Hi Guys,
I've just been and bought some colors to mix with my epoxy, big question is, do I still need to varnish the finished epoxy to give UV protection? I guess this also applies to graphite powder blends, any issues with UV epoxy degradation if you don't varnish?
Can't find answers any where on the net so any help appreciated
Cheers......Nick
Build and paddle your own kayak - it doesn't get much better than that!
Hi Nick.
I used a transparent dye in the final epoxy coat on my Cape Fear build.
This stuff. From Aldax Moulds
I didn't count on it providing UV resistance so finished of with a couple of coats of good marine varnish.
A small price to pay as insurance if in doubt.
What brand of dye did you get?
John.
1 Cape Fear Sit In....a couple more planned
2 Laker 14's
1 Paddle board
"People who don't make mistakes don't make anything"
jem wrote:
The surface will cloud without any UV protection.
Matt....... Does the clouding effect the strength or water proofing abilitys of the epoxy
The very surface layer will begin to break down over the long-term. You'll end up having to sand it off and recoat. It would take many months of direct, unrelenting sunlight before would become a structural issue. But it would eventually become an issue.
The thing that motivates me the most is having sand everything. To me, that worth the extra time to apply some paint or varnish.
UV protection on the bottom is probably not needed, nor a good idea? For one thing, it is under water and not upright in the sun. For another, varnish is way softer than epoxy, especially epoxy fortified with powdered graphite. Also, scraping etc. during paddling means it will likely have to be sanded and refinished more often than the upper part. So, a paddler would just have to sand off an expensive layer that wasn't needed in the first place.
Kayak Jack
Doing what you like is FREEDOM
Liking what you do is HAPPINESS
I spent most of my money on whiskey and women - and I'm afraid I just wasted the rest.
