UV stable clear laminating resin

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UV stable clear laminating resin

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pieinthesky	pieinthesky posted 11 Years Ago HOT Topic Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 4, Visits: 8	I have been making laminates using Linnen material and EC laminating epoxy and it works OK. I do a hand layup and the squeeze out the excess resin in a press. The thickness is 25mm and the max size about 200mm x 50mm I would like to try a resin that is water clear and UV stable such as EC Polyurethane casting resin. Is Easy Composites Polyurethane resin suitable for this application or is there anything else suitable? I suspect that I wont have long enough to work unless the resin is thin enough to soak through a ready made stack of cloth. I would also like to know if the resin will stay in the laminate, is it so thin it will all run out leaving it dry? Thanks Mike Edit. I am not keen on using polyester as I will be working in our kitchen and wifey no likey the smelly Edited 11 Years Ago by pieinthesky
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Warren (Staff)	Warren (Staff) posted 11 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Administrators Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 8.5K	Our WaterclearPolyurethane Casting Resin is primarily designed as a casting not laminating resin. In principle it will wet out the fabric much like any other resin. How much would remain is difficult to say. It is quite a thin resin compared to most laminating resins so i would expect a lot more to naturally run out than with another system. How that would perform when compressed in a mould is difficult to say! Also the potlife is only 12-17 minutes meaning you'd need to work fast!! Warren Penalver Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant
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pieinthesky	pieinthesky posted 11 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 4, Visits: 8	Thanks Warren. is there such a thing as polyurethane laminating resin?
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Warren (Staff)	Warren (Staff) posted 11 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Administrators Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 8.5K	There are not many polyurethane laminating resins out there from a quick search. Certainly something I've not tested myself. I imagine the advantages over other epoxy, vinylester and polyester resins are limited to specific applications. Warren Penalver Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant
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ChrisR	ChrisR posted 11 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 363, Visits: 3K	From what I've seen (but not tried yet) Polyurethane resins react more to impurities, water, wood etc creating bubbles within the resin so it would not be suitable for lamination. I'm looking at casting sections of pure PU for my next project but from others experiences it has to be 2-5min cure to prevent the bubbles forming, i.e. it has to cure before it has time to react Edited 11 Years Ago by ChrisR
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pieinthesky	pieinthesky posted 11 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 4, Visits: 8	Thanks for that Chris, something to bear in mind. I might try it using fast cure polyurethane, maybe with the low viscosity I can wet out the laminate much quicker than with epoxy and get it done in time.
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Dravis	Dravis posted 11 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 592, Visits: 1.9K	I have made a lot ... --- quite a lot, of "homegrown Micarta" using all kinds of fabrics, including layers of CF between layers of linen, paper, thin metal foils e.t.c. In my experience ordinary laminating polystyrene works a treat, it is cheap and the resulting materiel is strong and easy to work.. but it does smell--- My brother makes knives with handles from this -- his work can be found on British Blades forum.... username "Larsmj" "Sapere Aude"... Dare to KNOW! The written word is the only truly efficient vehicle for transmitting a complex concept from mind to mind... 103% of all people do not understand statistics... Do not adjust our mind, theres a fault in reality :-)
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pieinthesky	pieinthesky posted 11 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 4, Visits: 8	I have seen some of his work - pretty impressive. I am doing the same thing (or very similar). I am trying to avoid using polyester because of the smell. During the winter I prefer to work indoors so the laminate doesnt take a week to go off!
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