UV Catalyst vs MEKP Catalyst

Hello good people,

I have just finished shaping my first board, it’s come out quite well, I think…
Now it’s time to glass it, I am having a problem though, I cannot find any catalyst on the shapers.com.au website for polyester resins, and I am led to believe that their UV catalyst “goes off” Quite fast, like a few minutes. Since I don’t have anywhere at my house where I can 100% eliminate the UV light (I try to make my garage as dark as I can but light still comes in over the top of the roller door etc) I have been told that with even the smallest bit of natural light coming in, the resin will go hard.

So basically what I am asking is, if I use UV catalyst, will I have enough time to lam my board when there is quite a bit of sunlight coming into the room, though not direct.
Or, if I will have no time with the UV catalyst, where can I buy some MEKP online??

Thank you kindly!
Xxx

This might help. Where are you? We have a showroom on the central coast of NSW if you want pick up and dodge the Dangerous Goods shipping Charge
https://sanded.com.au/products/catalyst-mkep-sr-hardener-for-polyester-resin

If there is any sunlight coming in your workspace you should not use UV. If you can find a suitable work space with no sunlight UV is the best way by far for the beginning board builder. If you have a very shady place to work well away from any direct light you can work with it in a pinch but its not recommended…keep in mind that UV light reflects off of things.
I have a window in my shed and I cover it with a piece of cardboard. One time a gap had formed and a sliver of sunlight was making its way in. One end of the board started going off. Luckily I resolved the problem and no harm was done.

Thanks, this is the info I was looking for, I have a garden shed that I may turn into a glassing shed, checked it out yesterday and there is a tiny bit of light coming through, but I should be able to block it out completely.

Thanks again!

Dont used pre-mixed UV. Mixing yourself you can use less UV and it still goes off. We glass UV in a room where we leave the door open and roll our roll-up up about 2 foot off the ground on a south facing door, theres always light coming in. Boards dont go off.

What ratio of UV catalyst to resin are you mixing? And roughly how long do you have to work with it before it will start going off?

I have an area I can glass in that is pretty dark, though not 100% … Perhaps I will mix up a little and see if it goes off in there…

glass it before sunrise.The only thing would be rising temperatures and out glassing of foam with to much tempature swings so warm blank before hand