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What is the average pot life of flex coat?
Last night I was finishing up my latest rod (with a cool customized cheechenstien grip and reel seat that I will post a pic of when finished) and it seemed that my flex coat was getting thick very fast. I had to mix up 3 batches in order to finish the rod. The last rod I built I was able to finish the whole thing using one mix.
I was very careful to get equal parts when mixing and it seems to be drying nicely. Was my mixture wrong? Does temp. have a big affect on the mix?
Also I noticed that my last two mixes had a bunch of air bubbles in them that I didn't notice in the first mix.
any thoughts or suggestions appreciated.
chris
03-03-2004, 03:54 PM
Just your own body heat can mess with the mix. What size cup were you using? Fingertips produce a lot of heat and if the cup walls are thin you can have some quick sets of FC. The bubbles can be produced from that same reaction of heat.
FC is finicky stuff even if measured accurately, even same batches (tubes) can produce different results each time.
Pot life is usually 20 minutes tops.
Chris, I was using the small cups that came with the flex. My work bench is in an unfinished part of my basement with no heat and it was actually pretty cold (by the time I was done my fingers were chilly). I had stored the flex upstairs for a few days prior to using it, maybe the temp change from the fisrt mix to the last two is what caused me grief?
15 minutes was about what I was getting out of it so I guess I wasn't that far off. Makes me wonder why my last rod I was able to complete the whole thing with one batch. (50-60 minutes) Things that make you go hmmmm.
Jason
03-03-2004, 04:09 PM
Does anybody know the life expectancy of Flex Coat? I found a couple bottles last night that haven't been used for more than a year. Just curious if there was a max shelf life?
?????,Whats flex coat?
Norm
Jason
03-03-2004, 04:39 PM
http://www.flexcoat.com/prodex.html
Thats that plastic stuff, for plastic, extruded rods. My bad.
Norm
Flex coat has an indefinte shelf life. Sometimes the resin starts to crystalize when stored at cooler temps but can be restored by placing in warm water. My experience with FC is similar to Chris's.
If your getting 60 minute pot life, well, I've never seen anything close to that. At about 20 minutes, it gets difficult to apply a thin coat. You'll get slightly longer pot life with Duragloss.
On that last comment, I'm bored, just trying to pick a fight.
Norm
Jason
03-03-2004, 05:00 PM
Thats that plastic stuff, for plastic, extruded rods. My bad.
Norm
Norm, being an avid rod builder I'm surprised you don't know what Flex Coat is. What do they use up in BC? Elmer's glue?
Jason to a true "rod builder" not a rod "assembler" elmers glue and similar wood glues work well in the lamination as long as they are properly dried and sealed. But I chose to use a good epoxie called epon. Flexes great, bow makers use it alot. Jason if your ever interesting in "building" a rod let me know. I'd be glad to a yoda to your young skywalker, or in Arkansas terms I could wear the rodbuilding "wife-beater tee shirt" to your "blackeyed" little inbreed apprentice B!tch. :>)
..><((((º>.•´¯'•.¸¸.•´¯'•.¸><((((º>¸.•´¯'•.¸.
..><((((º>¸.•´¯'•.¸.•´¯'•...¸><((((º>¸.•´¯'•.¸.
Norm
chris
03-03-2004, 05:22 PM
He is right you know, us assemblers have nothing on Norm. My patience wore to thin with bamboo at a young age. I have no desire to smell like a fuel supplier and even less time to work on bamboo consistently. I only built 6 of them from scratch and refinished more early on but just couldn't become passionate about it like Norm has. Norm has a trade that is very tough to maintain, it truely is an art rather than an assembly line although some assemble better than others and always better than a machine.
Who do you want to fight Normy?
..><((((º>.•´¯'•.¸¸.•´¯'•.¸><((((º>¸.•´¯'•.¸.
..><((((º>¸.•´¯'•.¸.•´¯'•...¸><((((º>¸.•´¯'•.¸.
Norm[/QUOTE]
bored off my ass. Wishin I could be fishin. And there are no good arguments on the board today. No one is talking about fishing, no pictures of "the big one". Hell, Fishwest has even slowed down. Someone needs to start some shit around here. Where is Pavlick? Re-instate Twanda! Someone tell me a freakin fishin story! Wet my appetite with a "nameless" quiet water that holds 24" fish average. I think I need to go home sick, I'm going freakin nuts. Anyway you guys know me, its all good. I'm counter culture, devils advocate, till the end. Think I'll sneak out and hit the UPS store I got some shit to ship. Hope something good is on the Rome show.
