Extra clear epoxy for carbon/kevlar?

[Rusti Evo]

Am using West 105 with carbon cloths and really chuffed with the results.

However, with the carbon/kevlar weave the West shows its slight opacity and dulls the visual effect of the kevlar.

Anybody using surfboard resins or whatever that are super clear?

[dazm]

silmar 459 - not an epoxy but ultra clear and very good uv resistance.

[singlecoil]

Just a thought, are you getting all the air out of the epoxy? Reason I ask is when I used to do guitar repairs (for a living) I used epoxy a lot, and I found that when mixed up a lot of 'micro' bubbles of air would form in the mix, making it opaque, and the way to get rid of them were to heat it up with a heat gun, whereupon the resin became pretty much translucent. Might be worth an experiment?

[Rusti Evo]

Thanks guys. Just for an experiment tried clear casting resin and that allows the colours of the carbon/kevlar to shine through much better.

The slight tint of the West resins just seems to be the problem. Originally I thought it would be a good thing to de-gass the resin with some vacuum but don't bother now.

[mickrick]

Hi, you need to use the west 207 hardener with the 105 resin.
It's especialy for clear coating.
205 0r 206 will go slightly yellow if it's old stock. Still works as a hardener though.
But you'll have to clear coat it with something for UV resistance.
Most types of coatings are compatible with cured epoxy.
Hope this helps.

[Mabbx]

Try www.Alchemie.com - epoxy and pu resin manufacturer. They have a clear gel coat - EP4093 which is used for gloss surface on wet lay-up, vacuum bagging or onto a pre preg. They also supply an epoxy paste system for tooling which can be also used for pre-preg tooling. They have a distributer - Carbon Mods - who sell it in kit form