A typical nozzle size for gelcoat is around 4-6mm so anything that's a fraction of a mm will be a struggle. As for thinning the gelcoat out, acetone is a no-no as this will certainly damage the gelcoat. Styrene monomer would thin the gel without damaging it but really from a health-and-safety point of view, cranking up the styrene and then atomising it through a gun is a pretty scary idea. I'm not a health and safety nut but I would personally not fancy this without a full air-fed mask.

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales

Carbon Tuner..... I think the 0.8mm nozzle  on your gun maybe a little small for spraying a gelcoat, Could you not get a larger nozzle? say a 1.4mm? I know they are available my Devillbiss SRI has this size nozzle.

GC50 is a UV protective layer. It's been well tested in this capacity and works as well as a clear coat. It's also very polishable and, even if you do want to 'detail' it afterwards then it's a good material to wet-flat and polish and it's a tougher surface than a clear-coat.

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales

Go read the info on GC50... If this is not UV protection why the heck am I even wasting my time with it???? why would I put this on then inject the part then take it out of the mold and clear coat it anyhow? Makes no sense...



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

If your parts are ever going to see direct sun light your going to have to use a UV protective clear coat anyway. So you might as well use PVA and spray this gelcoat product on. It will lay down better without the fish eye problems. The PVA will only marr the surface a bit which will disappear when you prepare for clearcoat. There is only one way to get a show car finish and that is with wet sanding (block sanding flat the clearcoat) and then compounding to perfection. I tried spraying automotive clearcoat into my mold that had a chemlease release agent applied. I got the worst fish eye from hell you can imagine. I worry that some of these chemical release agents have silicone transfer onto the part. So I will see if the PVA will give me the barrier I need and the marring will be sanded out anyway. Thats my 2 cents worth.

Fred   

 [quote]Carbon Tuner (27/06/2012)

---

Here it is boys, something I like to think as the last step in getting a perfect part!

After stepping into the clearcoating/painting business I can tell you, with or without a paint both it is a total PITA. I cant stand clear coating a part after de moulding, then the clearcoat gets wavy or a bug in it. then i san and polish, still not perfect.

I'm starting to learn this real fast; the key to a perfect part, is taking a mould from a perfect part and polishing it there. I plan to make some really perfect molds, then try this.

 



 

The site says you can brush it on, we for my size parts that would be really connivent. Now matter what the surface of the part will be perfect but if your paint strokes on the back are to thick you may see your weave get a little wobbly.

When making parts smaller than ".5 meter" I think my cup gun is a bit much? think an air brush system would work?

Well The Part came out like you guessed, looks nice but fiber is dimpled.



 

I decided to try again with a higher volume gun, same issue. Then as a last ditch effort I tried a brush. GOOOD luck getting a smooth coat with a brush "better by the best darn brush in the store too".



I am thinking the problem is its not going on nearly thick enough. My paint sprayers have a way smaller nozzle, not  like the 6mm nozzle on the cup gun on the easy composites site.

Guess I am at a stand still tell I get this gun, some cups and might as well pick up that easylease.

I did have a couple questions,


#1. do I have to order these cups for the gun from you? Not that I dont love easy composites but I dont want to import paper cups from another country if I dont have to

#2. Can this gelcoat be sanded to smooth out, same process 500, 1000, 1200, polish???

#3. How do I give the piece I made its final glaze? Should I just hit it with a light cut compund, or start with full cut and work all three steps back?

 

Thanks for all the help I Feel like I am very close to perfect parts!!!!

 

 

 



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

Hi Carbon Tuner,

It looks like it's gone down evenly but it does look a bit 'dimply'. I think what you'll find if you infuse over this surface is that the carbon will look consistant but it will have a slightly strange appearance caused by the dimpled surface of your gelcoat. If you wet-laid carbon over it (not that many on this forum would) then it would look perfect because, without the vacuum pressure forcing the carbon hard against the dimpled gelcoat, the carbon would take a straighter line and resin would fill in the dimples. Under vac pressure however the carbon will follow that exact surface and might be left with a very slight pattern to it.

To improve the flatness out of the gun, it actually helps to put slightly more gelcoat down and put it down faster as well - this allows it to self-level a little more. Also, the clarity of the GC50 is very good and so being a little thicker on the gel is not too much of a concern. Like all clear gels if you go too thick then you'll get a slight milkyness but that would need to be pretty thick with the GC50 before it started to do this and in general, a thicker gel will provide more UV protection and more to polish into in the event of a scratch.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the part comes out.

--Matt

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales

Well I decided to test  the gel coat.

I bought this paint sprayer in fear that my big 20oz. one would be to much. I started with the volume knob the whole way down and that was gonna take too long in my opinion so I had creeped my way to full pressure. This stuff is like gel, kinda hard for the sprayer. Still It seemed t slowly build. I got about 70 grams on a 6in. by 16in area.

• High volume, low pressure (HVLP) material transfer
• Designed for detail painting
• Gravity feed
• 5.3 oz. cup
• Regulator available separately  *********** I got the regulator toooooo
• Stainless steel nozzle and needle
• Flow rate: 40cc per minute
• Minimum transfer efficiency: 65%

Required pressure: 43 PSI

Average air consumption: 3.2 to 5.6 CFM

Nozzle size: 0.8 mm   I think that purple gun mentioned in earlier post would be a total POS do not get it for this gel unless you do small parts like cell phone cases. Here's what the Mold looked like after I was done. Let me ask this, is anyone getting a smooth finish right outta the gun? is this smooth enough to do a decent infusion? should I be sanding this?   Just trying to get into this stuff but devil is in the details...

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

Thanks for the heads up marc.

Wel I gave my shot at covering the part in wax. I think it came out pretty well. I only had to make two slices. This is the mirror piece. one cool thing about this part is I dont need to make 2 molds, the mirror shell is same on both sides. Since I am only making a cover I am good with one mold.













The wost part is cleaning off the wax...





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