Official Luthiers Forum!

Well, finally got around to using it for the first time. Man, that is some strange smelling stuff! Not even close to what I thought it would smell like. Anybody know why? NBD, just wondering.

Mike

Something to do with the brain/gonad destroying chemicals...

I used a playing card to spread it today with great success. Conformed to the neck nicely, I still use a razor for the flat stuff.

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Gabriel Regalbuto
Carlsbad, California
Freedom 35!

Right, but to me it smelled like dead fish by-products. Had a heck of time finding a place in the house above 69 F. One room had a lot of sun exposure and got the job done.

I believe it's amines your smelling and you should probably be wearing a respirator. But I haven't see the msds.
I see I can find one and post a link;
Here it is: http://www.topmark.co.nz/reference/MSDS/Z-Poxy%2030%20minute%20-%20Other%20Products%20-%20Zap%20Products%20-%20MSDS.pdf

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Thanks for the heads up and MSDS

Mike

Well, Now I know why you want to scrape as much of that stuff off as possible.

I did an OK job of it, but will be more precise next time. That stuff is hard!

Besides a credit card (squeegee), anybody every tried anything else to clean up? Sponge soaked in gasoline?

Mike

This may seem strange and then obvious to some. But I am thinking of holding off doing any binding and purfling until after I have used the z-poxy. Does that sound rational? Thanks Filipo for the squeegee tip.

Mike

Edit: Here I was thinking this was going to be some exotic Lutherie tool! Ace hardware... whadya know!

I went on a 5 day vacation. When I came back, I started the final sanding on my first z-poxy guitar. What a difference time makes. Rubbery is a relative time. apparently the additional cure time made all the difference. Guess one day was not enough. Plus, the tip about scraping with a razor blade was a great tip.

Question: if there is an indentation where the sanding won't go to wood (think expoxy fill,) will it leave witness lines when the finish is applied? Or is Z-pox an excellent "filler" or "leveler?" I am considering nitro or more likely that EmTech product.

Mike

If the mix is true 1:1 then cure time to as hard as it will get is about 48 hours but it is normally quite sand-able with in 18-24 hours. Now temperature is a factor if ambient temp is below 72f the cure time is extended like with most all 2 part epoxies. If you went more than 5% over but less than 10% over on the hardener, contrary to intuitive thinking the cure time will likely be extended rather than shortened. If you go more than 5% under it may never fully harden. Zpoxy is very forgiving on the ratio but it does affect the cure time for best results weigh your two components and you will have the shortest possible cure time.

Thanks Michael...

I would like to ask this question again:

if there is an indentation where the sanding won't go to wood (think expoxy fill,) will it leave witness lines when the finish is applied? Or is Z-pox an excellent "filler" or "leveler?" I am considering nitro or more likely that EmTech product.

If i understand your question right, then YES, if the surface is not completely covered with Z-poxy, OR not completely sanded back to wood, then there will be nasty looking color differences in the final finish.

So pick one, either evenly sand back to wood, leaving the Z-poxy only in the pores, or leave a very thin even layer on the entire surface. Uneven application will show up from a mile away as a change in color.

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Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY

Mike bro I am not sure that I am understanding the question here. You can sand Z-Poxy back to the wood or leave a thin film - your choice. Either method works great with a nitro finish or French polish. I am sure it would work with other finishes too but I have no first hand experience with other possibilities. Mike Doolin used System III with KTM-9 for a while too.

If it took more than 24 hours to sand easily and completely I would suspect the epoxy may be old, the mix ratio was off, or the temp where it was curing was too low. Knowing generally speaking where you live the first two possibilities would be on my mind.

I Have have sanded back fresh Z-Poxy to wood with it staying in the pores 12 hours later. And this is not directed at you but I have to say it so that others don't make this mistake and that is to be sure that you have Z-Poxy "finishing resin" and not the Z-Poxy epoxy glue.

This is a case where a padded on 50/50 cut of Zpoxy is very helpfull. by adding a very thin coat of a cut down with alcohol mixture will eliminate the the problem. Now you need to clean the body good with naptha and compressed air to eliminate any traped dust before you do the padded on coat.