Bamboo is not hard, just time consuming. Build-on fellow flymen.
Late
Peace
Norm
Jason
03-03-2004, 05:53 PM
Norm, I thought you'd chime in on this thread. Maybe share a favorite yellowstone story with us.
http://www.utahonthefly.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7123
How about creating a political commentary forum where we can make fun of the idiots we elected into office. First Thread: legislators limiting the quantity of beer served at my table when I go out to eat.
http://radio.ksl.com/index.php?nid=19&sid=78370
Could this be anymore insain? Yea right, I need the government telling me how big the mug of beer I choose to drink should be. Question, when officials get elected do they somehow erase 85% of their I.Q. or is it that they get a superiority complex that makes them believe we are incapable of making good decisions for our self??
Any state legislators on this board I can RIP into.
Norm
FlyGuy
03-03-2004, 06:01 PM
I've found improved results with Flex Coat by:
1. Warming the bottles prior to mixing -- I use a heating pad -- mixes better with fewer bubbles.
2. Mixing the 2 parts on a piece of foil as opposed to the cups -- increases the pot life.
3. Holding a light bulb, any 60-75 watter will do, close to the applied finish to pop small bubbles and even out the finish on the wraps.
4. Using a couple small batches instead of 1 big one -- after what you've spent on the blank and components, what's a few $$$s of flex coat? -- it's more fluid and just plain easier to work with than when it starts to set up. (If you do find yourself just about done and it's starting to set-up, the light bulb trick works on the batch, brush and applied mixture.)
chris
03-03-2004, 06:06 PM
How about creating a political commentary forum where we can make fun of the idiots we elected into office. First Thread: legislators limiting the quantity of beer served at my table when I go out to eat.
http://radio.ksl.com/index.php?nid=19&sid=78370
Could this be anymore insain? Yea right, I need the government telling me how big the mug of beer I choose to drink should be. Question, when officials get elected do they somehow erase 85% of their I.Q. or is it that they get a superiority complex that makes them believe we are incapable of making good decisions for our self??
Any state legislators on this board I can RIP into.
Norm
Grizz and I had a thought, maybe a chat room with cameras that upon any sign of tension regaring a thread we could jump into the fight room. picture quick fingers on a keyboard, spouting back and forth.
I saw that thread and found no sites saying they were raising fee's even if they go to $20.00 for a week its a good deal. If it would weed out some of the people up were we go, I'm all for it. Those crazy tourists will still pay the money to stop 6 miles of traffic and 10 pissed off UTOF members trying to get to the Lamar valley as fast as possible to look at a flippen rat they think is a river otter or the 2,151st bison they have seen that day. They need to chop some trees down and create an express way for fishermen.
Norm
ScottT
03-03-2004, 11:21 PM
If you let it sit around a year or two, I've had problems w/ it yellowing. Bought it once in the 16 oz kit (8 oz each of A & B) when doing a couple of Baja tuna sticks.
That was a "volumetric" mistake of Sam' Club/Costco proportions.
Even after completing the big sticks, I could've finished 30+ fly rods - yellowed before I could use it all.
ScottT
Larry S.
03-04-2004, 12:07 AM
I seen it on the Rocky Mountain Bulletin Board on the Virtual Flyshop site(Fly Fisherman Mag). It's still there near the botom of the page.
That's what got me torqued but after a few days off the biscuits and gravy I've mellowed out a little about it.
«°Ñøvã°»
03-04-2004, 01:24 AM
Most all oil based products will yellow in time. Especially clear coats and epoxys. Its normal, the base is actually a little yellow but dries clear then yellows in time. Im wondering if flex coat sells a retarder for thier products. Most of the stuff I have used at work (industrial aplications) have a reducer or retarder that you can add to the mix to allow more potlife and to keep it flowing more smoothly. I know if the mix is to thin or thick there can be problems. With many aliphatic urethane epoxys even a speck of dust will result in a bubble. Now mind you the stuff I have used maybe different than flexcoat but I think with all urethane based products the vital components are similar.
When it starts to get thick, stick it in the microwave for 10 or 15 seconds. Warms it up enough that you can continue to use it. Personally, I'll take U-40 over Flexcoat every time.
Larry
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