Epoxy Problems!

[HEDS]

Hey ,
I gave my new gun [made of iroko] its first coat of west systems epoxy two nights ago, I thinned it down with about 15% acetone and placed the gun in front of the log burner before starting , and the gun was left in the warm room overnight.
The next day - the coating was bubbled all over the gun 'as expected' but what i didnt expect was that the coating was all separated ,its difficult to explain - a bit like painting vegetable oil on a wax candle??

Anyway , i sanded all the bubbles down with wetndry and last night i gave the gun its second coat of epoxy , i didnt thin this one down . I could see straight away that the effect was the same , the epoxy had some sort of capillary action wich left hundreds of potholes in the finish , however this morning it looked better than i expected.

Why is this happenning -

• Glue too cold?
• Glue gone off?
• Something to do with the wood?

Im not going to coat the gun again till i put the problem right.

Any input is good stuff

 

[Pastor]

Sounds a bit like silicon contamination or something. Try giving it a scrub with some scotchbrite and white spirit or the acetone to get as clean a surface as possible.

 

[foxfish]

Epoxy is horrible stuff to use sometimes! I have been using it for 30 years & still have problems.
Teak & iroko are the hardest woods to glue, coat or seal. One of the benefits of epoxy is the fact you dont need to use such woods! Iroko is very temperamental & needs to be well seasoned (dry) Your epoxy needs to be mixed very well & accurately then left for ten mins to settle out any bubbles. The idea is the glue will penetrate the wood not lie on the surface, dont try to get a finish coat with epoxy.
Good luck & happy Christmas.

 

[HEDS]

Cheers for your prompt replies - what do you use as a finish coat Foxfish?

 

[foxfish]

International two pack polyurethane. (I also use International epoxy)
I have a compressor & spay gun but you can apply two pack with a brush, 4 x coats then sand with 800 wet & dry then 1200 w&d then polish with T cut.