I am using Flex Coat High Build on a rod I'm doing and ran into an issue.
The first thin coats went on looking really good.
I did a Marbled area to put a plate seat on and then went to apply the 2nd coat.
I went thin but coated everything fairly evenly. I then took a hair dryer and heated it slightly to make it flow.
It looked good but as it started to become more tacky I noticed lots of areas where it appears the epoxy is
"drawing up" leaving areas with no 2nd coat it appears.
Did I go to thin? I mixed it as I did the first time and it was clear and seemed to go on fine.
Just did not give me the result I was after. Also do you have to wait 12-24 hours to re-apply or can you re- apply after it is tacky?

Contamination. Those areas that you had the "drawing up" were effected by a contaminant - oil from your hands, household chemicals, solvents, etc.

You are going to need to let it dry, sand it down to fairly even and reapply.

i believe the last time i see someone post with it doing that the replies were a contaminant got on top of the first coat(example:you get silcone on your hands then touch the wrap/coat or something in the air sat down on your first coat) probably wasnt a good example but you get the idea hopefully

OK! Interesting.. Never thought about that...
Now to the sanding part... Since this is Marbled what do I sand with?
Once sanded I saw a thread talking about using painters tape to remove dust and nothing else.
Is that what I need to do? What grit is recommended? Will this ruin the marbled area?
Is 24 hours enough or does it need longer?
Under normal circumstances how long do you "need" to wait between coats if all goes well?

Thanks
Tommy

The hair dryer may have blown the thinned epoxy away from where
you appied it. Don't know how much air or heat you used, just thinking
out loud.

Most likely though sounds like some sort of contamination. Follow
Jim's advice and all will be good.

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

When sanding be aware of the fact that some sand papers are coated with silicone to help prevent the sanded material from sticking to the sandpaper

All epoxies are self leveling. Pour any of them out on a flat surface and watch what happens - they'll level perfectly. When you run into anything else, you can count on the trouble being operator error.

It sounds as if your first coat repelled the second which it will do after a certain amount of time. Sand what you have now and reapply. But do not wipe the surface with anything. Just sand, dust off the sanding dust, and recoat.

..........

I've had it happen, too. Whether it's a certain time frame in which it repels the new coat, I'm not sure. Each time it's happened to me, I had really tried to go thin on the new coat and I always thought that this was the main culprit. But it was being "repelled". That was very obvious.

Putter
Williston, ND

Well Raymond under magnification I see the Hair dryer blew some fuzz on there :)
I typically leave it on warm/low. After a few seconds you can see the epoxy start to flow.
Once that happens I back off let it turn and check it again in a couple of minutes. If all looks well I leave it if not I may add a little epoxy and repeat the heat.

Randy,
Mine sounds as you described... I have a few spots that look like that Dawn dish detergent test. The one where they put a drop in the sink and watch the oil scatter.
I have other areaas of the epoxy on the marbled part that look like a lake in the late evening. You konw right before it glasses up and there are just a few tiny ripples.
I have no idea what caused the second effect? Any ideas?
That being said.. How long is too long? I had thought 24-48 was about right this was Sat am to Monday afternoon.
I'll be the first to admit it was very likely me, (I am new to all this) but sure wish I knew what I did to contaminate it.
I mixed up a different batch and started on some of the remaining Guide underwraps. First one looked like junk. I tossed that batch and mixed another the remaining underwraps looked pretty good. I will have to sand the first one with the others but am concerned about what type of sand paper to use.
Do you guy's have a recommendation of grit and type? Is there an easy way to determine if it has silicone or not?
I looked at some I have it is 150 but states nothing on the sheet or package about silicone!

Thanks for all the advice and info. Being new to this I am learning a lot... It is also cool to be able to ask question from such an experienced group.
Kinda like having your own "Been there Done that " team :)

First off be sure your threads are well covered before you try to sand the finish or you will have nothing but a bunch of fuzz on the surface that you will have to deal with. If your thread isn't well covered you might try a coat of color preserver and then re-coat with epoxy. After you have some build over the thread you can level it by sanding with 400 wet or dry paper, and then put on a finish coat.

I would get rid of the hair dryer if I were you, but it's your choice. It may be your problem, depending on where and how it was used in the past. If it's putting fuzz on your wraps it could be putting something else there too.

To much heat and a thin coat will cause flex coat to repel, especially if the surface below is slick like a sticker.

Roger Seider makes the point in his oral presentations that Flexcoat will "move" on its on due to internal forces during the intitial catalization reaction between the resin and hardner. His recomendations, when using Flexcoat products, are to do the guides first and wait at least 5 minutes before applying the mixed finish to flat areas like butt wraps. I tried this on a flat section of blank with "fresh" finish and it does happen.

Being a woodworker and spending some effort on woodfinishing, I learned that shellac is the gold standard sealant, including silicone contamination. But to be used under epoxy it must have been dewaxed. Dewaxed shellac used to be only available in flakes which must be dissolved in alcohol, but fortunately, it is now readily available at Lowes or Home Depot. Get Zinsser "Seal Coat" which is the dewaxed version. When I have a fisheye or separation in a coat of epoxy, I put a dab of shellac on the spot and in a few minutes it is dry enough to ligntly sand level. The next coat of epoxy levels out nicely. Problem solved

Most finish problems, IMO, are mainly due to one of three things. 1) Silicone, (and maybe some other types of) contamination ; 2) Screwing around with it trying to make it do what it will do all by itself if you leave it alone and 3) Timing.

Silicone is a problem, no question. But I've deliberately incorporated many other contaminates many times to see what would happen (for thread discoloration issues) and haven't had any problems with finish adhering. Although it is highly discouraged, I've always used IPA and DA routinely for cleaning and have never seen an issue. Haven't tested everything so I have no reason to believe that some other things can cause fisheyes besides silicone.

Heat, to me, is something to be avoided in most cases. Adding heat to make finish "flow" is something that doesn't need to be done. It will do that on its own, if you let it. Adding heat will make finish "flow" faster than if you leave it alone, but at the same time it makes it set up remarkably faster which creates a window to let it actually set up before it is levelled, and in some cases, can "blow" it off a previous layer of finish, which is what was mentioned earlier about finish changing properties as it cures, and I believe is possibly related to the next issue.

I believe that there is a fine line between first coat and next coat, where it is too late to apply immediately, and too soon to sand. This may be a matter of hours, or maybe a day or two, depending on the weather, but I believe it exists. I haven't had the interest in finding out why, only that I have seen it happen occasionally throughout many environments.

Another possibility is what you used to tint your finish with for marbelling. I'm not an expert at marbelling, but if you used something that is different than what most folks use, it's a possibility.

I sanded down a couple of problem areas and reapplied the epoxy.. I'd say it is about 95% now... I used a lighter instead of the Hair dryer on one section and the Hair dryer on another. Honestly the results of the bubbles on the Hair dryer are much better than the lighter. I was very worried about the lighter so it may just be me.
I did however try and leave the epoxy to do it's thing this time instead of constantly messing with it. I learned something from you comments here and putting it into practice. I will not continue to mess with the epoxy.... It does well enough on it's own :)