> I have never had very good luck with rollers. I know others swear by them
> but for me, a cheap paint brush and squeegee work best. Something to
> remember is that your sealer coat should be quite thin. You don't want
> "extra" epoxy because it will make for a heavy boat AND as you
> have found out, sanding epoxy sucks... it's also dangerous to breath in
> that dust so I try to keep epoxy sanding down to the bare minimum (ALWAYS
> wear a mask when sanding). After I have sanded the wood hull I squeegee on
> a thin layer of regular system three, I have good control over the temp so
> outgassing isn't much of a problem PLUS the layer of epoxy I put on is
> VERY thin, a skim coat might be a better definition of the sealer coat. I
> don't sand this coat. When it dries I lay my 6oz. glass atop the hull and
> "paint" on warm (pre-heated NOT already starting to go off)
> system three clear coat with the cheap brush. It wet's out the cloth
> instantly, without alot of painting strokes which is important because you
> don't want to beat air into the epoxy/fiberglass matrix. After the boat is
> completely covered I'll let it sit until I can squeegee it without the
> cloth getting funky... I also knock down any bubbles that might form....
> although most time there are none. The squeeging removes any excess resin
> you may have applied and ensures a tight cloth/wood bond. After this coat
> sets I apply more regular stystem three in thin even coats until the weave
> is filled and I'm happy with the finish. I like to apply the epoxy in such
> a way as to avoid sags. They are the pits to sand out and often, when
> sanding sags, you'll sand to the weave instead of removing the sag...
> murphy's law I suppose. Although I use System Three ( I'm test driving
> Raka right now though) I imagine any reputible companies epoxy is as good
> as the others... I strongly suggest using a very thin epoxy to wet out the
> glass though or the battle is a tough one ESPECIALLY for the inside of the
> boat. Good Luck. Doug K

Thanks. That makes sense. I'll go ahead and sand off the rest of the botched sealer coat, but shouldn't need to do another one. I could fiberglass as the next step. Do you pre-heat the Clear Coat and regular System Three filler coats by immersing the bottles in hot water? And to what temperature?