Cloudiness and white specks in finished project


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Matthieu Libeert
Matthieu Libeert
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Hi,

I had the same problem a few times, things I found out that might help you:

1. Your epoxy had some tiny bubbles 
2. Curing environment with to much humidity
3. Sanding to early (wet sanding with moist)
4. Thing I recently found out; Carbon fiber for example absorbs water. So if you store it in "bad" conditions; water inside your carbon will react with the epoxy.
    you can solve this by putting your carbon in the oven for a while.

hope those few point might help you in the future Wink

Matthieu Libeert
Founder MAT2 Composites X Sports
website:
www.mat2composites.com




stevogt4st205
stevogt4st205
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Hi, personally i wouldn't build layers of resin up, id make sure you put enough resin down in one go. As this can cause the above and also if you sand through one layer and then try and polish it you get a different affect in areas.

Also cloudyness can occur if the resin/hardener is old and/or you havnt prepped the part correctly,

Also once i tried to be clever and used the cheap halford clear laquer as a "glue" to stick fabric to a part it worked well but did leave this affect on the finish therefore this is a big no no lol

another stupid question is you havnt tried to sand and polish the part using the polishing compound from the easy comp website and then tried to apply another layer have you? could be that 
charnwooduk
charnwooduk
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If I want to sand to a 1500 grit finish, then I go up in stages. 200grit > 400 grit >800 grit > 1200grit > 1500grit.

going from a very course grit directly to a very fine grit, you will find the fine grit is not agressive enough to sand down the deep scratches from 200 grit.
SRTCobra
SRTCobra
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Warren,
Thanks for the info.  I feared it might be my sanding technique.  My epoxy and hardner was just the basic that comes from carbon mods, and I used foam applicators.  I didn't skin it, but I did use that technique.  I was making covers for the panels, so I just waxed down some extra panels I had, put down a layer of epoxy, and waited for it to get tacky just like instructed.  I then laid the fabric on it and pressed it tight against the part.  I waited overnight for the epoxy to dry and then trimmed the excess material.  Then I started applying coats of epoxy until there was enough to sand it down without hitting the fabric.  I then sanded it with 120 grit, washed it, and let it dry.  Then applied some more coats, wet sanded it with 180 grit and then 1500 grit and then let it dry.  Lastly I applied two coats of gelcoat and let that dry.  Wet sanded it back and then clear coated it.  That's my entire process minus some minor steps in between.
Are you thinking that maybe I did not let it dry long enough between washing the part and laying down coats of epoxy?  Or am I doing something else wrong?
Also, just an off topic question.  Do the CF/Kevlar blends soak up more epoxy?  It seemed like i had to lay down a lot more coats of epoxy to provide enough to sand without hitting the fiber, then it did for regular CF.

P.S: I also added another picture that shows the white specks.
wozza
wozza
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Hi Cody and welcome.
Composites can be very frustrating at times. Assuming that you have wrapped the part not created it from a mould this is what I think may have happened but I would need more info from you to be sure.

Did you knock back the surface with wet n dry paper after the carbon was put down?
If you sand the surface too soon ie before the resin is fully cured and hard you can get this effect especially if you wet sand. I think the resin absorbs some moisture and if you then apply more resin/clear coat you can get the milky appearance. The white specks can be caused by the same thing.

Give it another go. I ended up with many parts in the scrap bin when I first started it is all part of the learning curve I'm affraid.

Regards Warren
             

Carbon Copies Ltd
SRTCobra
SRTCobra
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Hey guys!  I'm new to the forum, and new to composites in general.  My first project involved using a Red CF/Kevlar Fabric to hand lay up some side Moldings on my Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8.  It took me a couple tries to figure out how to get it to stay tight on the part, and wait for the perfect time to lay down the cloth.  I finally got that down, and thought I was doing everything correctly.  Followed all instructions, advice, etc.  Anyway, after I got the finish perfectly smooth and scratch free, I looked at all four panels in the light and to my disgust, it was cloudy in the majority of places, with little white specks everywhere.  I don't know what I did wrong to get this cloudiness and specking.  It also looks like it goes all the way through to the CF weave.  I'm dumbfounded and don't even want to try again, if after all that hard work it's going to come out looking like this again.  I posted a picture of what I'm talking about.  It does not show the white specking, but you can see the cloudiness, especially towards the right.  And unfortunately this is not the worst one.  Any advice?
Thanks in advance,
Cody



White Specks

Edited 13 Years Ago by SRTCobra
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