Mixing wax with polyester resin

dccordell

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 28, 2010
Messages
415
The bottle says mix at 2oz per Gallon of Resin. I am going to be mixing 1liter at a time for my deck. 1 liter is right at .26 (about a quarter) gallons, so that means .5oz wax, right? I just wanted to make sure my figuring is correct here.

I was also told that the amount of wax should be about double the amount of mekp I use. Is that about right too? Due to (very) cold temps this week (even with the heater burning), I've been having to use nearly 2.5% mekp to get my stuff to harden correctly. Should I just double that? I want to make sure this last layup on the deck isn't tacky at all.

Thanks! Almost there with the deck. Woohoo!

PS.. is there a problem with the search feature on iboats since the redesign? I search for "wax" under "posts" and searching in "entire post" in the resto forum, and it finds nothing! What? I've had problems searching for other stuff too recently. :rolleyes:
 

Yacht Dr.

Vice Admiral
Joined
Feb 26, 2005
Messages
5,581
Re: Mixing wax with polyester resin

.5 oz/ QT sounds about right. A little more will not hurt if thats what your worried about :) .

YD.
 

dccordell

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 28, 2010
Messages
415
Re: Mixing wax with polyester resin

Alright, thanks for the quick reply YD. Heading out right now to fight the cold and the resin :)
 

oops!

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
12,932
Re: Mixing wax with polyester resin

imho..........the metric system is far better for mixing stuff.

wax should be between 3 and 5%.

one lieter is 1000 ml....so you need between 30 and 50 ml.

you can get a plastic shot glass from your glass store for measuring.
 

Alpheus

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Aug 3, 2009
Messages
1,757
Re: Mixing wax with polyester resin

PS.. is there a problem with the search feature on iboats since the redesign? I search for "wax" under "posts" and searching in "entire post" in the resto forum, and it finds nothing! What? I've had problems searching for other stuff too recently

If you are searching for a word that is less than 4 letters long you must put a * in front of and after the word. So if you are searching for wax it must look like this *wax*. Another word people have trouble searching for and is all over this forum is oil. *oil*...
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,527
Re: Mixing wax with polyester resin

Before you add the wax, what is you're trying to do?

There are reasons to add wax, but for the most part its not needed.

Just making sure you don't create more work for yourself later.
 

dccordell

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 28, 2010
Messages
415
Re: Mixing wax with polyester resin

Glassing the deck.. Already have it tabbed in (unwaxed), so I started putting the glass on the entire thing today. Lot more work than I thought it would be. I didn't get it all today, will finish it tomorrow. Since I waxed the stuff that I put down today, I'll have to grind the part where I'll start glassing tomorrow. Oh Joy!

I also like the metric system better for measuring. I suppose if I had been doing this for years and years, I wouldn't have a problem with the ratios, but the metric system makes it easy for a newbie like myself.

Thanks for that info Alpheus... I didn't know the ** trick.
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,527
Re: Mixing wax with polyester resin

Glassing the deck.. Already have it tabbed in (unwaxed), so I started putting the glass on the entire thing today. Lot more work than I thought it would be. I didn't get it all today, will finish it tomorrow. Since I waxed the stuff that I put down today, I'll have to grind the part where I'll start glassing tomorrow. Oh Joy!

That's why you never want to add wax, all it does is create more work. If you really want a waxed layer of resin over the glass do it as a last step, when you're done just coat the entire surface at one time.
 

dccordell

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 28, 2010
Messages
415
Re: Mixing wax with polyester resin

Well since this IS the final layer, I thought I should add the wax. I have been told it was necessary so the carpet wouldn't stick to it, even though I'll be gluing the carpet down. If I didn't add the wax at this point, wouldn't the deck stay slightly tacky forever, like my stringers did?

The part I was talking about grinding is just the part that I'll be overlapping from today. Still not much fun though....
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,527
Re: Mixing wax with polyester resin

It will stay sticky for a short time, but unless you're going to be walking on it right away, or be using the surface as something like a counter top it won't make a difference.

If the tacky surface is exposed to water it may turn a white-ish color, but normally this will change back to normal when it become thoroughly dry, or when the surface sluffs off. There are almost zero manufactures that use a waxed resin on anything
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,527
Re: Mixing wax with polyester resin

Also if you add wax the wax needs to be removed before you glue anything down.
 

dccordell

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 28, 2010
Messages
415
Re: Mixing wax with polyester resin

For the carpet glue, will I have to grind the whole deck to get the wax off, or will an acetone wipe get rid of it? I glassed about half of the deck today, so maybe I won't use the wax for the rest. I think I might run out before I finish anyways.

I noticed that about the surface turning white with water on it. Rain got on the bilge pump mount I glassed in and the edges turned white. I know there wasn't any air pockets in there before so I was wondering what was up with that. It did go away a couple days later.
 
Top