Hey guys, I’ve been enjoying Swaylock’s for about a year now, but have not posted for awhile. I finally have something that I need to bring up. In two weeks I will be moving up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to go to school after having just moved back from Santa Cruz. I plan on building a 10’ x 16’ shaping bay, with 10’ x 4’ storage off of that. The ceiling in the bay will be 9’, and in the storage the peak will be 11’ for my longboards. I have made about 15 boards so far, for myself and my friends I surf the lakes with. The main problem I will be encountering will be the cold climate. We’re talking a high of 19 degrees fahrenheit in January. it is cold for six months out of the year. I plan on keeping the resin and Acetone (5 Gal.buckets) in the house so they won’t freeze. We have been kicking arounnd ideas about how to keep the bay warm when I am working out there. When I’m not, my tools and other supplies should be ok seeing as how the bay will be well insulated. We are thinking about using an electric heater with thermostat on a timer, that way I can warm it up an hour or so before I come out to shape(on that note, what is the ideal temp. for glassing,etc.?). We thought about having a decent size fan built into the wall which would act as cooler air in the summer and also exhaust for when I’m glassing (the fan would be covered by insulation when not in use). We are unsure if an electric heater would be safe when I’m glassing, hotcoating, etc. I will have the typical side lighting, and we were going to cover the walls with thick black plastic (rather than clear) which I thought would cut down on reflection and make shaping easier (Most shaping rooms have dark walls right?) So, that is but a few of the questions I have about this. Surfing and shaping have been the center of my life the past couple years, and I would appreciate if everyone took this seriously. I cannot go a year without making boards, and would be very grateful for any info. pertaining to this anyone might have. I am going to attempt to post a few pic’s of me on southern lake michigan a few weeks ago. Thanks again, and take it easy. Ryan
Hey guys, I’ve been enjoying Swaylock’s for about a year now, but have > not posted for awhile. I finally have something that I need to bring up. > In two weeks I will be moving up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to go > to school after having just moved back from Santa Cruz. I plan on building > a 10’ x 16’ shaping bay, with 10’ x 4’ storage off of that. The ceiling in > the bay will be 9’, and in the storage the peak will be 11’ for my > longboards. I have made about 15 boards so far, for myself and my friends > I surf the lakes with. The main problem I will be encountering will be the > cold climate. We’re talking a high of 19 degrees fahrenheit in January. it > is cold for six months out of the year. I plan on keeping the resin and > Acetone (5 Gal.buckets) in the house so they won’t freeze. We have been > kicking arounnd ideas about how to keep the bay warm when I am working out > there. When I’m not, my tools and other supplies should be ok seeing as > how the bay will be well insulated. We are thinking about using an > electric heater with thermostat on a timer, that way I can warm it up an > hour or so before I come out to shape(on that note, what is the ideal > temp. for glassing,etc.?). We thought about having a decent size fan built > into the wall which would act as cooler air in the summer and also exhaust > for when I’m glassing (the fan would be covered by insulation when not in > use). We are unsure if an electric heater would be safe when I’m glassing, > hotcoating, etc. I will have the typical side lighting, and we were going > to cover the walls with thick black plastic (rather than clear) which I > thought would cut down on reflection and make shaping easier (Most shaping > rooms have dark walls right?) So, that is but a few of the questions I > have about this. Surfing and shaping have been the center of my life the > past couple years, and I would appreciate if everyone took this seriously. > I cannot go a year without making boards, and would be very grateful for > any info. pertaining to this anyone might have. I am going to attempt to > post a few pic’s of me on southern lake michigan a few weeks ago. Thanks > again, and take it easy. Ryan Hi, Ryan, Flat black, non-reflective, controllable 70 to 75 degree indoor temps, measure humidity if possible, the more insulation the better for 6 months each of summer and winter, adequate forced cross-ventilation (an inexpensive, small, electric motor in a separate exterior enclosure can power a fan via long belt) and a cheap heat source (my favoite: floor composed of concrete poured over permanent heating elements) without flame, spark or pilot light (I have often used a series of semi-enclosed, above and below, infrared heat lamps for glassing), monitor your resin, additives and shaped blank to make sure they are same as indoor temp, especially prior to laminating/hotcoating, keep detailed, accurate notes of all times/temps/amounts … and don
t forget to wear your respirator. Youve got soul, man. Dale
Hi, Ryan, Whatever you decide to do to temp control your shapin’shack, do NOT use any open heating elements (I.E. space heaters etc.) Acetone and resins emit large amounts of very combustible fumes even at low temperatures. An open heating element or even a sparking therostat could turn a cold january night into the 4th of july! It might even be a good idea to ventilate your area before you shape if you are storing your chemicals inside your shaping area. If your planer sparks like mine, you could be in trouble. Stay safe and good luck! ToddO
