Don't get me wrong, I love MAS for the lack of fumes, no blush, and ease of use, but trying to get a smooth surface on bright-finished areas that are not 'glassed is a real nightmare. I am getting sick and tired of applying epoxy, sanding through it in spots, applying epoxy again--repeat, repeat, repeat. In my previous post, "sanding through epoxy," a responder mentioned that he had talked to a "tech rep" at CLC and the tech mentioned that the one thing he did not like about MAS epoxy is that it "cures a little lumpy." No kidding?! I'd say it cures a lot lumpy. The tech rep also mentioned that using a hair dryer after applying the epoxy seemed to help. Maybe I didn't do it right, but if anything this idea made things worse. He also said not to sand as much, but that would still leave my bright-finished areas embarrassingly "lumpy." We've had a cool spell and I had hoped that being able to apply the epoxy this morning at 70 degrees would help, but that was not to be.
This does not seem to be much of a problem when there is fiberglass under the epoxy. I did sand through in two or thee spots on the hull and had to patch them, but that's about it. I don't know why the problem is so much worse on un-'glassed areas, but even when I have put on four coats before any sanding it just goes right through to wood in spots, even with 220 paper (by hand, no power sander). I'm very sure I have not damaged the fiberglass on the 'glassed areas--I hope I am right. I had thought of going ahead and varnishing the mahogany parts, e.g., rub rails, toe rails, and a few others, hoping that would seal it enough, but after reading the horror stories here: http://www.clcboats.com/life-of-boats-blog/what-happens-when-stitch-and-glue-boats-age.html, I have decided that was a bad idea.
So what to do? I'm considering purchasing a quart of West System with their 207 hardener. This is the brand Russell Brown recommends, and I think Jeff Kerr prefers it also. Or would System Three be better? Anyone who has experience with either or both these brands, please let me know what you think before I blow a wad of money on either one.