So i did my first lam and hot coat the other day and it was really nice weather but during the last hot coat of the bottom the temp dropped a little and started to rain i had one of the doors open to my workshop i didn’t think it got that cold or anything but the last layer really didn’t harden fully seems a little soft now im assuming it was the moist weather that didn’t help and not my mixing it was my first time every glassing but i was pretty anal about my mix. Im using RR epoxy i got from Greenlight. Im on the Westcoast of Canada (Van/Tofino) and i wanted to finish my gloss coat now but its raining again (and looks like it will for the next week welcome fall) should i wait or can i just close the doors and maybe put on a heater?
It’ll harden in a couple days. Additive F is the real solution to humidity … just make sure you use that in all batches and everything will come out fine. With glossing double the prescribed amount of Add F
bring it inside and crank up the heating - did a board in midwinter indoors (dining room) with an electric heater and it cured fined, no additive F and resin research epoxy
It was pretty warm outside yesterday so i took it outside for a bit i has been inside for about a week now not sure hot but a normal steady temp thats probably around 17C or 62F at night so its a little cool i guess i throw in a heater in to really heat it up any suggested temp i should try and get it to?
Go ahead and gloss it if you haven’t already. Then give it a post cure, if you can. Anything you can do to get it up to about 100-110F for a few hours will help it cure faster. Greenlight Brian uses a big old blank box and a space heater. Does the trick. Whatever you do, just monitor the temp and keep it out of the danger zone… which is about 130-140F. Then you’re looking at a whole other set of problems.
Awesome thanks nj I found the pic from greenlight to bad i cut up my blank box i guess ill rig something. I have a bunch of glass kilns here so i can get some heat. might just fire them up and place the board on top or near them. if there all going it gets pretty warm in there how does direct heat like that effect the resin. Should the temp be slowly brought up or should i try and just immersion it it heat not getting up to the danger zone.
PS. its been raining so much here lately it sucks being so landlocked and cant even get to the coast
Supposedly, there is a “right” way to do it, and yes… it is a schedule of times and temps that are ideal. But my experience has been that (1) the sooner the postcure starts after the board is done, the better results you’ll get, and (2) any postcure is better than no postcure, as long as you don’t get the thing too hot. I’ve put the board next to a space heater for a few hours, then flipped it, then again… and again. Not even close to ideal, but better than nothing.
