Filler Question

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gerahead

gerahead

Glutton for Punishment
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What brand/kind of filler do you guys use to do your "final" smoothing of a panel? I have my doors and shell close enough to flat for me to be thinking about how I will proceed to finishing it off. I have been using Evercoat lightweight filler so far and it seems to really harden quickly. Maybe unreasonably, but I am looking for something that takes longer to kick so I have a little more time to smooth on a skim coat. I am mixing it with only the same brand hardener, should I be doing something differently? I have played around a little with the ratio, but it doesn't seem to affect the hardening time too much. Thanks for your help in advance! L8r

Jim
 
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You need to work quickly. It’s designed for professional knowing what they need to do and not a person “moving it around.”
Also you can mix in a little bit of 555 quick dry lacquer thinner or slow dry for hotter days. Not enamel reducer. The lacquer with “wetten the mixture” to give you a few more minutes of soft. This new stuff moves very quickly for even me. It’s like it feels like 3 seconds of cheese grater time is all you get.
Confidences gets it done. Practice on a small panel on a sheet of metal or something before you do the actual panel. It sounds silly but the more confident you are the quicker you can move.
 
Mix smaller quantitys, slightly lower amount of hardener but dont go too light. Temperature has alot to do with cure time. If you mix it on a board, spread it out thinner and it will generate less heat. If you leave it in a big blob on the board it will set up faster.
 
Thanks for the thinner and spreading tips, guys. Been working with small batches as quickly as I can and previewing the path to take. Granted, my technique probably is not the greatest, but I don't think it's horrible either. I tried keeping the material on the mixing board thinner and that seemed to help. L8r

Jim
 
How much hardener are you using, say for a golf ball size blob? I have been using Evercoat Rage Gold and Evercoat Metal Glaze as a toper both are amazing but pricey products.
 
Jesse Martin said:
How much hardener are you using, say for a golf ball size blob? I have been using Evercoat Rage Gold and Evercoat Metal Glaze as a toper both are amazing but pricey products.
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Jesse,
I have typically started with about a 3" glob of filler and then added a thin stripe across the puddle and then mixed it up. Thanks for the recommendations! L8r

Jim
 
gerahead said:
Jesse,
I have typically started with about a 3" glob of filler and then added a thin stripe across the puddle and then mixed it up. Thanks for the recommendations! L8r

Jim
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I forgot to ask, what temperature are you using it in? That has a huge effect on how fast it flashes for me. Personally, for a 3in blob, I only go halfway with the hardener but spend a little extra time making sure it's really mixed well by folding it.
 
the ambient temperature has been in the high 70s to low 80s. sounds like maybe I have been using a little too much hardener. thought that I was cutting it down, but maybe still not enough. I don't want to have to scrape it out and redo it because it didn't fully cure (happened with a batch of duraglass)! Thanks! L8r

Jim
 
when it hot like that you really have to work fast I usually get 3-5 min working time depending on the amount I'm using. And as long as you get it thoroughly mixed and a uniform color to it you shouldn't ever have to worry about it not cureing


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As others have said the temperature and amount of hardener will both effect cure time. Its just going to take some experimenting and practice.

I have done some fiberglass boat work. When you are laying up big sheets of fiber glass, hardening too soon can ruin your day. It uses the same basic polyester resin and hardener as bondo. One trick I learned was to chill the resin/bondo before you use it, it slows the cure.

Obviously if you have read the warnings on the can this stuff is poisonous, and stinky don't put it with your food; or seal it up somehow.
My wife would have killed me if I even brought it in the house anyway :soapbox:

A small cooler with ice packs works pretty good, probably way over kill for a small batch of bondo.
 
gerahead said:
What brand/kind of filler do you guys use to do your "final" smoothing of a panel? I have my doors and shell close enough to flat for me to be thinking about how I will proceed to finishing it off. I have been using Evercoat lightweight filler so far and it seems to really harden quickly. Maybe unreasonably, but I am looking for something that takes longer to kick so I have a little more time to smooth on a skim coat. I am mixing it with only the same brand hardener, should I be doing something differently? I have played around a little with the ratio, but it doesn't seem to affect the hardening time too much. Thanks for your help in advance! L8r

Jim
Click to expand...
Don’t mix the Hardner with the filler until the last minute. Apply the hardner to the spreader paddle, take the board with the filler and the spreader with the hardner over to the panel that your working on and mix it right there. This gives you an extra minute or so, sometime that’s all you need. I do bodywork in south Florida and this stuff goes off in a flash. I agree with the others, mix small amounts unless covering an entire panel
 
You also need to realize that you need to mix your filler consistently if putting small amounts onto a large panel multiple times. The filler will sand differently in certain areas if you don’t and will make it more difficult to get it straight.
 
Let the filler and bondo dry through for a few weeks, put it in the sun too, and give then the last final cut. Less waves and scratches under the paint is the result.
 
Another thing I do on warm days is store the filler inside. If a can of filler is left in a hot garage and is 95 degrees when the hardener is mixed in, it will harden faster
 
Quikitty said:
Don’t mix the Hardner with the filler until the last minute. Apply the hardner to the spreader paddle, take the board with the filler and the spreader with the hardner over to the panel that your working on and mix it right there. This gives you an extra minute or so, sometime that’s all you need. I do bodywork in south Florida and this stuff goes off in a flash. I agree with the others, mix small amounts unless covering an entire panel
Click to expand...

You lost me here. If I am using small amounts to keep from wasting a bunch when it kicks, what are you doing differently to keep the same thing from happening when you need to skim an entire panel? L8r

Jim
 
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