I just looked at the Moonlight Glass web site and they are no londer doing any epoxy due to health concerns
Best to avoid contact with it (gloves, respirator), because from what I hear, once you develop an allergy, that's it. You can't even be around it. Of course I never do - being a backyard shaper who only glasses a board every month or two - but thanks for the reminder that I should!
i wonder if they were using acetone around the epoxy...
maybe one of their empoyees is already sensitized from previous epoxy experiences?
Rio, is your point that so many regular guys use epoxy and have no trouble when used correctly so isn’t wierd that Moonlight thinks it is unsafe?, or wow, Moonlight is the top of the heap and they think epoxy is unsafe so they know something we don’t know?
From a conversation I had with Peter Saint Pierre a few years ago, he said that they (like everybody else in the industry for that matter) tried epoxy back in the 80’s. The demand for it eventually waned and they stopped doing it. After Clark shut down, the option to do epoxy again came up. They took a vote and decided they’ed stick to only doing polyester. With the demand for the quality of work they do at Moonlight, I don’t think the decision affected their business any.
Yeah, no kidding. When I get bored or when I’m looking for board color ideas I just go to Moonlight and dream. I’m married to epoxy, but I’ll never be able to do what they do.
Health problems or production times? Rumour!!
here's what it says, verbatim, on their website:
Shaped Blanks
Stingray can do it.
Frankly if the ventilations good I don’t see a problem. I walk around all day every day with resin on me. I deal with chemicals that are far more toxic than anything in a surf factory, every day. I have good ventilation, I wear disposable nitrile gloves, safety glasses and I don’t use solvents to clean up. It’s a safe work place.
You used resin containing cresyl glycidyl ether and triethelyenetretramine … no one told you what you were into … not safe at all.
Know what your dealing with and know the rules and you’ll be ok.
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I just looked at the Moonlight Glass web site and they are no londer doing any epoxy due to health concerns
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I don't understand your post. Do you need to get a board glassed? Did you call Moonlight? Did you go to the Surfy Surfy web site? Did you send send an e-mail to JP? (TFAD).
In my backyard glassing world everyone strives to get the quality of a Moonlight board.....
Moonlight Glassing is Top Notch. No epoxy..no big deal. The glass jobs are really ,really good! Better than good.
Top of the world!
MENTAL ISSUES MAYBE GARY DOESNT WANT TO DEAL WITH IT OR MARK THEIR PART TIME LAMINATER. LETS FACE IT THE STUFFS A PAIN IN THE A__S MUST BE NICE TO BE ABLE TO NOT DO IT.
Hi,
This is JP from Moonlight Glassing which is owned by my dad Peter St Pierre. Moonlight used to do a lot of epoxy glassing but after our sander Kenny had a major allergic reaction after a day of sanding epoxy boards we decided to keep the factory to poly only. I think it’s best to have separate work spaces for the two mediums. The factory is only so big and it’s nutty trying to do both and keep the boards from cross contamination.
When retail customers walk in looking for epoxy boards I send them to the Patagonia shop in Cardiff. For custom work I tell to look up Javier at XTR or the crew at Keahana. If you guys know of a good epoxy shop in San Diego county I would be happy to pass that info on.
thanks,
JP
Thanks JP for coming by clarify! I figured it was allergy related. Hadn't realized sanding would trigger it, 'tho, thanks for sharing that. You guys obviously have a lot of fans here - awesome work on display on the surfy surfy blog, love it!
How does the allergy manifest itself? What are the symptoms? Is it a skin thing or bronchial?
You can learn all about epoxy allergies here:
http://ewmag.epoxyworks.com/frames/tier2/usingepoxy/healthandsafety.htm
Skin thing. You break out. We work with industrial chemicals. Take the right precautions. For sanding (poly or epoxy) let the board cure for at least 24 hours and make sure you use a good mask. Keeping yourself covered is also a good idea. Good ventilation as well and shower including hair washing after your done. I've only seen this when sanding glass was involved. Never seen it with just hot coats. Haven't seen it in a long time either.
Greg, do you recommend one of those cheap coverall painting suits for sanding your epoxy? i've always sanded RR with just a t-shirt and pants (with a good mask of course)... i'd hate to develop problems 'cause i'm really stoked on the product.
I’m from FL and I’ve never seen anyone wear one of those suits. I think their a good idea but their too hot for FL. I’ve only seen this twice. Same guy both times and once was our stuff and once was another company. Both times he was grinding glass and then worked all day with the dust on his skin. Broke out the next day. But he still sands epoxy all the time today with no problem. Haven’t seen anyone else get that but I’m sure it happens. The West System website above is good info. That stuff is way worse than surfboard epoxies though. Wash up real well after working and you’ll be fine. This is a very rare event.
I get around all this epoxy allergy mombo jumbo by sanding naked in a shower.
For goodness sakes.... cover up! All dust particles are bad for you...even dirt dust is bad for you...coal dust is bad for you, wood dust is bad for you, rat shit dust is bad for you...dust mites..termites, trillobites, hermaphodites, gazoonhites...all bad for you. Wear your protective gear....or die a slow fucked up death.
And buy quality 3M products.................