System Three Clear Coat Epoxy Resin Kit, 1.5 Pt, Clear

This epoxy is very easy to use. You just do a 2 to 1 mix and when you mix it together it has a very pleasant sweet smell that indicates that it is ready to go. When you sand it it also gives off the same smell. You should use a tiny amount for this application: I use 1 1/2 teaspoons mixed to coat a fingerboard. I poured some out to flow a coat: for my application that was a mistake and I needed to sand it down. It self levels and blends easily. It is very clear and glassy smooth without additional sanding and it is harder than the wood. In one of the pictures you can see how reflective it is. I’m going to do that to my other fretless basses. Works great. Also sliding on the neck is certainly different. It is smoother than the wood: I assume because the string is not gripping in the wood. The tone is pretty much the same.

I am very happy with this product. I purchased it to fill some hairline cracks in a live edge slab that I am finishing for use as a coffee table. This epoxy has a very low viscosity so it was able to flow down into the cracks very well. The cracks were approximately 1/32" wide and 3/4" deep. This epoxy filled them all the way to the bottom (which I know because I cut through one of them). I did not have the same sucess with System Three's thicker structural epoxy T-88 or with standard 5 minute epoxy. I was also pleased at how crystal clear it cures. I will definitely use this on other projects in the future.

Opened the box to find it coated in resin, but the box did look really nice. Love the product, only wish I had enough to use it

When first opened, both the resin and hardener were crystal clear, but the unused hardener turned amber after opening. Apparently it reacts with the oxygen in the air that enters the bottle. It took a while to change color, but it isn’t the crystal clear that I wanted. If you're using the epoxy for coating wood, the color change would be completely invisible, but if you're coating something that's white, it'll give it a slight yellow tinge...

Used to refinish the exterior of an older kevlar/carbon fiber canoe. Applied using a foam roller and tipped with a 3" foam brush, however in the future I think I'd probably tip using a cheap disposable paintbrush but that's unique to my specific application. Excess resin cured crystal clear in the paint tray. Moving slowly, it took about 90 minutes to roll & tip a 16' canoe and I went through approximately 1/3 of the quart sized bottle for each coat. This product has a long open time and only towards the end did I notice the paint tray was starting to get warm due to the exothermic reaction of the resin starting to cure. If you're applying multiple coats, per System Three you should not apply subsequent layers until the previous layer has had 24 hours to cure. Since it does not produce amine blush, subsequent coats can be applied without additional surface prep.

System 3 products almost always work well. The Clear Coat is low viscosity which makes a good base coat for exterior boat varnish work, followed by traditional varnishes for UV protection.

It's System Three, a producer with a justifiably great reputation. Is it the only epoxy manufacturer? Of course not, but their products have yet to fail me - and I have used a number of the System Three epoxy products. I use the clear coat as a self-leveling grain filler for a variety of applications - in particular for guitar making as a great base for French polishing. I also use it as an adhesive in woodwork - e.g. Laminated guitar tops, necks and even through blocks. Unless you're using the full package in one go, follow the instructions and make sure you weigh parts A and B. A cheapo digital scale is all that's needed. I made a little chart which quickly gives me a range of different volumes to meet the task at hand.

This is a great product if you are in low-intensity sunshine environment. If you are in Florida, this product will burn and turn white in the sun within 3 months. I am using it now in the boat interior but for exterior I use only Epifanes Clear Coat.