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clear coat

Started by 23, February 07, 2010, 03:24:59 PM

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23

I know this has been beat to death but I need a clear consensus of what is the hardest most durable clear coat to put on pedals... I tried finger nail polish... ah no, Krylon acrylic clear... nice clear but not really durable..., clear epoxy... wouldnt self level, lacquer... again wouldnt self level.... does anyone have a secret out there... I want a hard durable clear coat. The epoxy and lacquer looked like water droplets on the pedal, not a bad effect if thats what your going for....

and yeah I've searched it and have read them all...

I just want a hey this works, I know because I did it.
put it together, now take it apart

Scruffie

I've had good results with laquer, could it be more technique than product? Doing thin layers and then building them up gradually is usually the best way to do it and i've not had a problem with leveling and it's been very durable. Although I suppose brand may have something to do with it, I just use generic car paint laquer.

jkokura

I haven't figured out how to do it yet, but a polyurethane might be the way I want to go. Haven't truly researched it, but maybe it'll be work looking at.

Jacob

deathfaces

water droplets on the pedal? something went wrong with your lacquer. you want to use a spray lacquer, and apply in a moisture free, low humidity environment. applied best at around 70 degrees. apply several thin coats in multiple applications, don't worry about getting every millimeter right away, lacquer builds up, and from my experience self-levels very well. i've used lacquer with great success for years. my favorite method involves a layer of matte spray paint followed by a lacquer coat. also great is appliance epoxy, but the color palette is limited.

Jaicen_solo

Epoxy or polyeurethane resin is what you're looking for. If you search out a Glassfibre kit, you can get a nice thin resin (acetone should work for thinning further), which sets mad hard in minutes. You can brush it on thick with a soft brush, and it will level itself, provided you move quickly. It basically goes on like Hammerite, it creeps slowly.  Look for the stuff you use for a Gel coat and you should be golden ;)

Taylor

Epoxy is definitely the hardest clear coat, short of exotic aircraft paint or something. I've used this stuff:

http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_1990000000268430P?vName=For%20the%20Home&cName=Crafts&sName=Kits&psid=FROOGLE&sid=KDx20070926x00003a

If yours didn't self-level, you were using the wrong stuff. The easy cast resin or similar is fluid, not viscous, and it will self level. The only things that are irritating are that it takes around 24 hours to harden, and I had a hard time keeping little bits of dust or pet hair out of it, which ruins the smoothness of the finish. If you have a way to get this stuff out of the air (extraction system) then this is the best clear finish available IMO.

Jaicen_solo

Agreed. Perhaps making a 'clean air' box would help?
Having said that, you can usually get some form of UV catalyst that will help cure the resin in a couple of hours/minutes. Also, you know you can polish epoxy with buffing compound? 

Scruffie

Quote from: Jaicen_solo on February 07, 2010, 05:47:55 PM
Agreed. Perhaps making a 'clean air' box would help?
Having said that, you can usually get some form of UV catalyst that will help cure the resin in a couple of hours/minutes. Also, you know you can polish epoxy with buffing compound? 
Toothpaste makes a great cheap buffing compound just for reference and leaves your effects minty fresh  :icon_mrgreen:

Jaicen_solo

Indeed it does, but only the oldksool white type. Gel type toothpastes or pastes with bits in is no good of course!
Having said that, you can get a big tube of basic buffing compound for less than £1 ($1.60 or thereabouts).

head_spaz

Envirotex
It's a catalyzed epoxy, very good at self leveling, clear as glass, and is quite durable.
Get it from Ace hardware, Lowes, Michael's arts and crafts etc..
Deception does not exist in real life, it is only a figment of perception.

cloudscapes

I also use epoxy. I don't even need to polish. Then end up glass-shine all by themselves! Takes forever to harden, though. Two days, to be sure. Half if you keep a hot lamp on it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{DIY blog}
{www.dronecloud.org}

Taylor

Etienne, what kind of setup do you use for doing your epoxy? I've been trying to figure out how to do it without the drips hardening on the lower edges, and without those little bits of dust giving me divots in the finish.

