Thanks for the previous hints on future fin installations. Excellent site. Anyways, I’m looking for a heads up in regards to laminating in colder climates (although we will attempt to heat up the room prior to laminating), just looking for tips for crucial temperature ranges for optimal curing (although I’m aware of catalyst curing charts); whether fast cure times are more beneficial; having room temperature resin prior to glassing; is temperature more critical during the hotcoat etc. Thanks again, Canuk.
Hey Canuk, I just found this site and I’m really stoked to find a forum in this passion of mine. I too have many questions. As far as your questions regarding cure times in colder climates, I think I can help. I work in a barn and I’am subjected to radical temp. changes. I suggest you find a place to store your resins in climate controlled enviroment. As far as doing your applications in the cold just make the neccesary adjustments with the catalyst. During lamination a slow cure is fine, besides you want to alot yourself the time to work the fabric. Your hot coat, should be just that, you want it to cure fast ,don’t be afraid to add more catalyst to compensate for colder temps. otherwise you will be waiting for days to sand. If your doing high-gloss jobs, this is where it gets tricky. You want the resin to have time to self-level from the brush strokes, but not so long that it starts doing a run-off routine down the rails. You will be OK so long as you keep your resins stored in a somewhat warmer climate.
what kind of temps you talking? I too am a cold weather glassing hopeful.t
Hey T.S. I’m assuming your question is directed to me. I do my work in a barn up here in the great northeast. If your not aware our winters get pretty frickin frigid. In my experience so long as I keep my resins stored at a reasonable temp.(not below 50 degees) I have had no real problems with my work curing. I’d say I glassed boards in close to freezing temps. Where you run into problems is if your resin gets real cold before application it becomes super thick and a real bitch to work with. good luck
Hi I’ve done most of my glassing in cold weather and found out one thing the hard way. if you are going to warm up the space where you will be laminating it is very important to make sure that your blank is at the ambient temperature of that space. this can take a while since it is made of fairly insulating foam. this is because wood is like an open cell foam - not closed cell like the polyurethane that the blank is made of. if the blank starts out cold and continues to warm up after you lam on the glass, all the air in the stringer will expand and you will get a big long skinny bubble of trapped air. this is the most prevalent when you are laminating the second side and there is nowhere for the air to go (on the first side most of it can exit the other side of the stringer). it is really crappy to have left a lam job to cure and come back to discover that the stringer is a long line of trapped air under the glass. anyway it is better to start out warmer and cool off as it cures rather than the other way. even when i glassed in the summer i mostly did it in the late afternoon so i wouldn’t get problems with this. a little prevention can save alot of tears. good luck. trev
Hey guys, Yes G it was directed at you. That’s good info. But I always like to hear from other Trevors. I’m in Portland, Maine. It’s gets somewhat cold here. It seems like I can store the materials in a warm area and then combine them as quickly as possible in my uninsulated workshop. Should I catalyze according to resin temp or air temp. If the resin is 60f but the air 30f? Any safe methods of heating resin??Trev