I need to try solarez again

[LiveOVErdrive]

So I was watching various art videos where they use UV cure resin left and right and it got me thinking about solarez again. I really want to be able to get a nice hard polyester resin topcoat on my guitars, but solarez always seems to come out tacky.

So I Googled it.

It sounds like that's just a thing that happens with uv resin. The very surface is exposed to O2 and stays tacky. You can clean off the tack with alcohol or sanding.

That's it. Just wipe it down. If feel like an idiot. I gotta try this again.

 

[Omzig]

Yep thats like any Epoxy surface oxygen inhibits full cure, i have this with my 3d printing resins...the cure (pardon the pun) is to cure prints in a water bath/glass jar (..not sure if that do able for a full guitar body) it totally remove the surface uncured tack and havles the cure time

you could also try saran wrap/clingfilm on the surface but that might leave marks....hummmm

One thing i found with using Solar myself was that you really need to heat it (and keep it warm) to get it to flowout, also heating your work piece really helps get it to level out

they also do a "i can't believe it's not lacquer" but i can't find it for sale here in the UK....

If you can stand the gas off CA gives a super hard glossy finish, use it with a cook off/cure spray and its as fast as Solarez

 

[LiveOVErdrive]

Yep thats like any Epoxy surface oxygen inhibits full cure, i have this with my 3d printing resins...the cure (pardon the pun) is to cure prints in a water bath/glass jar (..not sure if that do able for a full guitar body) it totally remove the surface uncured tack and havles the cure time

you could also try saran wrap/clingfilm on the surface but that might leave marks....hummmm

One thing i found with using Solar myself was that you really need to heat it (and keep it warm) to get it to flowout, also heating your work piece really helps get it to level out

they also do a "i can't believe it's not lacquer" but i can't find it for sale here in the UK....

If you can stand the gas off CA gives a super hard glossy finish, use it with a cook off/cure spray and its as fast as Solarez

I want to try CA but it's not exactly cheap, or at least I can't find decent quantities of it on the cheap.

Thats super interesting about oxygen inhibiting the cure. Does that mean it's actually more effective to put it on thick? I had been trying the thinnest coats I could, thinking the issue was like UV penetration or something.

I wonder if hanging it inside a plastic container and dumping some CO2 from a 5lb CO2 tank would take care of it.

 

[karnivorus]

There are two types of polyester resin, laminating resin that stays tacky if you want to apply many coats and finishing resin that contains wax that rises to the surface while it cures. This creates a film on top of the finish that blocks the oxygen and allows the resin to cure to a hard non tacky finish.

I've used something called polyester gelcoat that you can find at any boat supplies store. It is basicaly thicken polyster resin disigned to be used as topcoat. It cures rock hard like the factory finish from the big brands. There are sprayable and brushable versions.

 

[LiveOVErdrive]

There are two types of polyester resin, laminating resin that stays tacky if you want to apply many coats and finishing resin that contains wax that rises to the surface while it cures. This creates a film on top of the finish that blocks the oxygen and allows the resin to cure to a hard non tacky finish.

I've used something called polyester gelcoat that you can find at any boat supplies store. It is basicaly thicken polyster resin disigned to be used as topcoat. It cures rock hard like the factory finish from the big brands. There are sprayable and brushable versions.

That is really good to know. I'll look into that.