23

thanks guys... I guess the temp had something to do with the non self leveling...umm bout 40 degrees outside in a cold ass shop..
put it together, now take it apart

glops

Etienne, your boxes look awesome.  I really want to try the epoxy method soon.

I have had good results with clear lacquer but it's definitely tricky.  My best method involved clearing a box on a piece of thin wood and
covering the box with a clear baking dish.  I live in a bungalow in LA that was built in the 20's and the heater for the place is old school
where the vent is on the floor in the living room.  I turn that up to around 70 degrees and place the box on it for 15 to twenty minutes,
open all the windows in the place, and place a fan on high in one of the closest windows.  Not a great way to do it but it works.

I've done a couple of boxes this way and lay on a heavy coat of lacquer and put it in my makeshift living room oven.  As the clear gets warm
it levels beautifully.  I used the same clear yesterday but used my old toaster oven which has a minimum of 150 degrees.  This high of a temp
causes those ugly bubbles.  Too hot.  Probably best to do really light coats and bake minimally at that temperature.   A toaster at 90-100 degrees
would be better.

I don't plan on using my living room method much in the future.  It's gross but works.  maybe using a couple of lamps with the bulbs really close to the
box would be better.   Good luck, it can be frustrating.  A little heat with lacquer produces good results if your experiments with epoxy don't work...

head_spaz

I stopped using light bulbs because they tend to produce uneven heat, and are very inefficient by allowing too
much of the heat to escape. Sure it works... but there's got to be a better way.

So I built a simple "curing station", and it works much better.
It's just an ordinary cardboard box lined with bubblewrap to act as a sort of insulation... and it uses a heating
pad as the floor. It's the kind of heating pad you'd use for a bad back, the perfect size for a box. The heating
pad is temperature controlled/regulated so the box maintains a perfect 80 F degrees, even with my workshop
temps dropping into the low thirties at night. The heating pad cost me about 8 bux at Sears. The bubblewrap
was free and makes for pretty good insulation.
This setup works surprisingly well. The box is very effective at preventing particle contamination to a freshly
wetted surface, and it also helps to keep the fumes under wraps. Plus it all folds away nicely when not in use.
This project is a keeper.
Deception does not exist in real life, it is only a figment of perception.

jkokura

pictures of all of these various clear coating techniques and ideas would probably be a great help to people like the OP and myself and others! If you have the time of course...

Jacob

Vince_b

I never tried epoxy, can I apply it on a box with decals?

glops

Like the heating pad idea a lot.  From my experience, toaster ovens are too hot and I get bubbles.   

I think I will try coating enclosure on a cookie sheet, place the cooking sheet over a heating pad, and cover the cooking sheet with my glass casserole dish (to trap heat and hide the enclosure from dust).  80 degrees should be enough heat to help the coat flow and level.  With an extension cord, I can do this outside and cook it for however long and then let it sit overnight....

head_spaz

#18
Here's a few pix of my latest project... a PT-80.
It's super hard to get good photos because it is almost TOO glossy.






I used Envirotex, a two part epoxy for the clear coat.
You just mix it 1:1 and pour it on. Use a stick or toothpick, or whatever to spread it around. Allow the excess to drip off.
I should have scraped the excess drip off with a toothpick... but I didn't wanna open up my curing booth and risk getting
dust in the finish.
The instructions suggest: To remove any micro air bubbles, just breathe on it gently. The bubbles will rise to the surface
and pop.
They actually recommend using a propane torch... which I did, and it works really well. (who figgered that out???)
Anyway... this stuff levels out extremely well... hardens to a SUPER DEEP gloss, crystal clear, and quite hard, though it will
scratch if you really abuse it. It's pretty durable... I'm real happy with it. Envirotex is definitely good stuff. Worth every penny.
BUT keep in mind that it has to cure slow in order to have such good leveling properties... so I think it's critically important to
let it cure it inside a box to prevent dust contamination.
This project was rock hard after 24 hours in my curing chamber. It might have been fully cured before that, but I didn't bother
to check it.
Deception does not exist in real life, it is only a figment of perception.

glops

looks great, head spaz!  Will try envirotex!