What do I put in epoxy to make it black?Carbon, obviously, but what form and where do I get it?
Thanks.
West System
carries graphite that will turn it black.
I can get graphite from the auto parts
store.My concern is additives that would ruin the epoxy.
That’s why I posted a link to Sweet
… and not NAPA
Graphite in epoxy
Printing cartridges also can be a source of small amounts of epoxy.
When I have mixed Epoxy with graphite the mix was more gray/black than jet black. Maybe I didn’t put enough graphite in the mix, but I was also concerned about weakening the epoxy.
Dave
Black tint for gelcoat. I have used it
plenty. Bill
Pigment powders
http://www.realmilkpaint.com/powder.html
For my carbon fiber paddles I have mixed in a very small amount of these pigment powders to add color to the otherwise black color of the carbon fiber weave.
I have not tried the black pigment. You could probably contact Real Milk Paint Co. for suggestions for getting a true black, and not a gray. Possibly even a sample.
On the plus side this pigment will not degrade the epoxy. It is a very, very fine powder. A little bit goes a long way for a rich coloration from my experience.
When adding an epoxy layer to cover
"fuzz" on an old c-1, I used no graphite powder for the first West epoxy layer I rolled on, and then I added a higher proportion of graphite with successive layers. This gives decent strength and puts the most graphite out at the surface where the wear occurs. The color is black, but when sanded smooth it is gray. Just spray on a covering (I used a spray used on speedboats) and it turns glossy black again.
West describes how to use their thin foam rollers to roll on successive layers before the last previous layer hardens. This ensures that amine blush does not have time to rise to the surface and spoil the bond.
black enough for you ??
– Last Updated: Mar-14-11 11:13 AM EST –
...... http://shopmaninc.com/pigments.html
I can't imagine carbon powder doing much to tint epoxy black ... it's not going to disolve .
A liitle pigment goes along way ... follow mix ratio and don't forget to add the pigment "before" adding the catalyst ... any solvent thinning is done "after" catalyst is mixed .
pigment , catalyst , thinner ... in that order
Without even checking,
I would be inclined to do whatever West Systems recommends. Hard to go wrong there.
Jim
What do you mean “dissolve” ?
Pigment powders don’t dissolve. Graphite powder is not as fine as some black pigments, but it provides a slippery ablation surface. Sure turned my boat black.
After you use the GP , save a little
resin in the cup and dump a bunch of the Graphite in it, mix and let harden … They try to drill it, fun experiment to show the lubricating qualities of Graphite.
Graphite doesn’t desove either, but…
– Last Updated: Mar-14-11 2:44 PM EST –
...it sure makes a nice black color. The factory-supplied "skid coating" (which is jet black when new) on two of my boats is made by that very method. Use equal parts (by volume) graphite and epoxy, prior to adding the hardener. The above-mentioned advice about using no graphite on initial layers and plenty in the final layer makes sense to me as well. Also as noted above, the color will be very black if the finish is left alone, but it turns blackish-gray when sanded.
Oh, I should have read what g2d said. Same thing.
dissolve as in …
… to become absorbed into a liquid solution (transitive or intransitive verb) or break into smaller parts as in less concentrated .
I know , I forgot an “s” last time , I’m a poor speller .
The tint type I linked was a liquid form solution which would mix readily (dissolve) into the resin .
Tap Plastics pigments
I’ve used pigments from Tap Plastics. They are quite potent and work well.
http://www.tapplastics.com/
As I understand it, pigments are
insoluble. Perhaps you meant to say dye?
black epoxy
I wanted black epoxy for a boat project of mine, so I just went to the hardware store and bought a bottle of black stringline chalk. Mixed it in and it worked like a charm. Cheap and readily available. I don’t know what it did to the epoxy though. My application for it was purely cosmetic.
Most retail outlets stocking West
epoxy will also have cans of graphite powder. I bought my graphite powder at a boat store, right off the shelf. Outfits like West Marine will stock it.
The correct term is disperse.
Pigments do not dissolve.