Buffing Pour on Epoxy

[davepellegrene]

I recsently buffed out my mother in laws black Corvette and had some product left. I have been wanting to see if I could wet sand and buff pour on epoxy.

Here is a pic from an attempt last year. I wet sanded these to get the lines from were I poured the side panel to meet the front panel. I sanded the edge down with 400 then sanded the whole box with I think 1200. I tried hand buffing with some stuff I had around and this is the result. Not so good.



This morning for the heck of it I took the box up to my shop and buffed with Finish Cut I got from my auto paint store. Then buffed with Deep Chrystal Paint Cleaner. Both I used the pad on the left. I then finished with Carnauba wax and the pad on the right.



Finished product.



Notice how the finish looks like it has brush marks in it. That is actually the grain of the Baltic Birch raised from moisture I believe. Now for those that wont use MDF because of the seams showing. Take a look at this end grain. These boxes were skimmed with body putty to take out the imperfections. You can clearly see the end grain of the plywood in the round over.



Here is a link to the album that shows pics of the experiment on the boxes. This was done as I was doing the MDF seam test boxes that are in my signature below.
Not trying to stir up the "Bu tt Joint" argument again. Just wanted to share.
Now that I know that the pour on epoxy can be sanded and buffed this opens up a lot of opportunities for an inexperienced painter to do a piano finish. I used the pour on epoxy on my Rock It Speakers and really liked the finish other then some of the edges were the pours met. I now know I can wet sand them smooth and buff it out. Cool!
Plus the finish is so thick I don't think you could buff through it if you tried.

Dave

[evilskillit]

Re: Buffing Pour on Epoxy

Cool Dave, thanks for taking on yet another finishing experiment so we can learn from your adventures.

[Paul Ebert]

Re: Buffing Pour on Epoxy

I'm sure you've covered this elsewhere, but what's involved in applying the epoxy?

Recently, the thought has gone through my mind to wonder if one could apply something like a sheet of mylar to mdf to deal with the seams and end grain. Some sort of veneer not made of wood that would serve as the flat/smooth base for the paint.

[davepellegrene]

Re: Buffing Pour on Epoxy

Here is a link to a thread that I finally got the pouring process right. Turns out all the trouble I had pouring it was the epoxy I was getting from HD was bad. Soon as I changed to the Famowood brand from Lowes It' worked great.
I would say a good base for paint if you want to spend a little money would be the West System epoxy. D Rose uses it a lot and gets great results. Myself I'm sensitized to epoxy so I have to stay clear of it. The pour on epoxies seam to not bother me as long as I wear gloves and keep it contained inside a plastic tent which also doubles as a dust control area.
I can now sand out some of the edges that I didn't care for on my Rock It speakers but that's going to have to wait. They are going to my buddies house for a while. He's had my Continuums and tomorrow I'm swapping them out.

Dave

[Whitneyville1]

Re: Buffing Pour on Epoxy

Just 'glas 'em and put lots of clear topping coat on 'em. My buddy that works up at Webbcraft Yachts and Marine can do it for ya'!:D If you remember the TV show "Miami Vice" the Scarab (used in seasons 3-5) was a Webbcraft built just north of Miami, OK. "Sonny" commented on one boat "Sounds like a pair of 641's..." those are 641 Caterpillar 450HP deisels "massaged" to about 600 each. The Scarab had 3 6146 500HP Cat's that were good for 750HP each, and "Bob's Prop Shop" in North Miami, OK made the SS props by hand. It was tested on Grand Lake, and clocked at 86 MPH, and it didn't have room to "top-out".:eek:

[davepellegrene]

Re: Buffing Pour on Epoxy

Just 'glas 'em and put lots of clear topping coat on 'em. My buddy that works up at Webbcraft Yachts and Marine can do it for ya'!:D If you remember the TV show "Miami Vice" the Scarab (used in seasons 3-5) was a Webbcraft built just north of Miami, OK. "Sonny" commented on one boat "Sounds like a pair of 641's..." those are 641 Caterpillar 450HP deisels "massaged" to about 600 each. The Scarab had 3 6146 500HP Cat's that were good for 750HP each, and "Bob's Prop Shop" in North Miami, OK made the SS props by hand. It was tested on Grand Lake, and clocked at 86 MPH, and it didn't have room to "top-out".:eek:

