Thread: Wet on wet epoxy coating

Confession first. I've been using synthetic mohair rollers (about 100mm, thin diameter, say 15mm) instead of the proper foam ones, from the place that starts with "B". They come in packs of ten or so. They are very cheap in bulk and I ditch after use. So sue me.

But....I do try to organise things so that I can do a couple of little jobs together, or a big job plus some detail or other to maximise the use of the little beggars because a bin full of dead ones makes me cringe with guilt (and I'd love to add 'self-loathing' but that would really be stretching the truth more than usual)
But I do try to get at least three uses out of the really cheap chip brushes that I use. I use thinners for that.

Originally Posted by Daddles

A seemingly simple question that I've yet to get right ...

What do you do with the roller between coats? Toss it and get a new one for each coat? Seal it in a bag with some thinners? Leave a small offering to the great god Goop?

If I remember rightly, last time I stored the roller in a bag with some thinners ... which stuffed up the roller but left it sort of useable. I seem remember it developing a hard spot, but that was a couple of years ago now. What do you do?

Richard

Richard does this mean the Yellowtail is getting some attention

by putting thinners in the bag with the roller will that not effect the next coat of pox?

i just did as rob says plan a few jobs ahead to get as much use from the one roller.

Rollers, brushes, paper towels, etc. are the cost of doing business. With good techniques you'll maximize the use you get from these "shop supplies".

Personally, I charge the client a flat rate depending on project type and size, specifically covering shop supplies. I had a customer ask me once if "I was charging for paper towels . . ." I said I was and promptly took him into the shop and showed him the contents of the trash can in the corner, near the epoxy mixing station. It was littered with rollers, gloves, paper towels, mixing sticks, disposable this and that. As he and I looked into the can I asked if it should give it away. He never mentioned it again.

Those of us that build for the shear pain, of it all (no one to send a bill), get organized, plan out epoxy runs so you can hit several small jobs at once. This saves on everything, gloves cleaners, rollers, brushes, etc.

The more you use this magic goo, the better you get at this sort of thing.

The planning is the main thing to reduce consumables.

If you want to keep the roller going longer on a hot day while the coat sets up enough for a recoat stick it in a plastic bag in the freezer (I could make a joke about prepregs, PAR!)

But the rollers are planned to be short lived - sometimes the hassle of one falling to bits halfway through a job is much more troublesome than the couple of bucks of using a new roller cover.

The correct foam rollers (thin foam) are nice because they don't put much pox on the surface and don't texture the surface too heavily.

Also a nice trick with disposable epoxy brushes is to cut the bristles down so they are only an inch (25mm) long. Apply less epoxy more quickly and more likely to be reusable after sitting in some solvent overnight (NEVER USE VINEGAR FOR CLEANING BRUSHES - though it is perfect for cleaning yourself and other hard surfaces.

MIK

How do you cut down a brush to 1" bristles without totally mangling the shape?
Have variously tried clamping, taping & free-hand. Always finished up with something
like small childs' first self-haircut.
AJ

Originally Posted by b.o.a.t.

How do you cut down a brush to 1" bristles without totally mangling the shape?
Have variously tried clamping, taping & free-hand. Always finished up with something
like small childs' first self-haircut.
AJ

i have to cut brushes down at work for various jobs and i do it by taping the bristles fairly tight with masking tape, then you lay the brush down flat on the bench and cut it through the tape at around 30degs with a very sharp Stanley/utility blade, turn the brush over and cut the other side of the brush at 30degs so it comes to sort of a point in the middle,
take the tape off , hold the bristles tight in your fingers and run the belt sander over the end of the brush this just helps to get a bit of shape back to the brush and tapers the ends of the bristles, it's not essential to hold the bristles tight when sanding the brush it just depends on what sort of brush tip you are trying to achieve.

this method is probably over kill for epoxy work though

Same way as doing a harcut squeeze the hairs between to fingers and trim off adjacent to the fingers.

Actually it is a bit of a mangly shape if the scissors are not too sharp or lots of bristles in the brush - but the epoxy don't mind - it is not really like normal brushwork - quite a lot of pressure and the brush very vertical to the surface being coated. Also you are working it out pretty hard.

If you use a normal brush and use normal bruahstrokes the epoxy is on too thick and also very unevenly. Rollers are best for almost all areas.

MIK

Originally Posted by honkongphoie

cut it through the tape

Didn't think to do that. Trying to cut next to the tape....

Next time.
Thanks!