Flowcoat?

[neil1967]

I recently read an article in one of the sailing mags about the use of flowcoat. It was very informative, but the problem is I can't find the article (not sure if the mag was recent, or from my jumbled collection). Can anyone either point me in the right direction as to the mag, or give me some direction on how to use flowcoat - ie what surface prep is required, what surfaces can it be used on, etc, etc

Thanks

 

[boatbuilder]

Flowcoat is gel + 25% resin + MW. Degrease laminate scratch up with 40 grit paint on.
Mainly used in bilges on cored boats to keep out water. But leaves a nice smooth finish on most things.

 

[damo]

Google is a handy tool for finding out /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif There is a series of youtube vids showing various grp techniques.

But to expand a bit on what boatbuilder said - it is basically a thin gelcoat with some added wax-in-styrene. This seals the surface to exclude the air and allows it to cure. You can achieve the same result by spraying the surface with PVA, and I also once used spray furniture wax in an emergency, to great effect /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Unless you particularly want a bumpy gelcoat finish at great expense, then I suggest you paint the surface. Bilge paint does a good job in lockers and, erm, bilges /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Chrissie]

It needs styrene added to float to the surface and seal it from the air, so that it can set. The waxy styrene surface needs to be removed once set or between coats.
It sagged for me on verticle surfaces, next time I will do on side at a time.

 

[boatbuilder]

MW is wax in styrene, ifit sags then your coats are to thick, however you can make it thixotropic by adding Cabosil.

 

[beneteau_305_553]

two part epoxy paint is much easier. Pot life of 8 hours but cures in 1-2 hours when applied. Add as many coats as you like and the finish is very smooth shiny and hard.

 

[Jake]

Hi Neil

Thanks for your kind words on my flow coat feature. As with pretty much all of the stuff I do, I like to get hands on, make all the usual mistakes, and then learn the tips from the experts!

I agree that epoxy paint is an excellent alternative, but is a bit pricey (as are all epoxies when compared to polyesters). One of the bonus's of flow coat is that you can make it yourself from leftover resin.

Pre-mixed flow-coat is usually good value, but if you don't want it to be slippery when cured, the wax will need washing off with an acetone wipe, and the surfaace lightly abraded.

The feature was in December 2007 isue, page 76. Hope this helps!

Jake K

 

[gjgm]

the point being that you dont want wax/flowcoat when building up layers. You only use it as the final coat. I dont think it flows any more than any other coat, but the point is that it will go hard, rather than stay tacky on the surface.
So, its just gelcoat with wax added for the final coat.
You dont need it on all resins though; depends what base chemical the resin is made of.

 

[sdn5486]

Article was in a PBO late last year - either Oct or Nov i think. Try CFSnet for flowcoat - they call it topcoat but same thing. 600gm covers 1 square metre.