Dry layup issue

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Dry layup issue

Author	Message
Junior	Junior posted 7 Years Ago Topic Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 73, Visits: 473	I'm working on my first project, a carbon fibre kayak seat. I have just laid down my final layer but it came out dry and doesn't have that glossy appearance. I intend to apply a flowcoat to finish it off but not sure whether I can apply the flowcoat now to rectify the glossy appearance, or should I apply more resin to get it right first? Are there any downsides to putting the flowcoat on now? Edited 7 Years Ago by Junior
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Rich (Staff)	Rich (Staff) posted 7 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Administrators Posts: 167, Visits: 4.6K	In theory, the flow-coat should wet out any dry fibres on the surface but being so thick, they won't penetrate very far. To avoid any doubt, a thin coat of the same resin used to make the seat would make absolutely sure that it was perfect before applying your flow-coat and this could be wet sanded and polished to a fine finish if required.
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Junior	Junior posted 7 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 73, Visits: 473	+x Rich (Staff) - 11/13/2017 1:15:33 PM In theory, the flow-coat should wet out any dry fibres on the surface but being so thick, they won't penetrate very far. To avoid any doubt, a thin coat of the same resin used to make the seat would make absolutely sure that it was perfect before applying your flow-coat and this could be wet sanded and polished to a fine finish if required. Is it better to wet sand the resin before the flowcoat, or wet sand the flowcoat?
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Rich (Staff)	Rich (Staff) posted 7 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Administrators Posts: 167, Visits: 4.6K	I'm not sure I entirely follow; wet sanding is largely used when trying to cut back and polish to a fine finish - you will need to key the surface between coats so will need to sand before the flow coat to get it to adhere but if you're looking to in turn finish the Flow Coat to a better finish (than a brush finish), then you could sand it and polish it up to a smooth, glossy surface finish.
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Junior	Junior posted 7 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 73, Visits: 473	+x Rich (Staff) - 11/14/2017 3:25:19 PM I'm not sure I entirely follow; wet sanding is largely used when trying to cut back and polish to a fine finish - you will need to key the surface between coats so will need to sand before the flow coat to get it to adhere but if you're looking to in turn finish the Flow Coat to a better finish (than a brush finish), then you could sand it and polish it up to a smooth, glossy surface finish. Yes, I meant for the glossy finish. Wasn't sure from your previous reply whether the flowcoat is polished or not.
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Rich (Staff)	Rich (Staff) posted 7 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Administrators Posts: 167, Visits: 4.6K	it depends what you're looking to achieve, in my boat building days, we'd generally just apply the flow coat as well as we could and not worry too much about achieving a perfect finish as it was generally in areas you'd never see anyway but you can certainly sand it back to take out roller or brush marks.
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Junior	Junior posted 7 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 73, Visits: 473	Very true. It will have some showing but as my first project I wanted to show off the carbon! Will see how I get on without.
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