I know there are several threads about this topic...
What is the ratio/percentage of Wax in Styrene to be added to Laminating Resin to make Filler Resin?.....
but I have read most of them and there seems some conflicting/various answers...
anyone able to clarify what percentage they add Wax in Styrene to their Lam resin to make filler resin??
Cheers Marty
1 oz surfacing agent per quart of lam resin. In production I use a tad more if using UV resin.
Make sure you give the wax time to rise before curing ie. exposing to sunlight.
one shot per quart
a little more is better than a little less
Essentially surfacing agent helps keep sandpaper from clogging while sanding. It is a mixture of sytrene monomer and parafin normally. By adding a bit of surfoam grated parafin to styrene monomer you can make your own. Make sure the temperature is above 65 degrees or the wax will not desolve. The more wax the easier to sand, and the exothermic catalytic reaction brings the wax to the surface, because the wax is lighter. Without going into detail that is the basics.
Ken,
Do you use a shot glass full? That’s a lot more than I use. I use a cap full. Sometimes a little more. I use my shot glass for the bottle of Patron in the corner. Mike
i use 5% wax in styrene.
So if I have one litre of styrene I will grate 50g of paraffin wax and add it to the styrene in a double boiler.
Boil the kettle pour the boiling water into a vessel sit the styrene in the water when it warms through add your grated paraffin until it dissolves thouroughly. Voila.
I add 3% of this 5% mixture to the lam resin to make filler.
Cheers
Daren
holy crap, that sounds unhealthy and possibly dangerous. styrene has a flash point below 100 degrees, and is very toxic/carcinogenic. vapors are not good for the respiratory system either. When I read your method the first time I was thinking “double boiler = stove” but presumably your heat source is FAR AWAY, yes? Even so I hope you’re wearing safety gear - full face respirator, gloves etc… styrene is nasty stuff, read the msds:
http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9925112
be safe!
[quote="$1"]
holy crap, that sounds unhealthy and possibly dangerous. styrene has a flash point below 100 degrees, and is very toxic/carcinogenic. vapors are not good for the respiratory system either. When I read your method the first time I was thinking "double boiler = stove" but presumably your heat source is FAR AWAY, yes? Even so I hope you're wearing safety gear - full face respirator, gloves etc... styrene is nasty stuff, read the msds:
http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9925112
be safe!
[/quote]
Nah Mate, I stand right above it with a durry hanging out of my mouth, coopers in one hand the other turning the gas up on the open flame stove wearing a pair of thongs boardies and a blue wife beater, while my kids play around next to the open tins of used acetone that I've just clean up epoxy with.
you know those little 20ml measuring cups for kids cough syrup?
one of those full per quart, 10 ml for 1/2 qt , mix well then add cat
better more than not enough
the good thing about surfacing agent any poly resin is that it doesnt milk out like epoxy does when you use too much additive F
I just notice the original question was … how much wax in styrene?
that I dont know
Hozit kensurf, The question does seem a little strange but I think he means how much SA to add to lam resin. Me I kept a quart can with a hole punched in the cap and would just give a couple of good squirts to the lam resin. When the can ran low I would just refill with more SA from a Gallon can. Never got any on my hands sinc ethe styrene is way to toxic. As for making SA, I have done it quite a few times and just shaved the parafin into the styrene and let it melt on it's own and just put a lot of wax in it, no measuring just doing. Aloha,Kokua
Entity, I hope you reckon that you’re spoiling those kids! Put them to Work!
Man thats not cool to give such bad advice, entity, I hope it was a joke, do not get SM anywhere near a flame. Ambient temperature will melt parafin, and the ratios don’t have to be exact, it will melt; 5% is about optimal, but just eyeballing is fine. Oh, the California State Legislator is meeting this month to in effect outlaw the use of styrene. Do you know what effect that will have on the flat-lining surfboard industry? I would like to go up there and speak before them. What do you guys think?
Our laminator said he set himself on fire doing the same thing back when he lived in Venezuela and didn’t have a source for SA.
These antics remind me Meth labs experiments gone awry.
Howzit ghettorat, We both know that if they outlaw styrene and chemicals that have it in them that there goes poly resin and SA also which definitely affects the surfboard businesss as far as Poly boards made in Ca are concerned. But since it is only Ca right now it means some builders will start smuggling it in from other states or just move to other states. The smuggling thing probably won't work since the EPA will be all over the Poly board factories but the backyard guys will bring in 5 gal buckets and do boards.It is going to be interesting to see how the whole thing works out. Aloha,Kokua
Probably should post this as a topic, and everyone should get involved, I am willing to go up there and speak before them, I am not scared. Let’s see if anyone else out there cares. The whole California surfing culture is in effect under attack.
Howzit ghettorat, I agree on that, this subject needs more exposure and don't let it get stuck in the industry forum since it won't get as much exposure except for the industry guys. They do need to know but the general discussion will get it the most exposure, and this is coming from a person who's cancer just may heve been from to much styrene exposure over 55 years of working with resin and chemicals that are used in surfboard building. I have decided to end my board building since getting cancer. I can remember Gary T. years after he owned Plastic Fantastic and teaching me to make boards and he had become an EMT. He saw me one day and the first thing he did was look at the area under my jaw for a lump. years later that lump showed up and it was cancer,guess he knew where to look and what to look for. Aloha,Kokua
Ent, They can still hold a piece of sandpaper can’t they???
[quote="$1"]
Entity, I hope you reckon that you're spoiling those kids! Put them to Work!
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Yeah tblank the spoilt little buggers are too lethargic to work. possible from the acetone fumes and the rashes they have from the epoxy/acetone slurry scares the customers away.
Seems my feeble attempt at sarcasm and humour missed a few people.
No i dont have any open flames. I sit the styrene in a small warm water bath so it warms through in colder temps to melt the paraffin. I am talking about maybe a couple of hundred ml of styrene in a small tin in a small container of warm water and it seems some are picturing a backyard meth lab scenario.
There really is no need in this country to make your own surfacing agent. you can buy it from any resin supplier in the ratios that you need to make filler resin. This is just a way to make it if you are in a pinch and have run out of filler resin and have the other gear around.
Fire it up YEEEWWWW!!!!!
bump