Anyone do this? I'm using System3, and sanding it is driving me mad. Out of frustration, I took a freshly sharpened scraper to it, and it seemed to do a nice job of taking the bulk of the residue off. At least to the point where I don't have to waste many sheets of sandpaper to work it down to bare wood.

Is there a horrid downside to this? My sandpaper loads up almost immediately with little dots of epoxy, rendering it useless, at least till I flick them all off with a fingernail, which seems like an exercise in futility.

Also, after 48 hrs, the epoxy is no longer tacky, but if I hold it barehanded for ten seconds, there is a slight stickiness to it. Is this normal, or should it be utterly un-sticky? Would a tad more hardener help? I'm guessing this is the cause of the little dots of it on my sandpaper, or does this happen regardless? Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated. What a pain!

Ken

Hesh --

I've had it since March, and have kept it in my flammables cabinet. I'm using a digital scalethat reads in grams, but not tenths, which may be the problem. I used Mike Doolin's ratio on the LMI site of 100:44. Since I only mixed ten grams of A, I had to estimate the last .4 gram. I'm confident I was within .3 gram either way, though that may be enough of a discrepancy to account for the problem.

For the next coat I'll use an even 5 grams and see if that helps. What is the downside of using slightly too much hardener?

Hesh --

No shellac underneath, and I'm applying it to mahogany and granadillo. Haven't started in on the gran yet, though I'm guessing it'll be the same. Hopefully an extra day will help matters. Thanks for your input. I'd really like to figure this stuff out since, well, it's paid for.

John --

Thanks alot for your suggestions. I used to work with alot of polyester and urethane resins, and would intentionally over catalyze the mix -- the artist I was working for liked the way it cracked and fissured . And boy, did it ever get hot! Nasty stuff.

I may try to track down some syringes locally and try that route. Many thanks!

Ken

I may try to track down some syringes locally and try that route. [/QUOTE]

Ken-
Once you convince your local surgical supply/drugstore folk that you're not using them for drugs, they're usually quite helpful in supplying you with syringes.
With the syringes, the printed markings do tend to smear if you get epoxy on them, so protecting them with clear tape sometimes helps.
Another 'trick' that works is to mark a measuring stick (for depth) with the 2:1 ratio (use pencil- some inks dissolve in epoxy) and mix in a straight-sided (cylindrical, not flaring) container. For small quantities a pill container or similar container can be used.


After having said all that, I just use the (WEST) epoxy pumps and throw away the excess (sometimes one shot is more than I need), though I usually have a jig or workboard that could use some epoxy coating, so I can use up the leftovers. Even with the pumps, you do have to check them from time to time with the 'stick and cylinder' method.

Epoxy is really useful stuff- now you can glue down those fingerboards without worrying about water warping the neck, etc.

Cheers
John