Acetone and Reducer...Differen ce?

I am putting a fiberglass resin on the floats for my Dehavilland
Beaver to waterproof them and also about to lay a woven mat on the bottom of the floats for scuffs on the beach etc... I have already brushed on the resin and WOW!....sealed up everything and am very happy with my finish etc... (have done two thin coats by brush)...I was told by the Hobby Store to cut the resin with about 10% Acetone to thin the resin for applying the woven fiberglass mat to the bottom of the floats. They said it would give a better finish.... my questions are these....
I have a gallon of Reducer for enamel paint (automotive grade)....is that the same as acetone?....Will it work as a good substitute?
And lastly....do you really think I should use a 'thinner' as I have a pretty good feeling about the way I am presently working with this stuff...maybe I should just continue on and say to hell with the advice of the hobby shop and use the same recipe over the woven material?...Thanks in advance...Jim

Saw it for sale today at Ace Hardware.

Methyl ethyl ketone peroxide is the standard catalyst for polyester resins (don't EVER get it in your eyes btw - read the warnings and wear protective eyewear! This is NOT paranoia.). Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) or acetone won't catalyze polyester resin.

Ideally, for laminating you should use a resin system with a viscosity and wetting ability that does not require solvents to thin the system. Though many resins appear to be more viscous than intuition would lead one to believe would be effective, they will still wet out the cloth and substrate well.

When making multiple layered layups with polyester resin, you should get unwaxed resin, which is available from fiberglass supply houses. In which case if you're there, and don't want to use epoxy, you might consider vinyl ester resin which sits between polyester resin and epoxy for mechanical properties.

I dunno 'bout that . . . got a dozen or so cans of the stuff on the stock shelf.

It looks an awful lot like http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?& I=LXB360&P=0
Fred McClellan the dash <email>

AIUI Solarfilm Clearcoate thinners contains toluene.

I received advice that suggested that acetone is a bit aggressive on the epoxy resin and it's better to thin it with pure methanol.

Resin is a rather generic term. What type of resin is it? Generally it will be either polyester resin or epoxy resin. If it is epoxy resin, use alcohol to reduce it. Not rubbing alcohol which contains water, but pure methyl or ethyl alcohol (denatured alcohol).

In some cases acetone is the catalyst for polyester resin and will cause problems if used as a reducer.

Some polyester resin has a wax in it that will come to the surface when cured. It will need to be sanded to remove the wax before the next coat is applied or you may get separation between the coats. Generally, when applying more than one coat, epoxy resin is preferable.

As Paul said, don't try the other ruducer you already have.