Fiberglass sticky, what am I doing wrong?

[Doubledog]

Guys, I've about had it with my work not drying properly. Picked up some Polyester resin & different grades of cloth for my Project Prather. The mixture is 2% hardner to the resin. Okay, so I'm guessing and believe I'm adding more than needed because it sets up pretty fast but remains STICKY. Can't hardly sand it with 80 grit paper! Tried adding a little more hardner to the same amount of resin~~ Same Thing. Added a LOT more hardner and still.......*just seems like it dries faster is all

I make sure it gets mixed real good and then mix it some more but after three times of trying this, its as hard as a rock, but sticky to the touch. Set it in the sun for a day, left it sitting on the water heater pipes (these are hot and the hull would stay warm the whole time).

A buddy of mine (that wrecked my SuperG) repaired it using the same stuff and I was there. Saw about how much they mixed, how they mixed it, etc... But when I do it....

I'm pissed, I'm tired and about ready to make fire wood out this dang boat. Alright, so maybe I'm over stressing but damn~~~! What do I have to do?????????????????????????

Anyone out there owe me a favor and can mail me a quart of real fiberglass resin w/hardner? Or does anyone have any tricks up your sleeve as to how to do this? Got a project Dumas Big Windy airboat on the way that'll need some TLC also, so I need to get my ducks in a row... like now! (don't laugh LN:D )

[lovinnitro]

Ahahhahahaha Oh man, I'm hurt :( <~~~~~~ See the pain ? My best guess is a bad batch of hardner and/or resin. If you need me to let me know, and it'll be on the way. Other than that try another set of resin/hardner. How long had what you got been on the shelf???????? Any Idea?
You know I'm here for ya bud just give the word.

[bugfanatic]

This happened to me before too, if anyone knows why, please reply. The way I fixed it was I just put some hardener on an acid brush & wiped it over the top of the sticky resin to let it dry & it seemed to have done the trick. And NO this wasn't because I sucked any of it up with a straw (see another thread).

[Doubledog]

Thanks Bug. I would give it a try, but my hardner is a paste. Guess I could try some rubbing alcohol.

Check out my thread over at jims. I'm failing to understand the part about the epoxy hull/poly resin not being compatable.

http://pub208.ezboard.com/fjimsrcboatdockjimsrcboatdock.showMessage?topicID= 13368.topic

[Doubledog]

Looks like its time to buy some acytone and maybe a few Brillo pads and get to scrubbing.

Might even build a new radio box and do it with some real stuff FIBERGLASS !

Btw, glad I've got a small sense of humor or at the very least, I'm doing my best to smile and look at it as a hard lesson learned.:(

[Carson]

I know from working with gelcoat for sea doo that some gelcoats are designed to cure against a mold with no air contact. This type will cure with a tacky film on the outside which can be removed with acatone. At least thats what we did in the factory. you can get gelcoat with somekind of additive to avoid the tackiness, but we didn't use it much there. If that's any help.

[Doubledog]

Got the acetone and wiped everything down then went over it with a wire brush. Would you believe it did the trick? ;) Talk about feeling better.

Preciate the help and its been a learning experience.