Well here is another one, should have been the first question? Lol

Having discussions with friends, not being aware what's up my sleeve...they are concerned with yellowing of CF due to exposure to the sun/water etc... I read about your gel coats:

 Gel coats are generally applied as a thickness of 0.3-0.7mm and are specially formulated to provide the part or mold surface with properties such as resistance to UV (ultraviolet) degradation, hydrolysis or osmosis (where water is absorbed into a composite over considerable time)

As mentioned on your site your products are superior to other products on the market...could elaborate on it some?


What thickness would give the best result? .7mm?
How would I measure the thickness? would it be in terms of coats, before CF layied?


When I plan to make the heat shield for my bike I will use the

Clear Epoxy Gel Coat correct?

Should have asked this question in the 1st post my bad......

Hi Martin,

UV stability of epoxy resin is something that we get asked about quite a bit and it's an important subject that anyone working with epoxy should be aware of.

Firstly, all epoxies are damaged, to some extent, by the sun. They have improved a lot over recent years and most hold up a lot better than many people thing.

All of our epoxies have additives which reduce the damage caused by UV light and certainly we've seen plenty of parts made with our resins that still look good after quite a bit of sun exposure however they certainly arn't immune to damage and so if you're making epoxy-based parts (which we generally are) you should think about if you need to protect them from UV damage and if you do, how to go about it.

Anything that's going on a race car/bike/boat we generally don't bother. Anything applied to the part (either during the laminating process or after it's been made - like a paint) will add weight and not strength as so no one would bother. The car/bike/boat etc will probably crash before any sun damage will occur!

Any applications that are more cosmetic (road cars, leasure boats etc) that will be subjected to prolonged UV exposure should be protected. Probably the best way to do this would be a PK (2 pack) lacquer/clear coat sprayed onto the part after it's been made. 2K lacquers offer pretty-much perfect UV protection and a very deep shine at the same time.

Another alternative is an epoxy compatible polyester gel coat (yes, they do exist!) which can be applied to the mould surface and then once fully cured the epoxy resin and carbon reinforcement can be laid into the mould. Again, polyester resins offer excellent UV stability and will block any UV from damaging the epoxy underneith. As far as we can tell there is really no dissadvatage to these new epoxy compatible polyester gel coats (providing they are designed specifically for this purpose) and they offer incredible interlaminate strength between the gel and epoxy, along with great clarity and shine.

The clear epoxy gelcoat that you've identified is intended more as a smooth gloss epoxy layer rather than a gel coat for UV stability. Again, it does have UV stablising additives but it's no where near as effective as a lacquer or an epoxy compatible polyester gel coat would be.

So, in short, you have 3 options:

1 - No gel coat, don't worry too much about UV damage (ideal for race parts or parts that won't see too much)
2 - 2K Lacquer/clear coat - you need to spray this using a gun. Available from any car paint suppliers
3 - Epoxy Compatible Polyester Gel Coat - Brush or spray application onto the mould first, then lay carbon/expoy in after.

I hope this helps!

All the best, Matt

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales

Thank you Matt,
First I want to say "Happy New Year" and belated Merry Christmas......

Thank you for your response, so in part the Epoxy Compatible Polyester Gel Coat wont make it more brittle as I have read from some other sources. Don't get me wrong, I am totally convinced that your products are totally superior to others out there. Just making sure?

You see I will be ordering the starter kit to get my feet wet after I get some confirmation on this subject so I can floss (look good) and be prepared for those questions I just asked you.....


Before I shop anywhere else I looked through your site and did not see the "Epoxy Compatible Polyester Gel Coat" product or am I still so green I missed something.

For this reason, I have a race bike and a street bike to put these parts that I will be making and want to be a cut above the rest the first time, meaning to get it right so I won't have to go back and explain or re-make a part...the race bike well not so much interested in it, however everybody isn't me Lol......But if I get it right again i can look good in races, around the paddock and hopefully sell some parts...you know what I mean....thanks in advance....I wanna order this kit asap so point me in the direction for suggested product above....
Epoxy Compatible Polyester Gel Coat

I think I would go with the paint method.

If you must paint the mold with the poly first then that kinda takes away the ability to adjust the carbon fiber just right.



If Brute Force Isn''''t working your not using enough...

Hi Twista,

Carbon Tuner is right about the gel-coat potentially making the positioning of the fibre more difficult, however our epoxy compatible system is chemically quite different from normal gelcoat, for a start epoxy can properly bond to it which is unique, but also it is designed to be left untill it is not tacky, so it doesn't grip the fibre. another neat feature is that if you give it a spray with acetone (from a trigger misting bottle, like one for window cleaner) it goes tacky for a few seconds which can be really useful to hold the fibre in place on complicated shapes.

It does have it's down-sides though, it must be applied very thinly and smoothly, otherwise (especially with infusion) the texture of the gelcoat effects the flatness of the first ply of carbon, which can look nasty, also it contains styrene so it will stink-out wherever you are working for a few hours!

If you are happy spending the extra time clear-coating, flatting, and polishing, then paint will get you the ultimate finish, but be warned laquering carbon fibre is pretty labour intensive, but that's how you get a finish like the pagani zonda has!



Paul Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical

hmmmmmmmm,I like that!



Soyour infusion resin is compatible, but where can I get the lacquer? Would asimple airbrush system work to apply it to the mold? how thick is the rightamount?





If Brute Force Isn''''t working your not using enough...

You can spray our Epoxy Compatible Polyester Gel Coat (not listed on the site yet) using a cup-gun. An airbrush will be much too fine and you simply won't get anything coming out - likewise for a normal spraygun. A cup-gun running a 5mm nozzle (yes, that big!) is how you spray gel-coat.

As for the thickness, really, the thinner the better because this will reduce the 'milkyness' that you'll always get with any gelcoat (even the most clear ones out there). If you spray it and keep the coat thin (0.2mm would be eays to achieve using a cup-gun) then you won't see any milkyness at all, just shine!

Our new video (to be uploaded in the next few weeks) shows us spraying gelcoat onto the mould using a cup gun.

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales

OK Cool I need a cup gun.

So your Epoxy Compatible Polyester Gel Coat can be used as a UV protectant? Can I use this stuff in-mould too?

if I am going to use it in mould that mould has to be reall perfect. For now I am trying to get a crack at just coating the part!

Please post up a link when it is on the site thanks!



If Brute Force Isn''''t working your not using enough...

As far as i understood, yes you spray the Epoxy compatible poly on your mold and wait till its cured. Then u make your layup and infusion. This gelcoat is UV resistant. Cant wait to try it....

 



 


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