ok i m building my first board…and made a big mistake on the bottom lam and i eyeballd a ounce then mixed what i thought was a ml. of catalyst to do a test on some foam and cloth .and it took about 40 min to gel .I thought i had a mix of 1 ounce to 1 cc of cat. so stupid me i decide to mix 60ml to speed it up a little(see a problem yet?)well i get a little more than half done and its jelly ,so now ive had to spend days sanding clumps and bubbles. so ok maybe i had more than an ounce 2 start with… but any idea on just measuring a very small ammount of catalyst just 4 a test? .so i thought if i had 1 oz to 1 ml and it was way to slow then 40 oz to 60 ml would have been pretty good but i was way off does anybody know what a drop or 2 of catalist is compared to a ml or cc(samething)it was a little cold but i thought i was mixing 40 oz to 60 ml. catalyst…are u understanding yet ? ive tried to make sense basically i get most of the process. i just have trouble mixing in different tempreatures, alittle drrrrrrunk it makes sence read it again.
Okay, first advice: get off the sauce bro’; only as a reward for a job well done. I don’t know the following: temperature, board size, cloth weight, number of layers, and how fast of a person you are, so I will create this scenario; try to make it fit your situation. I glass an 8foot board (bottom, one layer of 6oz) in about 8 minutes so I pour roughly 1.5 inches of lam resin into a paper painter’s bucket, then I add about 10-15cc of catalyst when the room temp is about 70F. Then I haul ass; my techniques are practiced and automatic; that’s your goal. Now, for you Bob, I think for an 8footer with one layer of 6oz at 70F will take you about 25 minutes. You probably do not have a glassing tray or any other “recovery technology” except for trying to catch resin in your bucket, so I recommend pouring about 2.5 to 3 inches of lam resin and adding about 4 to 5cc of catalyst; this is a directly proportional ratio (ie. twice as much resin, add twice catalyst). Work quickly. You will be sweating; you will learn to get your stance right and reduce the tension through your shoulders later. I hope to heck that you have a “game plan” of how you wet out, work-in, dry out/pull tight, wrap, and re-wet for texture to get that perfect lamination. Listen to others’ opinions as this is not an absolute. Good Luck. Provide more info…
no see first off i wasnt “on the sauce” when i was glassing just when i typed the message…seems ok to me. but thanks for replying with some info . well the one thing is i dont know what u mean by 1.5 inches of resin, i mean i use a bucket thats measured out in ounces and quarts, if u mean in your bucket? and as far as my game plan …well i had one untill i messed up my mix and it went off way to fast for my first try. but im hoping i can save the bottom , and not make the same mistake on the top. see when it started to harden i really couldnt do much for making it perfect i just had to keep it worth continuing as soon as possible… the temp. recently is around 50 maybe 60’s on a nice day so yeah if it was 70 i feel like mixing would be easier but i should not have guessed in the first place …thats what got me where i am.
Next time use UV cure resin and you will have an infinite pot life. Or for every Quart of resin use about …8cc of cat, that should give you about 30 min of pot life @ 70 degrees. Oh, and when you laminate have plenty of squegees, gloves, and towels etc, so you can haul ass. Get it done and walk away. -jay
yeh uv woul be great, but i dont have that. and its no 70.f i wish it was then it seens a little easier ,but i cant wait till summer or even spring, i dont have to get it done but i really want to, and from my earlier mistake i know it can gell to fast in even cold temps like 50,but thanks 4 the suggestion.