polyester question

hi all ,im looking for some advice re polyester resin.
not boat related realy but boat builders seem to know more about resins.
my son is making a live edge polyster resin table for a school project,
its 7ft by 3ft by 3inch deep.
he poured it in 7 layers in not the best conditions, ie cool,
the finished surface is not very flat
weve brought the project home from school so I can help him progress it as I know how much work it will take to finish it to a polished finnish.
at the moment were sanding it wet and dry but its very slow work.
would I be better mixing a runny mix and letting it self level ,then polish or should I persevere with sanding. ps could I pour over a sanded surface or would it need to be no scratching showing .
hope someone can help .thaks.
mike
ps the resin used is water clear polyester resin called clearcast

 

Can you post a photo? I supposed you got a surface with craters and fisheyes.

 

hi gonzo,
pics , I ordered some topcoat polyester resin with added wax ,is there a trick to getting this level to minimise sanding

 

You probably used a resin with little or no wax. The table needs to be sanded flat first. You should start with a fairly coarse grit; at least #50. Otherwise it will clog and not take much of the old resin off.

 

You can knock down the orange peel surface with 150 grit paper on a DA or similar sander and then coat it with this.

http://duratec1.com/pdf/DS 904-040.pdf

It will cure with a high gloss and no wax add is required.

Sometimes it will be smooth enough and no sanding is needed. If not, minimal sanding and polishing is needed.

There is also a version with higher UV resistance if it’s used outside.

 

thanks for the input