my question is does anyone on here know what kinda of affect the outside temp has on the glassing process i understand that it depends on the resin and i do most of the work at night so any of the uv resins are out of the question or so i would assume, Is there a to cold to glass temp i m still learning and just pretty much self taught i searched at good lengthens on swaylocks and didnt find anything regarding this exactly i thinking the colder it is the slower its going to take to completely dry , my though was to just add more catalyst in each step to speed up the process , i still want to take my time and get it right but like i said before i just don't want it to take 2 months either any help would be great
You can still use UV resin at night, but you have to use UV light bulbs to cure it. As far as cold temps and resin go, the colder it is the more problems you are going to have with the resin curing. Adding a little more catalyst will definitlely help, but i dont know if i would mess with anything under 50-55 deg F. Right now i have two baseboard heaters on both sides of my racks which is able to warm up the room enough where i can glass with no problems. Personally i would not attempt to glass anything in temps under 50 though. All my experience is with poly resin, not epoxy, so take it for what its worth One other thing, dont use cold resin, make sure it is at room temp (60-70 deg) before using it.
Polyester resin is a thermoset product. Under 50 degrees or so and you're going to have problems. If the lamination takes too long to kick, you'll get resin draining out of the cloth and into the foam, leaving a heavy product with dry spots all over the lamination. Keep your resin, cloth and blank warm inside. If you have to, warm the space with electric, propane, or kerosene space heater, then turn it off and take it out of the room just before you start to work. Be careful adding too much catalyst... if you start ballparking it to compensate for the temperature, you could end up using too little or too much an you'll either have drainage or run out of time. Too much catalyst will also make your cured final product more brittle and/or discolored. Best to take the precautions and make the place warm... it only has to be at room temp. for 20-30 minutes. Once it's kicked, bring it inside to finish curing.
Sometimes I will do ding repair in winter conditions by prewarming the board and the resin, and as the last poster noted, bringing the board indoors to cure. I would not attempt any large repairs or board glassing in temps under 70 degrees F. If you can find an enclosed space to work in and crank a space heater up to get the area to 70F, that will work, but it really needs to be warm in there!
i have no experience with UV resin. Ive glassed boards in the winter with both poly and epoxy resin in a poorly heated shop. I completely agree with Antide for poly glassing: "the colder it is the more problems you are going to have with the resin curing. Adding a little more catalyst will definitlely help, but i dont know if i would mess with anything under 50-55 deg F. Right now i have two baseboard heaters on both sides of my racks which is able to warm up the room enough where i can glass with no problems. Personally i would not attempt to glass anything in temps under 50 though" Epoxy is even slower...i would never attempt to glass a board with epoxy resin in temps under 65-70. The resin would still be tacky HOURS later.
I dont know if you are gonna be making alot for boards or this is just a little project for you but I seen some Suncure board curiing tubes on Craigslist for 350 dollars each . They need new UV bulbs but if you plan on making boards alot they might be a good investment http://southjersey.craigslist.org/spo/1504493523.html
I've glassed plenty of boards in the 50's temps with Resin Research 2000 Epoxy. No problems. Just have to be a bit more patient for the cure. I just glassed a bamboo fin panel last week in the low 50's with Resin Research's new Kwik Kick Epoxy. A little pre heat in the microwave and it cured in about 2 hours. I also glassed an entire board in 2 days before Thanksgiving in the 50's/60's with Kwik Kick. The cure times rival polyseter resin. You can actually finish glassing a board in a single day in higher temperatures. Here are some specs on Kwik Kick: Resin Research KWIK KICK Epoxy 20% stronger than before Flip times are approximately: 75 minutes @ 70F 40 minutes @ 80F 20 minutes @ 90F UV stable EPS blanks can be laminated without sealing High solids, VOC free, low vapor, excellent carity and low toxicity. Uses Additive F and X-55 (if you'd actually want it faster). Feel free to contact me if you have any question on using epoxy ~Brian www.greenlightsurfsupply.com
