: Thanks Rob, Rehd, and Brian: I'm so glad I asked. Somewhere I could have
: sworn I had seen a post about this and the response seemed to be unanimous
: that the only way to fix it was remove the 'glass. I couldn't figure out
: why because of the whole science of light reflection and refraction which
: would say that if the epoxy fibers had a smooth surface then they would
: still be clear when covered with resin. Well, now I don't have to paint on
: my nice deck. I guess whatever I had read must have been another
: situation.

: By the way, with my "foaming epoxy" problem, I'm really having lots
: of trouble with this stuff in 80 plus degree weather even with slow cure
: epoxy. (West System) I have to work the epoxy quickly with a squeegee held
: almost flat. If I angle it up too much it foams. If I use a foam brush
: forget it, except for just before it cures solid I can knock off the high
: spots with a foam brush without the millions of white bubbles forming. I
: even went and bought brand new resin just to be sure it wasn't a bad
: batch. It appears to me that it's just curing so fast that it's not liquid
: enough to dissipate the bubbles, but liquid enough to form them. When the
: epoxy is brand new fresh it goes on fine. After 5 min it starts to get
: difficult to work with, not because of viscosity, but because the bubble
: thing happens. I've worked with epoxy on boats, street rods, and
: airplanes, and this is a new one for me. The ambient air temp is 82 deg f.
: I'm making batches of two squirts at a time. That's doing much better from
: the original three or four squirts. Also I am using clean containers each
: batch. The wood is at the same temp as the air. I am doing this outside,
: and it's quite humid, but I'm told humidity is not a factor.

: The fill coats went fine, most likely because the wood absorbed the epoxy
: before it could foam. (When I say foam, of course I mean to make the
: millions of white bubbles that makes it look milky. It's not actually
: frothing, but when you scrape off the excess it looks like shaving cream,
: and everywhere your brush or squeegee goes it turns white) I can't stress
: more how gentle I'm being. If I literally just touch a foam brush to the
: epoxy it makes a white spot that may or may not dissipate, depending on
: whether the bubbles can pop prior to the epoxy hardening. Most of it sands
: out, but on the hull there are some milky spots that I'm going to live
: with rather than risking sanding through to the cloth, except I will do
: one final sanding that may help out some.
: To anticipate questions: Yes, the foam brushes are new and clean. I even
: blotted them with paper towels in case perhaps they had absorbed moisture
: out of the air.
: Yes, the pumps are accurate, and if they burp I even started throwing out
: that batch just to be sure. Plus I bought graduated mixing cups.
: No I'm not in a workshop, I'm on my porch, but not when it's raining.
: I'm mixing the epoxy with slow stirring motion as to not incorporate any air.
: I pour the epoxy in a puddle and work it with a squeegee immediately after
: mixing. It goes great for the first five minuites, but after that you
: can't touch it. It does not seem to be getting very thick in that time,
: but I guess it's enough to cause the foaming thing.
: I use the West System plastic stirrers and plastic chemical-proof mixing
: cups.
: I do not re-use containers. (I did at first, but thought that might be a
: problem so I bought enough to use a fresh one for every two squirts!)
: I checked the inside of the can for condensation and found none. The place
: where I got the epoxy sells a good bit of it and keeps a small stock so
: the stock is well rotated and should be fairly fresh. The epoxy is kept at
: the same temp whether inside the house or outside minus maybe a couple of
: degrees.

: I've made epoxy laminations for my friend's aircraft project and fenders and
: floorboards for cars, and it went down like butter. I spread it out with a
: squeegee and it cured perfectly. That was in the US when I had 72 degree
: weather and/or an air conditioned shop. Now I'm dealing with 10 more
: degrees and that's the only factor I can think of that's causing this. I
: know I could cool the can down, but I'm really concerned about
: condensation building up due to the high humidity and the fact that I'm
: working outside.

: Anyway I've managed to deal with it by being VERY careful and sanding a lot,
: and now I'm down to just the inside and sorry to you perfectionists, but
: I'm to the point I'm just happy the outside looks good and if it happens
: on the inside so be it!! Next time I may try Raka or MAS just to see if
: they work better in high temps. West System doesn't seem to so far in my
: opinion, but it's the only thing they sell on the island.

: -Malcolm

Another problem, other than the squeegee pushing resin through the glass
creating the foam, is that you keep your resin in the mixing cup.

This will accelerate the set-up, even with slow hardener.

Trying to slow the resin set-up by refrigerating it will only make it thick
and it won't wet-out the glass transparently.

Use a slow hardener in warm temps with a roller and by pouring the resin
in the roller tray the resin spread out thinly over the tray bottom and will
not generate the heat and kick the why it will in a cup.

All the best,
Rob Macks
Laughing Loon CC&K
www.laughingloon.com