Thread: Epoxy resin issues !!!

Ok, so i know there are a few of you who have actually used this stuff as a finish with success. I'm in about 15 razors finished with it. Here are my issues:

1. Occasionally a scale will dry, and in its reflection the finish will be wavy.
2. on the outer, or bottom edge of a scale (shaped like a piece of a circle) sometimes I'll get bumps along the edge, from the epoxy drying in thicker and thinner spots.
3. almost always get one speck of dust in one scales finish.

My method: sticky tacky razors on ends of dowel rods mounted in wood plank, cover with large tupperware bin with lights off overnight after finish is poured on. and i always finish 3 sets at a time (6 scales). Out of 6 pieces, 2 pieces will typically have one of the aforementioned issues. Any ideas for help? Thanks!

PS - my amounts of resin and activator are precisely even, and i mix them well for 3 minutes.

NOBODY uses this stuff? For economy of time, durability, gloss, and quality, its like 100 times better than anything else!

Really 2 out of 6 aint bad at all if you're doing them all at the same time. You could try applying it with an acid brush (the type of brush) around the problem areas. I have seen that done with fishing rods, and a video with Glen where they are finishing a brush handle. I have seen guitar lutiers use a small squeegee to spread it to aid in the leveling. I haven't used it on razors, but have used it on fishing lures and other projects, and I have usually had the same issues so I only used it where the protection over appearance was the goal.

Originally Posted by sheffieldlover

NOBODY uses this stuff? For economy of time, durability, gloss, and quality, its like 100 times better than anything else!

Cannonfodder/Dave uses it and has done sevral "How to" threads on how he does it...

BTW every type of finish has it's good and bad points, you just found the bad points on Poured Epoxy... which disproves your statement above

tiddle, thanks for the tips. Glen....even 3 pours and 3 days of drying is to me better than doing one more CA scale!

ps, I originally got the idea from cannon fodder's tutorials. I'm not a fan of doing repairs like that because even after blue jewelers roush you never get that high gloss back, and wax just irritates my customers...

Epoxy does look great when done just right, but having to protect everything from flying dust constantly just kind of turned me off it for razors. I just like good ol' CA and give it a quick swipe of Accelerator and they dust woes are no more; and you can finish the scales within an hour or less.

accelerator you say? How many coats, and how many coats that need sanding before buffing?

wash coat, and let dry without accelerator...sometimes it will crystalize if you use it then. Thin coat, quick spritz of accelerator, wait about two minutes, rub dry w/ paper towel, and continue. You can go to med. for about 4 or 5 coats w/ accelrator sanding flat w/ 400 or 600 grit between coats, or stick w/ thin for 12 coats w/ a shot of accelerator between each coat, and sanding with 400 or 600 every 4 coats of thin. then sand up to 2k, buff with buffing compound and done. It moves pretty quick with the accelerator versus having to sit and let it dry for 20 or 30 minutes every coat. Personally I think the accelerator works best w/ thin, but some use the med...preference really sums it up, but both work.

thanks for the tip. when i stopped using CA, i just gave it up and used thick CA. Only needed like 4 coats of the stuff, but gotta sand between coats, still kills me

If you have ANY questions on epoxy resin, cannonfodder (Dave) is the king. I was over to his shop and he has it down to an art. But it is a trial and error and experience thing. It takes time to learn how to do the process consistently well. I was having issues with bubbles and he showed me a fast way to end that problem!
Personally, I do not like epoxy ... It is rubbery or soft plastic feeling to me. As much as I (and my lungs) hate CA, I like the finish much better. And there are shortcuts to avoid a lot of the sanding.