlo thanks for the tip. Great idea on rounding those edges.