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Tip's on ding repair with epoxy? Stuff's pretty weird. Especially when it's this frio. U gotta mix it like perfect.

you are allowed to microwave your epoxy to warm it up and help it kick and also flow well. Or, since epoxy has low volatility, you can just do the ding repair inside... Wear gloves.

True to that. Noticed it is allot less stinky than polyester resin. That I like but I have been working in my basement which is not heated and has been under 60 degrees. So brought down a space heater. Mixing tips? Worth using a scale? I read something about NOT using plastic containers? It is also coming off yellow? Using "Ding All Ultra Clear".

Let me throw out that what I'm telling you is based on my limited experience (glassed 2 boards with epoxy) and what I've read on swaylocks...

you can do it by volume, just make sure you get the ratio right. For example, most epoxies are 2:1 by weight, but because the densities are different, the volumes will be something slightly different than 2:1. It will pay to do some research on this. Some epoxies are corrected for this, like Resin Research.

I think plastic containers are okay, just make sure they are clean. To be sure, use denatured alcohol. Never ever ever use acetone with epoxy. Acetone will take the stuff right into your blood stream, which gives a fair number of people allergic reactions.

I have found that not all epoxies are the same. I have used resin research and really like it. On my first board I ran out of resin research epoxy and switched to West Systems for the hot coat and it yellowed in the sun within a week. Luckily, my board was in a yellow resin tint, so it didn't look too bad (but you can see a permanent imprint of where the tie down straps were!). The newer resin research has even better whiteners and UV stability. So far my clear glassed board still looks snow white. I'm going to guess that Ding All uses whatever epoxy they can get their hands on cheaply enough. As far as I know, this isn't a problem structurally. But it might look worse than you wanted it too.

60 should be fine. The nice thing about epoxy is that it will kick if the ratio is right, but it may take a while. Dial it in, do the repair, and ignore it for 24 hours. You should be good to go.

Put a litte heat on it if necessary. I use an old blow dryer. Heat guns get too hot, too quick. By contrast in the summer you can use a simple ice pack made out of a ziplock bag of ice to slow things down.

Any hot coating tips? I am hotcoating some pressure cracks and with polyester resin Id add an extra drop or two to get it to set quicker? Turn up the heat maybe? Another issue I had hotcoatin was when I tried to sand the edges of the hotcoated area flush to the glass job it started flaking off making it hard to look good and sometimes uncover the cracks I was trying to seal.

definitely make sure the resin is warm and the board too. it will flow out better. You will get flaking of the resin if you either didn't sand enough or if the area wasn't perfectly clean. Use acetone for polyester to clean off oils from your hands and use denatured for epoxy for the same.

Cool cool thanks. things are looking water tight so thats alright. Now just waitng on Wedensday!

Generally you have to sand a litlle beyond where you are going to hotcoat. Even polyester won't stick and will flake if you brush resin back over an unsanded area. To blend in the gloss or semigloss just use a polyurethane spray can and fog in the edges after sanding your hotcoat. Wet and dry the ding and then hit it with some polish(preferably some #2, but any kind of auto polish will work). That should do it. Give yourself a "good solid B+".

Resin Reasearch. Great stuff! Order from Fiber Glass Supply in Bingen. Good resource for supplies.

Epoxy repair. Much mo beta in Summ-a. Shred board matenance close to completion and almost ready for some end of summer trips I got on the docket