Epoxy glassing in hot garage

General Discussion
1

I’m about to use epoxy resin for the first time this evening. It’s currently 94 deg F. It will probably be a little cooler with the temp falling very, very slowly when I start. I’m using fast RR. I know it says this stuff has a 25 minute pot life at nominal temps. How much time should I expect to lose with higher temps? It’s a small board for my son and I’ll be glassing the bottom only tonight with a full 4oz + a tail 4oz patch. Not too complex.

Hey, if this were poly, I’d know exactly what to do :wink:

Thanks.

2

Be sure that right after you mix the resin you pour all of it on the board and wet the flats.  That will give you extra time … leave it in the bucket and you’ll have problems.  

3

another trick I learned from GL is to use two batches.  one for each side of the stringer.  I do that sometimes for longboards, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea on a SB.  unlike Poly, the two pours will match up just fine.

if you do one batch, try this:  pour about 1/3 down one side of the bottom and another 1/3 down the other, pour the last 1/3 as a 1/2 inch bead all around the perimeter about an inch or so from the edge, wet out the two first pours and begin to pull excess to the outside, with your gloved hand, pull the resin down to the lap and hold the hanging cloth with your gloved hand kind of on the same plane as the bottom of the board  ( you are raking resin onto the lap while your gloved hand hold the lap up), run the perimeter, start at the middle of one side and lap.

until you are finished lapping, do not brush your hair out of your eyes, do not scratch your nuts, do not swat bugs, do not pick up your teeth. 

take the time to smooth out all the drips, watch it for a while and remove more drips, keep tending to the laps.  this will mean a lot less sanding later and well worth it.

good luck

4

both the above posters know way more than i about epoxy lamming…

my only suggestion is to put a thermometer on the wall where you can see it…

a while back i lammed a board. weather guy said it was going to be high 80’s. lammed the bottom in the morning and it went perfect. but the temp had risen in my little tent so that when i did the deck, the whole thing exothermed on me. ruined the blank. i went right out and bought a thermometer. the temp in my canopy had risen to just over 100.

5

 why invite stress into your life?

never used the product....feel the need to use the product at 94f instead of 65-75f.

20 degrees hotter than recomended by the mfg......

and I bet you think add f is evil too........and it's raining.

too hot or too cold............. PROBLEMS !

my epoxy glass jobs just keep getting better. never at 94f....never at 54f.

no fish eyes, no post cure, no epoxy weird stuff.....wash your hands......stress free at 73f.

 

Stingray

 

 

 

 

6

you should get 25 minutes.  Just don’t get distracted, take phone calls, go get another beer and have to find the opener, etc.  One note.  watch out for sweat collecting in your gloves and then dribbling out as your hand is in the middle of the board.  I also lam in a hot garage.  I used to tape off the ends of the gloves to my wrists, but got too lazy and just remember to drain periodically.

7

I like glassing in the heat (in a way), the kick is faster which shortens flip time. With RR's "fast" hardener, you can glass a board all the way to fill coat on the deck in 5 hours.

8

Thanks for the tips, everyone!

After an initial freakout I was able to dial-in the whole epoxy thing. I found that air bubbles seemed to stay around a bit more with epoxy v poly resin. NBD, I just stayed attentive to the few areas for a few more minutes and everything turned out fine. The glass seems much tighter than when using poly. The laps were a dream. Those things laid down like the Mets in the playoffs. It’s going to be a breeze to prep the laps. Poly feels ‘clunky’ now compared to epoxy. However, I do plan on a few more boards using poly, at least. I also like the non-kick of epoxy. I was able to work the rails well beyond 25 minutes. I probably went an additional 20 minutes just fine tuning with a light touch before it felt like a mistake would become irrevocable. I poured all of the resin on the board, which is different and kind of scary at first. I just corrralled to resin to the flats for a minute or two to allow it to soak in without forcing. Then I just pulled resin directly to the laps for wet out. With poly I would work the resin like a snow plow and curtain the resin over the laps. So that was an interesting change. Oh yeah, melted the plastic mixing cup because I just poured the epoxy onto the board and put the cup upright on my mixing table. Well, the residual epoxy gets really hot. I learn for the future to just flip the cup upside down on the board and let it all drain out. I used 18oz total for the bottom (4 w/4 tail patch) of a very small board (5’7") for my 9 yo son. I probably could have gotten away with using 12oz, easily. I’m sure the pros use about 2oz for the same job :wink:

Thanks again!

