TOPIC: Fiberglass resin help..

Hi,

Built some seats for my G3 out of wood, wanted to protect them so coated them with West Marine polyester resin and while it hardened/cured it is still tacky after two days. I'd hate to have to start all over again. Does anyone know a way I can rid of the sticky surface??

I've tried steel wool, sanding, washing all to no avail.

Help!

Kerry

sadly re-coat with more resin being certain to add enough hardner
expensive error, been there done that

I don't think I could have added more hardener, As it was I was barely making it through 2 ounces b/4 it started to gell...

was it too cold to cure? somethings incorrect?....coat it in epoxy

Epoxy? Sounds good. any particular type/brand? Can I just coat right over the poly resin??

Thanks or the help!

Kerry

P.S temp was around 72....

finishing resin or laminating resin.
does it have wax added?
if it doesn't it won't cure completely, which allows for better inter-laminar bonds.
Could be temp, mix, other issues as others have indicated but there is a big diff between finishing/laminating resin.
I buy resins with no wax added, add my own for final coats.
www.uscomposites.com

Yes, I believe you can recoat, just add wax to the overcoat. That makes it non sticky. I also get my stuff from uscomposites.com

These guys are right. I recently finished the floor/transom replacement on my G3. The final coat of resin must have wax added, or use a finishing resin. The laminating resin without wax will feel tacky when fully set.

I had that happen to me once. But after 3 months it cured. I guess you don't want to wait that long.

It says finishing resin on the can....not very forth coming regarding whether it has wax, or not...

In looking around for epoxy I discovered why I chose polyester! Wow epoxy is expensive!!!

It's possible that it may have been filled with the wrong resin or labeled incorrectly by the manufacturer. The container says finish resin, but it may be laminating resin.
It's also possible your catalyst is the problem.
If you have some resin left, mix a couple of samples using your
original catalyst, and a different batch of catalyst (both with the correct ratio) and spread it on a non aborbing surface and see if it cures correctly.
Both cure correctly - Check your technique.
Neither cure correctly - Bad or wrong resin. Try to get a refund.
One cures and the other doesn't - Bad catalyst.