Herranen Epoxy

Its a 2:1 ratio. Wear gloves and try to not touch the wood with bare hands as you'll transfer oil to the blank and the epoxy won't adhere. Use a high quality foam brush and watch for drips...

Also if its teak it is a good idea to wipe the entire blank with acetone before applying the epoxy. Also if you use the same foam brush for too long it will start to deteriorate. Dont use a bristle brush. they have a lot of dust and if a bristle falls out you probably wont notice it until its too late ( ask me how I know)

What kind of finish are you looking for? High gloss or satin etc?

sorry i have been away from the computer and its hard to cut and paste on my phone.

http://spearfishing.world/spea…eargun-coating-epoxy.html

epoxy info:
2/1 ratio
7 hr hard time @ 78 , 7 days full cure
working time 20 min at 78

safety:
always wear gloves and wear a respirator or work outside when working with epoxy resin, and when sanding resin that is not fully cured.

general :
never very ratio for epoxy
do not thin epoxy
always fully mix epoxy before adding any fillers or pigments.

mixing:
this resin has a mixing tint to take full advantage i use clear mixing cups .when you first start mixing it will look milky after about 1 min. of mixing ( mix slowly and make sure to scrape the sides and bottom to limit bubbles and to get a complete mix.
only add pigments/ fillers after mixing

gun prep:
1 sand all surfaces to 80 grit with the grain to promote a strong mechanical bond.
2 quick ounce over with a green scotch brite pad
3 blow dust off the gun
4 from this point on do not touch gun with bare hands ( oils from your hands will give the finish "fish eyes"
i never wipe down with any kind of solvent ,it just makes a sawdust slury that fills the pores that makes a poor bond for the epoxy to grab on to
application:
1 hang the gun and bring the room and gun up to temp (around 78) (do not apply resin as the temp is rising or you will get bubbles)
using a disposable brush or high quality sponge brush apply a thin coat of resin. check on the gun and stop drips every 20 min until hard
2 add 2 or 3 more thin coats : call it good if happy with finish or
3 sand to 220 to remove any lumps
4 do 2 more thin coats or until happy
5 do NOT start assembling the gun for at least 4-6 days to give the resin time to cure (it will be very ez to scratch the first couple days
phil

Quote from Wishihadgills

Also if its teak it is a good idea to wipe the entire blank with acetone before applying the epoxy. Also if you use the same foam brush for too long it will start to deteriorate. Dont use a bristle brush. they have a lot of dust and if a bristle falls out you probably wont notice it until its too late ( ask me how I know)

What kind of finish are you looking for? High gloss or satin etc?

How do you know about the bristles in the brush falling out.

I always use brushes with black bristles, that way if they fall out they are ez to see . I am normaly doing finsh on 3-6 guns at a time and the foam brushes only hold up for one gun if you are carefull.
Phil

Phil how did your carbon fiber water ballast gun work out. I think you sent it with Guy correct?

When I was working on my epoxy coat on the gun I was building last year I had just about every problem you could experience. The first few coats had bad fisheyes (despite wearing gloves) and I had started using the cheap home depot foam brushes but they start to dissolve pretty quick so I switched to a natural fiber brush and since it was the first use it lost a few bristles but I was able to find them all. I was still getting fisheye problems and somebody had recommended wiping the blank with acetone before coating the gun so I tried that and it resulted in the best coat I had gotten yet then a day later I found a bristle embedded in the epoxy :frustrated2:. I had been using west systems epoxy because this was before Phil's epoxy was available and so I decided to go to west marine to see what they had for applying epoxy. I found that they had some better quality foam brushes and started using those. They didnt deteriorate like the cheap ones but they did get soft and after a couple more coats I realized that if I used a new brush about midway through I got a better coat. I must have put a dozen coats on the gun and I sanded it back to bare twice.

Heres my method for what its worth:

1st Sand Gun. - (I used 150 grit but I have heard between 80 and 200 are ok)

2nd Blow Off Dust - (An air compressor is best but I didnt have one so I resorted to using a dry CLEAN shop cloth. Also gloves are recommended from this point on.)

3rd Hang Blank - (I hung the blank vertically with the muzzle up. I used a wire hanger and put it through one of the band holes.)

4th Final Wipe Down - (I did not do this initially and I dont know if it was a product of teak being so oily or the oils from my hands but I like to wipe it down with acetone. I also let it dry for half an hour to make sure there was no solvent left. I also made sure to smell the blank to make sure I didnt smell any solvent. Mixing solvents with epoxy is not recommended by any of the manufactures that I know of although some people have done so with good results. After wiping down the blank I wanted to make sure there was no remaining solvent.)

5th Change Gloves and Mix Epoxy - (Between the oils and solvent on the gloves I decided to change them, probably unnecessary but after all the trouble I had I didnt want to take any chances. Mixing the epoxy is pretty strait forward, just follow the directions and mix thoroughly. Vigorous mixing creates a lot of bubbles so dont over do it.)

