Re: pint for the first ba

Posted by Jim E on Mar 10, 2007

Small batch or large, you need to get the whole batch out of the pot (or bag) and onto the kayak before you start spreading it. With a medium hardener at 70 degrees, you have only a few minutes to do this. The 'ditributed' goop is safe from runaway heatup, so you can relax and take your time on the 'sculpting' phase (spreading, scraping, prodding, etc) making it look good. When I do this, I mutter "Dont stop, get it on there.." until my pastry bag is empty.

Some of the excess gets scraped up and goes back into the pot, but it's never enough to heat up, since it's spread around the edges of a big mixing pot. If this is my last mix of the session, I use the recycled stuff for touching up areas where the initial spread was a bit light. Otherwise I just include it in the next mix.

Oh yes, and getting the thickness right is half the battle. If you want a 'slippery' mix that does not pucker when you spread it, include some silica. Half and half silica and woodflour works pretty well in a stiff mix for doing chines. Be careful not to over-thicken.

In Response to: pint for the first batch? by LeeG on Mar 8, 2007

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