Just found this site! looks cool! Another note fyi…i’ve used suncure UV laminating and sanding resins in the extream cold. (that’s about 30 degrees in Fl.) and there is an interesting phenomenon that occurs when you expose your board to the extream cold after hotcoating with this stuff. Apparantly this resin has a characteristic that suspends wax particles in the hotcoat for a period of time even after the hor coat appears to be cured. (it’s not!!!) When I opened my garage door to move the board out to my car it immediatly fogged up giving the hotcoat a milky white haze through out. Very uncool!..it’s impossible to remove unless you sand it away to the cloth. I used this product to help me primarily with extra laminating time untill I get my laminating down good enought o use The Real Thing! I f anybody you know is using this product up there you might whant to let 'em know. JC
Cheg, I don’t have any of your answers but are you going to be up near Marquette? Northern perhaps? That is beautiful country, I am originally from MI and never thought of surfing until I moved out here to San Diego. What are the waves like in Superior? What is the biggest you have seen? And how do you like paddling in a 8 mil full suit?(lol) GF>>> Hey guys, I’ve been enjoying Swaylock’s for about a year now, but have > not posted for awhile. I finally have something that I need to bring up. > In two weeks I will be moving up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to go > to school after having just moved back from Santa Cruz. I plan on building > a 10’ x 16’ shaping bay, with 10’ x 4’ storage off of that. The ceiling in > the bay will be 9’, and in the storage the peak will be 11’ for my > longboards. I have made about 15 boards so far, for myself and my friends > I surf the lakes with. The main problem I will be encountering will be the > cold climate. We’re talking a high of 19 degrees fahrenheit in January. it > is cold for six months out of the year. I plan on keeping the resin and > Acetone (5 Gal.buckets) in the house so they won’t freeze. We have been > kicking arounnd ideas about how to keep the bay warm when I am working out > there. When I’m not, my tools and other supplies should be ok seeing as > how the bay will be well insulated. We are thinking about using an > electric heater with thermostat on a timer, that way I can warm it up an > hour or so before I come out to shape(on that note, what is the ideal > temp. for glassing,etc.?). We thought about having a decent size fan built > into the wall which would act as cooler air in the summer and also exhaust > for when I’m glassing (the fan would be covered by insulation when not in > use). We are unsure if an electric heater would be safe when I’m glassing, > hotcoating, etc. I will have the typical side lighting, and we were going > to cover the walls with thick black plastic (rather than clear) which I > thought would cut down on reflection and make shaping easier (Most shaping > rooms have dark walls right?) So, that is but a few of the questions I > have about this. Surfing and shaping have been the center of my life the > past couple years, and I would appreciate if everyone took this seriously. > I cannot go a year without making boards, and would be very grateful for > any info. pertaining to this anyone might have. I am going to attempt to > post a few pic’s of me on southern lake michigan a few weeks ago. Thanks > again, and take it easy. Ryan
Cheg, Here’s the skinny, I’ve been building boards for three years now in Alaska, winters included. My first winter was an utter disaster using crappy little electric space heaters, stove-oil fired jet heaters, you name it. You will ruin more glass jobs than you can shake a stick at unless you insulate your shop head to toe and get some good heat! Resin on foam hates cold weather, it does very strang things. Get a small toyo stove (heater) for $700, it will pay for itself in three years, they hold their value so you can easily sell it when your through with it. And best of all they are cheap to run (stove oil) and heat like a mother hen sittin on her eggs! Electric heaters suck, they are expensive, put out very uneven heat and cause fires. Dont be cheap, get a Toyo. - Alaska
Hey ryan I have one good bit of advice as i have been building boards in Ontario for a while. Not quite as cold but similar. Anyway i found that i could tough out the cold shaping and sanding but the problems arrive when you start laminating. If you start heating up the area right before you glass then the board and all the entrapped gas bubbles will start out cold and warm up as the resin cures. this is fine for the foam because it is closed cell and the whole thing will just expand a little bit. But the wood in the stringer is partly open cell so the expanding gas just blows a big bubble under your recently gelled resin and glass which goes on to fully cure and leave you with a nice repair job before your board has even seen a hot coat. It actually usually happens when the bottom is already laminated and you are doing the top which traps the gas in the stringer. anyway the only way i have found around this is to heat up the whole board and area for a few hours before glassing so it is all at the temperature at which you will be glassing. let it heat up for a while because all the materials it is made of are good thermal insulators and you dont want to have to fix it after the fact. good luck, cheers, trev.