6th Apply Epoxy - (I start from the top down. At this stage I wasnt concern with applying it too thick I simply wanted to makes sure all surfaces were covered.)

7th Remove Excess Epoxy - (Not that all surfaces are covered I used a new brush to brush off excess epoxy. Starting from the top I would try to make one stroke run the length of the entire gun making a smooth and consistent distribution.)

8th Back Away - (At this point the epoxy has started to cure and there isnt much more you can do but mess it up. You can give it a once over to make sure there are not major gaps or pieces of dust etc but its time to clean up.)

9th Sand and repeat (To create a good moisture barrier and tough finish you need between 3 and 5 coats. I sanded in between coats with a 150 grit and it creates A TON of dust. Dont sand too much unless you have a bad fisheye. The purpose of sanding between coats is to roughen the surface so the next coat of epoxy can make a strong bond and to remove any imperfections such as low points or high points etc.)

A couple notes and Things I plan on doing differently next time:

I plan on setting up a "paint booth." Last time I hung the blank in my shower because it was the least dusty room I could think of. It also has good ventilation witch is mandatory if your working inside. It was the closest thing I had a real paint booth at home. Dont do it in a garage unless you live in CA or the middle of the dessert. I live in miami and a garage is way too humid and there is a lot of dust in the air. For the next gun I build I plan on setting up a small dust free environment using some visqueen plastic, duct tape, a pvc frame and a fan with a HEPA filter.

There are also a couple different finishes available for epoxy coats. The Hi-gloss which can only be attained from cure epoxy is the hardest to perfect. There is a gloss that can be achieved through a lot of sanding. starting with about 200 grit and working up to 2000 wet sanding and then going to a buffing compound and eventually even waxing the gun. Then there is a satin finish that is similar but you dont sand with as high of grit sandpaper. For the previous two techniques I would recommend a couple extra coats of epoxy (in the 4-7 range) to account for what will be removed with all the sanding.

I am by no means an expert at this and have only built and epoxied one gun. I did a lot of research talked to a lot of people including Phil in order to get this information. I then applied what best suited me and adapted what worked and didnt. I had an idea in mind of what my finish would look like and went through a lot of trouble to get as close to that as possible but at some point you have to step back and just be happy with what you have.

Good Luck

Quote from toptuna

Phil how did your carbon fiber water ballast gun work out. I think you sent it with Guy correct?

I didn't have quite enuff time to finish it for the trip . Guy had asked for it last time I was at his place and called about 2 weeks before this trip so I told him he could have a old proto I had half built untill his was done.if I had 2 more days it would have been done . I will post some pics soon .its a 68" x 3/8" shaft 6 band tuna gun , that weigths 7# dry and holds almost 10 liters of water . His is about 4th gen ,I am around 6gen now and am just about happy with the final desgin .

Phil

Quote from capt offshore

Wishihadgills

Thank you for the advice. . . .it just so happend that I built the PVC/Visqueen/duct tape/dust free/heated and vented/ 8'X8' "MAC DADDY" gun finish room yesterday and put my first coat on! ! ! Not to bad, had some fish eyes and bubbles. I think most of the bubbles were from the paduak, it has very grainy pores after you blow it off and the fish eyes probably from the ipe, it is a very oily wood. The colors look sooooo damn good with epoxy on them! ! ! The paduak looks almost 3-D, like you could reach into it. I followed Phil's recommendations on not useing any solvents on the bare wood, now that I have a base layer down I will sand and wipe down with acytone each coat till I reach the finish I'm looking for. So far so good though.

I was really hoping and planning to have this thing ready to go before our gag season closes on the 16th, but it isn't looking to promissing between work and Mother Nature. This morning the wind is CRANKING so hard from the north east and it is low tide, there is almost NO WATER behind my house! ! ! In the spot light it looks like I could almost walk to Mexico. I'll be heading to the shop shortly and maybe be able to work-in 2 coats today.

Thanks again. :thumbsup2:

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The first couple coats it is very important to bring the gun and room up to about 90 deg. And then let the temp drop as the resin cures , do not let the temp rise while the resin cures or you will get lots of bubbles . I only do epoxy in the afternoon ,starting in the morning is asking for bubbles . I also don't sand between every coat, the next coat after sanding never turns out great ,I only sand if I have to, on most guns I do now I never have to sand the gun. There is no need to wipe down with acitone after sanding as the coats are within about 72 hours . Before 72 hours its a chemical bond ,after 72 hours its a mechanical bond and you should sand and wipe with acitone .
Phil

Ill try that next time. I got a very good gloss coat on my gun after I started with the acetone. The only flaws were particles of dust that landed in the epoxy while it was wet.

Capt offshore

I loved the way even the teak looked with the epoxy. Just wait until you get the gun in the water on a sunny day it will look like its glowing. Especially the paduk.