9

I just sealed my fish tonight with epoxy and instead of like the top of board where i brushed on with paint brush i used a foam brush. It used half as much resin (2.5oz as opposed to 5oz) on a cedar board. But since o had measured 5oz out some sat in cup as i held it. Garage is in fl so was prob 90ish.no getting around that… But wowza! That stuff damn near lit on fire!! 

 

Ps if it does light on fire as I saw it may… Best way to put it out? Does water work or make it worse? Dunno if it’s different with chemical fires… I’ll def make sure when i do the cloth and resin layer to dump it asap. 

10

Any other tips? 

11

Gunkie, you’ve been doing your homework.  Nice job, all the right moves.  Between 9-12 ounces for a little one like that. 15 to 18 on the deck. You can always mix up another small batch if you run short.  Sustainable production is always what we aim for which means limiting waste and maximizing safety and durability.

12

Good job!  Just a little hint.  Don’t tip the cup upside down on the board.  All the epoxy that stuck to the side and to the **outside **of the cup, that never got mixed well will run off and onto the board.  Thats where a lot of those “sticky spots” come from.

Just use what pours out, and leave the rest as waste.

13

in between doing the sealer coat and adding the fiberglass/cloth later should you wash board of fingerprints with alcohol etc??? 

 

 

14

N00000000000!

=)

15

Hey Greg, I remember doing some in a hot garage about 1985 with epoxy compounding pots hanging around; when all this was fresh and new. I think that was your garage lol. I’m not sure most on here understand how much work you put into those early years of developing Resin Research as a company. 

We like it hot at Coil.

 

16

 

how do you prevent skin oils from causing fish eyes then? I know i have put some fingerprints on it…

17

If you get some skin oil spots like that just rub the spot with a gloved finger and brush back over.  That takes care of it.  Mike, Scott’s board if I remember.  Back then we only had slow hardener so plenty of time even at 95F.

 

18

don’t put fingerprints on it.

wear disposable rubber gloves and change them when you think they might be contaminated…

have you read Stingray’s “how I epoxy” thread? it’s all in there. modify as needed.

 

19

From the mixing bucket thread…

When mixing epoxy, I use two cups.  Pour your Epoxy and hardener together into the first cup and stir.  Then pour a quarter of the mix into the second cup, and stir that.  Pour another quarter into the second cup and stir more.  Third quarter, and then the fourth.

As you pour it, you will see how little the epoxy  and hardener mixed together the first time you stirred.  When the first cup is poured out, you will see how much straight epoxy is stuck to the side of the first cup.  Scrape that with your paint stick, and pour the mix from the second cup back into the first, stirring as you go.

After you are done, put the cups down.  If they are almost empty, so you don’t get any exotherm, the remains will flow to the bottom, level out and harden.  Re use the same two cups next time.  This only works with paper cups.  The cured epoxy will peel off the plastic buckets, and float chunks into the mix.

Next tip,

Contrary to what many say, don’t pour out all the epoxy at once.  First work a foot square area.  Pour out a couple of ounces in on spot. Take your brush and lightly scrub the epoxy onto the board.  This will remove a lot of contaminates on the board.  Gets rid of pin holes and small fish eyes. Then go to the next area and repeat.

Pour out the epoxy as you work with the brush.  When all poured out, then go to the usual side by side brushing, then the lengthwise brushing.  Keep in mind that you don’t want to move the epoxy around, pour it where you use it.

Your last brushing should be as light a stroke as possible, just to remove out deep brush marks.  Some use foam pads at this point.

Then a last hint.

Take a vibrating sander with no sandpaper in it.  Turn it on and vibrate the bottom of the board.  Watch the reflection of the overhead lights smooth out in the wet epoxy.  No heat gun.

Walk away.

Fiberglass Hawaii has two thickness of fast epoxy.  Use the thin.  First coat after lamination.  No Surfacing Agent.  Lightly sand, and stop if you tough the weave below.  Second coat, and repeat the sanding. No Surfacing Agent Again.  Last coat, 2% surfacing agent.  Final sand with 400 grit.

Enjoy

20

It was in the sticky for beginners but seems like the link is broken???

anyway, here it is:

http://www.swaylocks.com/forums/first-epoxy-glass-job-s

It’s not Stingray’s thread but his commentary starts at the bottom.

Swaylocks gold… again, modify as needed after you have YOUR routine down.