Does anyone do any glassing in really cold weather? not 50 degrees, really cold, air temps that are below 40 and closer to freezing. i was going to attempt laying up a fin sheet using slimar with suncure. rumor has it that UV cures are not temp dependent and i ve used suncure around 50 degrees but is there a limit to the resin or surfacing agent. in my situation i dont think heating the garage is an option so the whole process is going to be carried out in cold air.
Does anyone do any glassing in really cold weather? not 50 degrees, really > cold, air temps that are below 40 and closer to freezing. i was going to > attempt laying up a fin sheet using slimar with suncure. rumor has it that > UV cures are not temp dependent and i ve used suncure around 50 degrees > but is there a limit to the resin or surfacing agent. in my situation i > dont think heating the garage is an option so the whole process is going > to be carried out in cold air. You can make a small low cost oven using aluminum skinned insulation foam (Home Depot), alot of composite shops make their ovens this way. Stick a low cost heater in the thing and no worries. Sluggo
Does anyone do any glassing in really cold weather? not 50 degrees, really > cold, air temps that are below 40 and closer to freezing. i was going to > attempt laying up a fin sheet using slimar with suncure. rumor has it that > UV cures are not temp dependent and i ve used suncure around 50 degrees > but is there a limit to the resin or surfacing agent. in my situation i > dont think heating the garage is an option so the whole process is going > to be carried out in cold air. As long as you have sun, the cold air should not be a problem for the UV. The lam resin and MEKP are a different story, however. I keep my shop at about 40-45 degrees or so in the winter with outside temperatures below zero lately. All my resin and chemicals stay that cold, so in order to glass I run the baseboard heater for an hour or two and get the temp. up to 60 or so. I also get my resin, catalyst, surface agent, etc. ready by placing it near the heater and stirring often. Basically you want to get all the components of what you are doing to a decent temperature, and use a little extra catalyst if it’s cold. This has worked for me with no problems, just make sure you get everything up to a decent temparature! Good luck.
As long as you have sun, the cold air should not be a problem for the UV. > The lam resin and MEKP are a different story, however. I keep my shop at > about 40-45 degrees or so in the winter with outside temperatures below > zero lately. All my resin and chemicals stay that cold, so in order to > glass I run the baseboard heater for an hour or two and get the temp. up > to 60 or so. I also get my resin, catalyst, surface agent, etc. ready by > placing it near the heater and stirring often. Basically you want to get > all the components of what you are doing to a decent temperature, and use > a little extra catalyst if it’s cold. This has worked for me with no > problems, just make sure you get everything up to a decent temparature! > Good luck. …It’s going to thicken at colder temps…just stick the can of rez in a bucket of hot water.Herb
We had a particularly bad winter a few years ago and I went out and found a waterbed heater at a thrift store for $1.50. It is a rubber mat about 24" x 36" with an electric blanket type thermostat inline. I wrapped my resin bucket (5 gal.) with it and set the temp at the lowest setting. It was at 70 degrees in less than an hour and the lam spread like 'butta. If you use catalyst rather than UV be careful and check the actual resin temp, you might get a surprise on how fast it kicks once the MEK is added. The UV catalyst is the ticket in cold weather and unpredicable MEK action but heating your resin still makes it easier to wet out your cloth. Good luck. Tom S.>>> Does anyone do any glassing in really cold weather? not 50 degrees, really > cold, air temps that are below 40 and closer to freezing. i was going to > attempt laying up a fin sheet using slimar with suncure. rumor has it that > UV cures are not temp dependent and i ve used suncure around 50 degrees > but is there a limit to the resin or surfacing agent. in my situation i > dont think heating the garage is an option so the whole process is going > to be carried out in cold air.
So far it sounds like the hardest part would be holding a squeegee in those conditions.
We had a particularly bad winter a few years ago and I went out and found > a waterbed heater at a thrift store for $1.50. It is a rubber mat about > 24" x 36" with an electric blanket type thermostat inline. I > wrapped my resin bucket (5 gal.) with it and set the temp at the lowest > setting. It was at 70 degrees in less than an hour and the lam spread like > 'butta. If you use catalyst rather than UV be careful and check the actual > resin temp, you might get a surprise on how fast it kicks once the MEK is > added. The UV catalyst is the ticket in cold weather and unpredicable MEK > action but heating your resin still makes it easier to wet out your cloth. > Good luck.>>> Tom S. I was going to say use a heating blanket, same, same. Aloha, Kokua
Ok ... I got the perfect temperature for glassing, and the board was glassed well. Resin kicked in 10 minuts.
What about the night time, when the weather gets cool (50f)....Should I leave the heater on during the night?
Curing the poly resin in low temps will make a weaker glass job?
cheers and congrats do Brett Simpson Us100.000 twicee!!!! :)
It shouldn’t make it weaker.
Mike
cheers !