I'm fininshing up my XP and I just can't get the epoxy over the lettering as smooth as I want it. It's just a little "uneven" in spots if it's in the right light. I could say it's smooth enough, but I'd like it like perfect. I read on here a while back about sanding epoxy, but I'm scared it will do more harm than good and I'm not sure I can get the Flex Coat Lite any better. I don't really want too much more epoxy on there anyway. It's a 3.5" section. Any tips?

I think you want your brush strokes to go lengthwise, not bearing down enough to touch the blank. You can sand away as much as you want. It will look just great. You would be surprized to know how much sanding you would have to do to get down to the inscription. I had a big problem with sanding over an inscription but after I tried it I felt rather foolish. You will have to sand the whole area though. Spot sanding usually dosn't work. Have fun!

How fine of a grit do you use? Does that really matter since you put another coat on it?

I found a good post about it. Thanks!

You want a fine grit. Maybe 220 or finer. And don't apply to much pressure. Just let the sandpaper do the work. You can clean the area with water while you are sanding to see how you are doing. Just relax.

Serenity now...

Kevin,Also use a sanding block ,otherwise all you will do is scuff the surface and still have the waves.The block will take away thr high spots first.I`m sure the old posts suggegted this but I wanted to be sure.

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

This will be fully covered in the Volume 9 #1 issue of RodMaker out in February.

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Lettering? Is this a waterslide decal? If so the edges on the things can initiate a rippling effect on the coat of finish. The thinner the finish and the thinner the coat the more it will effect the dimpling. When using LS I have to use care in sealing the decal edge before applying a coat of finish. During cure the finish will "pull" on the edges which will look like small dimples along the outside edge of the decal. Roger Seider with Flexcoat also advises to wait for about 5 or 6 minutes after initial mixing to apply finish to minimize the strange movement of curing finish. These dimples can be greatly minimized by the use of a brush stroke of Micro Sol from Decal Connection. The Micro Sol is a solvent/shrinking agent for the decal film. If you apply the Micro Sol a couple of times and let it dry each time you will have less problems with finish rippling. The sanding will work quite well but the Micro Sol will save you some time.

Gon Fishn

Thanks for all the good info, guys. I never had a problem with the actual Sage decal, but I'll keep the idea of waiting a few minutes in mind for next. I just ordered some of the micro mesh pads from Woodcraft.