Any idea what those props cost. :eek:

[Whitneyville1]

Re: Buffing Pour on Epoxy

I understand, depending on the pitch, 5-10 grand each. All the prop guy's have "secrets" about how they build them to give the most thrust and not snap off the blades. Bob's makes props for those 90 knot Coast Guard turbine chase boats. The life of those props is measured in hours too. At top speed, the water grinds away the shape of the blades. You can see that on the edges of big outboard motor props on bass boats.
I had to tease you about the pour gloss finish.;)

[winslow]

Re: Buffing Pour on Epoxy

You mean Wellcraft? They build the Scarabs.

[davepellegrene]

Re: Buffing Pour on Epoxy

I understand, depending on the pitch, 5-10 grand each. All the prop guy's have "secrets" about how they build them to give the most thrust and not snap off the blades. Bob's makes props for those 90 knot Coast Guard turbine chase boats. The life of those props is measured in hours too. At top speed, the water grinds away the shape of the blades. You can see that on the edges of big outboard motor props on bass boats.
I had to tease you about the pour gloss finish.;)

yeah, I was shocked when I found out what they get for them. I guess to be expected when then spend a 100G's on each motor.

As far as the pour on epoxy goes I started looking for something that the average guy could do a piano finish fairly easily. Although it does have a learning curve it's not that hard to do. Cool thing is you could do it in your living room and don't need anything but a mixing stick and a few measuring cups.
I guess for me it's all about the DIY. If I have to pay somebody to do it it kinda takes the fun out of it.

Dave

[Whitneyville1]

Re: Buffing Pour on Epoxy

Webbcraft is the bass boat and Yacht side, Wellcraft is the speedboat side. You need to see a 76' "Cigarette" -type deep-vee hull with 4 big CAT's for power and one for a genset, and the fore-deck polished by bikinis! It almost looks like a destroyer passing! Grand Lake O' the Cherokees is a semi-private lake and lots of people with lots of money live up there. All those boats always have a herd of great looking young women on them. Must be nice....(I still like to look!)

[icor1031]

Re: Buffing Pour on Epoxy

Thanks for the info, Dave.


Also, why is this an issue?
Don't you just flush trim with a router bit, bondo, and sand to remove them?

Now for those that wont use MDF because of the seams showing.

[davepellegrene]

Re: Buffing Pour on Epoxy

Thanks for the info, Dave.


Also, why is this an issue?
Don't you just flush trim with a router bit, bondo, and sand to remove them?

If you live in an area that has a large swing in humidity like the Midwest the MDF will expand and contract in thickness and the seam will show up. This is mostly due to high humidity levels in the summer then when winter comes the furnace dries out the house. If you want to do some reading here is a thread that is full of info on it.
In my signature below, Trench Seam Method, is the end result of my findings. It was the only way I could come up with that would stop the process. Post #36 shows the samples I made up. I did not test West Marine Epoxy but the whole experiment was to find an inexpensive method of stopping the seam from telegraphing through the paint. One of these days I'm going to take some time to post picks of all the samples to show how they are doing today. It's been almost two years since I did the testing.

Dave

[JarOfSonicMen]

Re: Buffing Pour on Epoxy

Dave,
I think you've inspired me to give the pour-on another try on a subwoofer cabinet. So the question is, do I paint, epoxy, then cut the hole for the driver? Or cut the hole, then do the epoxy?
In my initial experiment, the epoxy over black epoxy spray paint does look like a million bucks, but I was having trouble with my joints.

[davepellegrene]

Re: Buffing Pour on Epoxy

Doesn't matter unless you are recessing the sub. If recessed I would do the epoxy last and just wipe it out of the recess so you don't get to much build up. As far as the joints they will show unless you do the trench method on them. Lots of extra work but worth it if you don't want them coming back.

Dave