Epoxy problem!

    Howzit going guys!
    I recently built 2 guns and instead of a wood finish I decided to try an epoxy camo finish! These were my very first attempts at doing this so I read up on how some gun builders achieved their epoxy camo finishes! Instead of trying it on one of my newer guns I decided to camo one of my older wood guns! My very first attempt was a success! I managed to turn one of my older "go to" guns into what looks like a brand new gun! So with my new found confidence I figured I give it a shot on one of my newer guns! And if u hadn't guessed it already, yes something went wrong! Just my luck!! I don't know what I did wrong but the epoxy didn't cure properly! After 7 days of drying my gun is not tacky what so ever and it feels relatively solid! But if I were to push my fingertip into the epoxy finish I would leave a little indention! Granted I need to put a little effort into it but still, epoxy should be rock solid! Does anyone have an idea to what I did wrong?


    Thanks in advance! Bruddah Keoni

    Here's a pic of my first attempt!

    Sounds like the ratio was off. You can see if it finally hardens after a few more days but more than likely youll have to sand it off and try again. What epoxy are you using?

    I used 3 different types: west systems, Neptonics epoxy and a 2 part epoxy with slow hardener from fiber glass Hawaii. I experimented with all 3. I called Fiber Glass Hawaii and told em about my problem and the guy told me it could be too much hardener, which made no sense to me because I thought too much hardener will make it set up quicker. But I'm no expert so that was just my guess. He also told me that it might've been too much pigment. I'm thinking it might've been the pigment because I use measuring cups to mix my epoxy so if my mixture varies its not by much. Also I live in Hawaii so I don't think temperature is a factor in this. Let me know what anyone thinks.


    Mahalo nui Keoni

    Unless the ratio is just right then you wont get a complete cure. If too much hardener is used then the excess hardener gets trapped in the epoxy matrix. The pigment shouldnt have an effect as long as you mix the resin and hardener properly before you add the pigment. If you add the pigment before you mix then it can throw off your ratio.


    Did you by chance mix the different epoxies? That could also cause problems.

    No I didn't mix the different epoxies but I did add the pigment to the resin before I added the hardener. If I measured both hardener and resin before I added the pigment to the resin then that shouldn't be a problem right?

    The Neptronic epoxie is most likely Phil Herranen epoxie which take 7 days for full cure. The surface can be handled after a day but can be indented/ gouged before full cure.
    Phil's system is mixed 2/1.


    I would just let the gun set for 7 days.


    Cheers, Don


    I just reread your post and saw they have been curing for 7 days, are you sure you mixed the ratio correctly?

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

    Edited 2 times, last by Don Paul ().

    it could be a couple things
    ratio is off , never very the ratio on epoxy ,adding more or less hardener will only make the resin not cure corectly

    too much pigment


    adding the pigment before the resin is mixed . you should never add anything to the resin until the A and B sides are fully mixed


    my guess is a combo of all 3
    phil

    Mahalo Phil! Do u think putting a clear coat of epoxy over the gun will help or will it just compound the situation? Or a couple of coats for that matter?

    update!


    okay so i waited 10 days before i did anything to my gun. The epoxy got a little harder but i could still manage to get a little indention using my fingernail, not much but enough to irritate me! So i mixed up several batches of epoxies, one with too much hardener, one with too little hardener, one with too much hardener and pigment, and one with too little hardener and pigment. First off too much hardener will cook whatever container the mixture is in and the epoxy will be rock solid in about 25-30 min. Interestingly enough being a little short of hardener than the recommended dosage will still give you a mixture that resulted in a full cure. Now going on to the pigment! I found out that the pigment plays a big role with how your epoxy will cure. If i took the same mixture with less hardener than recommended and added a drop of pigment, my epoxy will not fully cure. Which is probably what happened to my gun. And if i took the mixture with too much hardener and added some pigment, the epoxy will cure even faster. In conclusion i feel the pigment magnifies any altering of the epoxy mixtures. I also found out that west systems epoxy is more user friendly than the other two epoxies! I probably applied 15-20 coats of west systems epoxy and never had a problem with the epoxy curing, and with all 15-20 coats I didnt use any measuring device. The only measuring tool i had was my eyes.:)


    oh yeah! So to fix my gun all i did was add a couple of clear coats over the uncured epoxy and that pretty much fixed it! The gun is rock solid!


    ps. SANDING UNCURED EPOXY IS NOT A GOOD IDEA!!!! Hope this comes in handy to the next person thats experimenting on epoxy camos or any epoxy finish!


    Aloha Keoni

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