|
Jess8bit
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 133,
Visits: 566
|
Ok here's the result of my last test : - the rigt side with the brush (and the fish eyes) :  You can see, the fish eyes is visible unfortunately, as the resin and the gel coat are not equally clear (gel coat seems much misty, milky than the clear resin) I guess I cannot correct this at polishing step ? You can also obsere the visible result of the tracks made by the brush. - the left side, with roller :  the carbon has a lumpy look, because of the many medium spots left by the roller. Too bad, the 2/2 twill is not that nice, deformed like this. As matter of fact, if you put aside the fish eyes and "track effect", the brush gives a better result, regarding the carbon look. note : the fish-eyeing could have been provoked by the chem. release agent : I wipe one layer before gel coat, an d mybe did not wait enough time in between. Well, so, guess I have to come back to the spray gun way. I'll probably try the brush + roller trick to smoothen the tracks though.
|
|
|
|
|
Warren (Staff)
|
|
|
Group: Administrators
Posts: 2.5K,
Visits: 8.5K
|
SHould smooth it a bit more!
Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant
|
|
|
|
|
Jess8bit
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 133,
Visits: 566
|
Warren (Staff) (27/06/2013)
What we do in the workshop with polyester gels is to use a applicator rollerin a special way to take out the lines and smooth the surface.
All you do is push your finger onto the edge of the roller plastic cradle to stop the roller rotating, then very lightly float it over the surface of the gel to remove the highspots and fill any gaps. You dont need to apply any force as such.oh I see, like a fine comb ? Thanks for the trick Warren  I'll try that !
|
|
|
|
|
Warren (Staff)
|
|
|
Group: Administrators
Posts: 2.5K,
Visits: 8.5K
|
What we do in the workshop with polyester gels is to use a applicator rollerin a special way to take out the lines and smooth the surface.
All you do is push your finger onto the edge of the roller plastic cradle to stop the roller rotating, then very lightly float it over the surface of the gel to remove the highspots and fill any gaps. You dont need to apply any force as such.
Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant
|
|
|
|
|
Jess8bit
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 133,
Visits: 566
|
look at that :  on the left I used the roller, on the right the brush. On both sides fisheyes have appeared. You don't see them on the left because they are smaller, but there are a lot of them, while there are only a few - but huge - on the right. The brush left tracks, and he roller high spots. I'm bagging that and will infuse it as is to see how these holes and tracks and spots transfer to the part. Drop test in progress.... had to struggle against a leak as usual
|
|
|
|
|
Jess8bit
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 133,
Visits: 566
|
So, I've just tried a couple of GC50 application tests : - brush on one mould - roller on another We'll see the result but, I don't expect class A work here. - brushing GC50 as is is just unfeasable properly, IMHO, as it leaves tracks and you can't controlled the thickness, it's not even, well, you know. But maybe the result will not show these... - using the roller seems more promising, I guess I can improve the result with a bit practrice (to find the right pressure on the roller and the right quantity of GC), but first, you really need different roller shapes/sizes to access corners, recesses etc. (so the use of a sponge can help indeed  ), and second, it does not beat the spray in terms of even coating, and sometimes it leaves empty spots that made me adding some more material to covers them. But again, we'll judge by the result. Problem of spraying is that you project material everywhere in the workshop, which is really bad as you risk to contaminate fabrics if they are close, and everything get sticky as hell, as I don't have nor a cabin neither an air extractor to work safely. That's quite a problem.
|
|
|
|
|
Jess8bit
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 133,
Visits: 566
|
Ok yeah if you have a picture I'd like to see. Maybe I have the same without knowing it ^^
|
|
|
|
|
Ortonporton
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 8,
Visits: 338
|
Sorry not the best description!! But weird as in, the outside is mirror like glass, which I love, but depending on how well it's sprayed and thicknesses the actual weave underneath can look really Strange. ill have a take a pic. Maybe I need to keep practicing! I'll get there in the end I'm sure.
|
|
|
|
|
Jess8bit
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 133,
Visits: 566
|
Ortonporton (24/06/2013)
Hey Jess I thought the same thing, I'm pretty sure you could use the roller, but when I did I found it quite tricky as with a small mould the roller is a little bigger than I expected!! Also if you have any awkward corners its a bit tricky. I still have had the best results on my small moulds using a small sponge! How are you getting on with the spraying? I'm just about ready to call it quits as I have had to many weird looking parts!!! Cheers Hi, I will certainly try the roller very soon. If it works, then it means one can find and use smaller rollers, like those you can buy for painting on small surfaces or into corners. Perhaps the one dedicated for lacquer paints with short bristles, don't know yet. I'd like to hear some feedback about it. I guess we need to test thanks for the trick about the sponge by the way I'm still quite young in the compositie business, but so far I'm happy with the result of using gun sprayed gel coat. It requires some practrice though. For example, you don't want it to be too thick. But the result is really awesome as I only have to polish the final part to make it looked like a clear coated part with a gloss finish. What do you mean by weird looking ?
|
|
|
|
|
Ortonporton
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 8,
Visits: 338
|
Hey Jess I thought the same thing, I'm pretty sure you could use the roller, but when I did I found it quite tricky as with a small mould the roller is a little bigger than I expected!! Also if you have any awkward corners its a bit tricky. I still have had the best results on my small moulds using a small sponge! How are you getting on with the spraying? I'm just about ready to call it quits as I have had to many weird looking parts!!! Cheers
|
|
|
|