Urethane clear coat spray cans

[JosephS]

Hey all,
This is venturing into 1:1 paint. It looks like to properly finish out my carbon fiber chassis I will need a clear coat.

I have read that for the coating of epoxy made carbon fiber that urethane clear coat is the preferred the right product. Since I don’t have a compressor or spray gun I was going to use a canned version.

Has anyone clear coated carbon fiber? If so do you have any recommendations on brands or products?

Any process tips?

Thanks all!

[TheDiamondOne]

Yes. I would go with The Eastwood Co. Great products. Make sure chassis is cleaned well and scuffed with scothbrite prior to painting.

[JosephS]

Yes. I would go with The Eastwood Co. Great products. Make sure chassis is cleaned well and scuffed with scothbrite prior to painting.

If I am wet-sanding the epoxy can I just clean as is, or do i need to scuff with scotch-brite as well?

Thanks for the nod towards Eastwood. I have been reading a little about 1k vs 2k paints. It sounds like 2k rattle cans are a single use affair (within 24 hours), but a much better paint. 1k paint can stored and reused over time.
Does that sounds right?

I went to the product link for the eastman 2k clear gloss

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-2k-duraspray-clear-coat-aerosol-paint.html

It looks like this product is specifically designed to avoid the issue I am concerned about

This standard aerosol can contains the clear and activator, but the activation doesn’t occur until they are sprayed out of the can and hit the air and become a highly durable two component coating, just like you would typically mix and spray out of a paint gun.

...

[*]Unlimited Pot Life

Just ordered a can

[DWRCMTB]

Seconded on Eastwood. I use the satin clear urethane, works great. It's a bit costly because the can kicks in 48 hours, so if you can plan to do more than one project at a time you can get a little more bang for your buck.

[JosephS]

Seconded on Eastwood. I use the satin clear urethane, works great. It's a bit costly because the can kicks in 48 hours, so if you can plan to do more than one project at a time you can get a little more bang for your buck.

I'll let you know how my projects works out but it looks like they have a new product for the 2k coats.
The older one had a separate chamber for catalyst. The new one looks like the catalyst is activated via air or moisture, so the whole can doesn't have a pot life like the older product. It seemed worth a try.

[TheDiamondOne]

Yes. I would go with The Eastwood Co. Great products. Make sure chassis is cleaned well and scuffed with scothbrite prior to painting.

If I am wet-sanding the epoxy can I just clean as is, or do i need to scuff with scotch-brite as well?

Thanks for the nod towards Eastwood. I have been reading a little about 1k vs 2k paints. It sounds like 2k rattle cans are a single use affair (within 24 hours), but a much better paint. 1k paint can stored and reused over time.
Does that sounds right?

I went to the product link for the eastman 2k clear gloss

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-2k-duraspray-clear-coat-aerosol-paint.html

It looks like this product is specifically designed to avoid the issue I am concerned about

This standard aerosol can contains the clear and activator, but the activation doesn’t occur until they are sprayed out of the can and hit the air and become a highly durable two component coating, just like you would typically mix and spray out of a paint gun.

...

[*]Unlimited Pot Life

Just ordered a can

Yes the 2k stuff has a a day shelf life but way more durable. It never hurts to clean things as much as possible after sanding. Laquer thinner is real good.

[JosephS]

I picked up the Eastwood 2k gloss clear. I'm just about at the point where I am about to apply the clear coat.
I am applying it over epoxy resin. Do I need to wait for the epoxy to fully cure, or is sanding hard enough?
I think it takes about 7-11 days for the epoxy to fully cure, but it's sanding hard after 3 days.

How long does the 2k clear take to cure? I have heard that it should be applied in 3 thin coats at the same time to get full coverage, but prevent runs. After that I would sand, then polish then I would be done.