Bubbles in Flex Coat?

[JPenny]

I recently inlayed a nice piece of rattlesnake skin onto one of my rods and used Flex Coat epoxy to finish it. It looks great but I noticed that when it dried it had some small bubbles in the finish coat that dimpled the surface. Is there a trick to avoid this?

[upnorth]

There are a few things you can do.

1. stir the 2 parts slowly as to not induce bubbles.

2. pour the mixture out on a small kinda flat tin foil dish.

3. don't so much brush the flex coat(or any epoxy) on, but gob the epoxy on and carefully push/smooth it out with the brush.

4. warm the 2 parts of the expoxy a bit to allow it mix better and flow better.

5. us a straw to gently blow on the epoxy to help smooth out and realease the bubbles.

6. keep the room fairly warm as that also will help the epoxy out.

7. this is not for the careless but you can use a propane torch on low held about 8 to 9 inches from the epoxy to help it thin out and release bubbles. Be very careful if you choose to try this cuz you can boil the epoxy if heat is too close or too long in one spot

[harvey lee]

I use a cig lighter to remove any bubbles if I need to. Removes them nicely but I keep the flame at a minimum of 6" away and use very little heat.

[Dark Cloud]

After I stir my epoxy I breath on it - kinda like you would breath into your hand to check your breath, lol. I'll also do this if I notice some rogue bubbles after it is applied to the rod...

[Eric_Kruger]

fill up a tupperware with hot water, then put your epoxy bottles in the hot water before you measure and mix, it warms it up and comes out smoother, I mix in a shot glass and set that in the water while I mix the parts as well....Between breathing on the epoxy and mixing it warm, i hardly get bubbles anymore.

[A.W.Wolfram]

I agree withal the above statements. Lately I have been using the straw technique on the applied epoxy and keeping the heat to a bare minimum.

Another thing to consider with your particular application is that snake skin can be very porous and irregular. This in it self can trap air that would come to the surface curing. The same thing can happen with cross wraps, weaves and tiger wraps. The best way to combat this issue with wraps is the application of multiple coats of CP. Another trick I have had good luck with is to heat the wrap gently before epoxy application. I use a hair dryer to accomplish this task. When the wrap is heater the epoxy tends to draw into the wrap deeper and drive out the trap air.

Even if I take extra precautions nothing beats babysitting the rod for 3 hours with a straw.

[rushing]

heat gun pew pew