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probablecause
05-27-2007, 10:39 AM
If I want to put a couple of coats of resin on my engine interior wood to give it that shiny look, do I need to add any activator or hardner chemical to it?
If not, how long will it take to dry since it does not have any hardner in it?
Thanks, Brendan

mondorally
05-27-2007, 12:56 PM
I'm no expert but I think without hardener it won't harden at all. When I was making my seat bases the coats I noticed a huge difference depending on how much catalyst I used. Sometimes it would harden to the touch in an hour or less, sometimes a day or more. I was mixing up different size batches and guestimating how many drops of catalyst to use.
Maybe try coating a 2"x4" with different resin/catalyst ratios (or no catalyst at all) as an experiment?
-Justin

Jbb
05-27-2007, 02:37 PM
You would be real unhappy if you did not catalyze any resin you use......the flypaper effect might prove helpful......but not practical ...or shiney..

YeLLowBoaT
05-27-2007, 08:41 PM
it would harden, but it would take a long time... hardner is a catalist. It just speeds the reaction up.

bikerboater
05-28-2007, 03:21 AM
I'm more familiar with body filler (been slingin it since I was a teenager) but it's polyester too. I can tell you that without the hardener it only gets to the consistency of half dried dog poop. Not the result you are looking for I'm sure. lol I was thinking of sugesting a clear urethane finish but the good stuff requires a catalyst too. If you are worried about the work time, experiment with the amount of catalyst and perhaps consider doing it in smaller sections.

ratso
05-28-2007, 03:30 PM
Mekp

AdrenelineOD
06-04-2007, 12:32 AM
UV resin, You can work with it till uv rays hit it. I only know about Fiberglass Hawaii selling it, but I`m also stuck on an Island.

71tahiti
06-10-2007, 05:36 PM
Mix up a "Hot" batch and apply it. Otherwise you will have a sticky mess for a long time..
The temp and the humidity greatly effect how much and how fast the resin will catalyze.
Mix up smaller batches. If you catalyze a large batch of resin, the heat that it generates causes it to catalyze even faster.
Plastic buckets, I use ice cream tubs :D , are reusable for several batches.
Small mixes are usually always easier to use and there is minimal waste.
Good Luck with your no fly strip :D

Steve 1
06-10-2007, 06:31 PM
If I want to put a couple of coats of resin on my engine interior wood to give it that shiny look, do I need to add any activator or hardner chemical to it?
If not, how long will it take to dry since it does not have any hardner in it?
Thanks, Brendan
The old timers around here used to mix a little acetone in the resin @10% when coating wood, this for one lowered the Viscosity (thinner resin, penetrates quicker)
The MEKP was always kept at a higher ratio 2.5-3% second the acetone allowed a little increase in the gel time then top coated when cured with a resin and wax solution 1-3% the MEKP at 2%. Bear in mind no MEKP = NO Esterification and Goo forever.

Tom Brown
06-11-2007, 07:53 AM
I use resin thinned down 2:1 with acetone to coat my interior wood. It works well but if you used pressure treated wood, coating it with thinned resin (or any resin) will cause it to warp badly.
To do this, you need to use good resin. The garbage they sell at Home Depot has a lot of filler in it and is like paste. I use a good quality GP resin, tripple up on the MEKp, and then set the coated pieces in the sun to dry. It's tough to get the thinned resin to light off but leaving it in the sun usually does the trick. UV light is also an effective catalyst.
The goal is to make the resin really thin, like the consistency of alcohol, so that it soaks into the wood. When thinned, you can set the end of a 4x4 post into the resin and it will wick up into the wood. The goal is not to coat the surface. Polyester resin is not completely waterproof and will allow moisture into the wood over time.
Thinned resin will get into the wood and fill spaces where micro-organisms can live and feed off the wood, causing it to rot. It's not the water that causes wood to rot, it's animals that live on and consume the sap wood.

skinut
07-09-2007, 10:28 AM
If I want to put a couple of coats of resin on my engine interior wood to give it that shiny look, do I need to add any activator or hardner chemical to it?
If not, how long will it take to dry since it does not have any hardner in it?
Thanks, Brendan Good luck it a lot of work to start all over. But it will not hardner without the activator (harnder) as you say.