Quick question for those who,..been there done that!

[Roly]

Its the eleventh hour before we start on our new deck. (In a female mold --holiday project)
I am planning to use polyester gelcoat,one layer matt (225gm) with poly., peelply & then when cured, (48hrs) pull, and start an epoxy layup.
Should I use waxed resin in the matt layer? Will pulling the peel ply get rid of it? At least then, I can sand between the peelply joins.
Otherwise we will have to do localised waxed hotcoating where the peelply misses and sand.
Any tips, tricks appreciated.

Merry christmas!

[tja]

As I understand it your going to layup with polyester resin let it cure and then use epoxy over the poly layup to finish the deck layup out. If i'm understanding you correct why don't you use poly for the entire layup. Either way I don't see why you need peel ply. Do your first layup let it cure over night scuff the surface and finish the job. If your concerned about print through i like to leave the finished part in the mold for about a week in good heat to let the part fully cure or if you have a way to heat the mold to about 165f will let you pull the part in two days. That's my thoughts unless I'm all wrong about what your doing.

[Roly]

Reasons for using poly gelcoat and one layer of csm.
1. UV protection over epoxy.
2. Easy tooled colour coat for deck.Subsequent blend ins from hull/deck lamination.
Reason for converting structural layers to epoxy
1. Using very little csm. Mainly triax. & kevlar. and skins are considerably thinner than the prescribed poly layup. Thus adhesion between layers is paramount.= epoxy. Also adhesion to balsa core will be better with epoxy.
More expensive I know but = peace of mind.

The peel ply is to maximize adhesion to the polyester.

In errors in my thinking?

[tja]

Ok I see most of what you want to do. There is no reason to be concerned about any gaps in the peel ply. I personally think that the epoxy will bond to the ployester with or without the peel ply. Good luck.