I do all my shaping outside, and I glass with epoxy in my sunroom/bedroom (that’s where men sleep when they’re married I guess) and I’ve had no problems except you can’t do much when gale force winds come up and blow your blank away
Epoxy is nearly odorless so you can throw down some thick sheet plastic, glass 'er up and easy cleanup afterward.
Polyester resin? I wouldn’t even have it sitting around the house let alone work with it … outside or garage only and with a respirator at that.
In the winter you can’t tell the difference between the dust and the snow – so who cares Actually I just wet it down with the hose, broom it up off the concrete and scoop it up with a shovel.
when we just didn’t give a damn about all this stuff
We glassed half naked so not to ruin your clothes
and then washed your self off with gallons of cooling acetone.
and yes we did all that
set ourselves and our work on fire with super hot mixes
got catalyst in our eyes
and sanding and shaping dust in every orifice…
you didn’t know any better and you didn’t care back then.
Its sick
but those smells take me back to those times…
when it was alot more fun
and maybe we were alot more stupid…
sorry I just felt obligated to speak up on behalf of the smell…
some might understand
So true! I remember glassing a board that a guy shaped for me when I was 19. I used no gloves, had hot as sh1t resin dripping down both arms by the time I was finished and the cooling acetone was there to save the day! Thanks for the memories! I had forgotten that one…BTW, I like the smell of resin, acetone, and worse yet, regular gasoline!!! All in small doses, of course, and I don’t inhale…
because the smell of gasoline reminds me of when we used that stuff to clean up our brushes when we ran out of acetone…
Also it brings back memories of when we’d have to “five-finger” gas during the days of rationing so we could make our weekends jaunt’s up to the country from Ewa Beach on Kunia Road in my best friend’s old V-dub bus… We were all forced to take turns siphoning enough gas to get there and back using a surgical rubber hose just like they did in the 50’s and 60’s…
Except it was more from rationing than being just a scamming surf bum like those old farts(kidding)… Swallowed enough gas
to take off 10 years off my life I figure maybe more with all the resin and other chemical adventures…
We were so lucky back then driving up those 1 lane sugar cane and pineapple roads and the same time killing off cells of all kinds big time. Funny part though is as health conscious as I am today, I am way less fit/healthy surfing wise than I was 30+ years ago…
I’ve shaped a few boards and roughed out a one man canoe in the crawl space under my house. All of it from EPS. I just cover whatever mess there is with dirt. Once the beads are covered they don’t fly away.
I was at a garden center last year and noticed the potting soil looked like a mix of eps beads and dirt. I figure that I’m making my own “potting mix”. Who knows, one day I may dig it up and use it.
I think boards really need to be done in an area where the lighting will highlight the curves just right. If you can’t see what you’re doing, you won’t be able to make a really clean shape. Luckily the light under my house comes in from the side, so it’s a half lit shaping room.
The boards we make at my Dad’s house are done in the bright light. I have to take them in the back look at them in better light, then bring them back out to make adjustments. Not the best way to do it, but we’re just making these for ourselves.
What’s the problem? I shape all my boards outside, on the shady side of the house, since 1992. Never a problem with three different sets of neighbors. Sometimes I warn 'em when I’m about to start, but most times the planer does that for me. When I’m pau, just run the hose a while and all the dust is knocked down into the grass. If I don’t mow for a week, the mower doesn’t pick up much. Better to mow after a little watering…
The mowed foam disperses/sinks into the grass pretty quick. The wife and two daughters never come outside the house anyway. WTF I got this big yard for anyway? Well it came with the house so I gotta use it for something other than an excuse to pay taxes.
And I sand in the same or another part of the yard. Again, just hose it into the soil I figure the foam disintegrates in sunshine, WTF?
Used acetone sometimes goes in the garbage can. As a non-commercial homebuilder, I am fEXEMPT rom RCRA hazwaste disposal laws - so garbage can disposal is LEGAL.
I use solar polyester resin to glass in the garage, with the door 3/4 way down. When the lam is done, drag it out into bright sun (but be careful if it’s windy, having a freshly laminated board blow off the rack is da shits, and it’s happened more than once).
Actually I just wet it down with the hose, broom it up off the concrete and scoop it up with a shovel.