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Originally Posted by Aspiring
Simon very cool. You mention two layers of carbon no gel coat.
Does UV become a relevant issue then? Or are you looking to finish with a top coat that provides enough protection?
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I think a lot of manufacturers use gel coat to give either the final finish, or a finish which paint can adhere to better. I do know of some cheaper epoxy resins having issues with going "milky" with UV over time, but that's more an issue with the epoxy not being made to be exposed. But in this case, I found a clear coat that adheres perfectly, and my resin is extremely high quality (and very high resistance to UV). In fact its designed so that the part that comes out of the mould and that it ready for the application. A lot of manufactures claim their carbon is the same as used in F1 cars or aero space, but this actually is the same grade material from the same manufacturer, used in similar processes.
My surface finish whilst being good, isn't perfect so that's something I'm working on next. I wanted to experimenting with airbrushing fades, and then applied a clear coat over that. On the last few instruments I tried keeping the clearcoat as thin as possible, however next I want to focus on achieving a higher quality finish with a thicker coat; and then compare how this impacts the sound.
It would also be fun to finish an instrument with no coating at all, however the moulding process would have to be perfect as any surface imperfections would then have nowhere to hide! :P Worth noting, the material I have used only came onto the market inside the last 2 years, so many manufactures haven't tried it yet. I'm a mechanical engineer by trade, and have pulled some good connections to get some "trial" quantities. :P