My Coronado needs new seats in the cockpit so I lavished some time on
creating them with 5/8 in. marine ply with birch sides. They turnd out
well. My plan: 2 coats of polyester resin, then prime, then 2 coats
Interlux Brightsides to match the newly painted boat.

First coat of resin went well for a first-timer. Working outside, dry
weather, 75-80 deg. F. Applied with roller and brush. Set up well.

Second coat- rushed a bit and either got not enough hardener in or did
not mix well enough. Anyway, this coat refused to "kick off" properly.
It has remained tacky for 10 days.

I tested putting on another coat with extra hardener, but it also has
many tacky sections. I'm concerned that the paint will not adhere
properly.

Right now I'm brushing on acetone to strip it. Is this my only choice?
Is there anyway to get the resin to harden? If I must strip it off,
is there a better solvent? The acetone does not soften it like I
thought it would. I have some MEK solvent, but it doesn't seem to touch
it.

Appreciate any comments or suggestions.

Cordell

mrmagneto wrote:
My Coronado needs new seats in the cockpit so I lavished some time on
creating them with 5/8 in. marine ply with birch sides. They turnd out
well. My plan: 2 coats of polyester resin, then prime, then 2 coats
Interlux Brightsides to match the newly painted boat.

First coat of resin went well for a first-timer. Working outside, dry
weather, 75-80 deg. F. Applied with roller and brush. Set up well.

Second coat- rushed a bit and either got not enough hardener in or did
not mix well enough. Anyway, this coat refused to "kick off" properly.
It has remained tacky for 10 days.

I tested putting on another coat with extra hardener, but it also has
many tacky sections. I'm concerned that the paint will not adhere
properly.

Right now I'm brushing on acetone to strip it. Is this my only choice?
Is there anyway to get the resin to harden? If I must strip it off,
is there a better solvent? The acetone does not soften it like I
thought it would. I have some MEK solvent, but it doesn't seem to touch
it.

Appreciate any comments or suggestions.

Cordell

First off, forget acetone or MEK, as they're too volatile to use as
strippers. Most polyester resins are laminating resins that will not
harden on the surface if they're exposed to air, so using polyester
resin was a bad idea (Epoxy would have been the right product for the
job). You can try spraying the surface with PVA to seal it off from the
air and allow it to harden. Barring that, you can scrape off the gummy
surface layer until you get to the cured resin underneath. Once you've
done that, you can prime and paint it.

mrmagneto wrote:
My Coronado needs new seats in the cockpit so I lavished some time
on creating them with 5/8 in. marine ply with birch sides. They
turnd out well. My plan: 2 coats of polyester resin, then prime,
then 2 coats Interlux Brightsides to match the newly painted boat.

First coat of resin went well for a first-timer. Working outside,
dry weather, 75-80 deg. F. Applied with roller and brush. Set up
well.

Second coat- rushed a bit and either got not enough hardener in or
did not mix well enough. Anyway, this coat refused to "kick off"
properly. It has remained tacky for 10 days.

I tested putting on another coat with extra hardener, but it also
has many tacky sections. I'm concerned that the paint will not
adhere properly.

Right now I'm brushing on acetone to strip it. Is this my only
choice? Is there anyway to get the resin to harden?

Put on a coat of finishing resin rather than laminating
resin...finishing resin has wax in it so the air can't get to the
resin which is why it is tacky (as it is supposed to be).


--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

A similar thing happened to me.
My problem was that the polyester resin was too old.
I then purchased a quart of polyester resin at our local auto body store and
the result turned out to be acceptable.
Now I have to dispose of 3/4 gallon of out dated polyester resin.
Epoxy is always a good choice for that type of work. The first saturating
coat of epoxy should be thinned out first for better penetration. Then
after sanding a second coat of epoxy should be applied. I like to use a
third coat of epoxy before painting.
Seats are exposed to more sun, rain and snow and good UV protection is
required. Interlux Brightsides is a good choice. However, I think it was
blended and mean for indirect exposure of the elements. Years of
observation have let me to believed that UV coating like Epifane or its
equivalent are lasting longer on exposed seats. This is more so on
inflatable floor board

"dadiOH" wrote in message
news:xwyMg.766$OI1.454@trnddc05...
mrmagneto wrote:
My Coronado needs new seats in the cockpit so I lavished some time
on creating them with 5/8 in. marine ply with birch sides. They
turnd out well. My plan: 2 coats of polyester resin, then prime,
then 2 coats Interlux Brightsides to match the newly painted boat.

First coat of resin went well for a first-timer. Working outside,
dry weather, 75-80 deg. F. Applied with roller and brush. Set up
well.

Second coat- rushed a bit and either got not enough hardener in or
did not mix well enough. Anyway, this coat refused to "kick off"
properly. It has remained tacky for 10 days.

I tested putting on another coat with extra hardener, but it also
has many tacky sections. I'm concerned that the paint will not
adhere properly.

Right now I'm brushing on acetone to strip it. Is this my only
choice? Is there anyway to get the resin to harden?

Put on a coat of finishing resin rather than laminating
resin...finishing resin has wax in it so the air can't get to the
resin which is why it is tacky (as it is supposed to be).


--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Tape plastic wrap over the resin to exclude air so it will cure. It
also gives a smoother finished surface. When patching with polyester
and glass cloth you can often make up a "mustard plaster" on a sheet of
plastic and then apply it to the hull and tape in place. Also works on
auto body repairs.