Hey guys, I just finished fiberglassing for my case, well.. half of it, and I decided to write some helpful hints incase you are wondering.. Well.. as most paint, glues, fiberglassing stuff reads, use in a well ventilated area. You really should do that. I started on my project, and in the next 10 minutes be began raining (good ol' Texas weather), so I shut the garage door down and continued to work. Don't do that. That is bad. You get high, very high, and not a good high. And then the headache sets in, and you can't see straight.. Next, use really really cheap brushes when painting the stuff on. They are worthless after you use them. Don't bother cleaning it off. Next, before you put the cloth down, paint a layer of resin on, this helps in the curing process, and helps to have the cloth stick to something, it makes it alot easier. Next, don't add too much hardener. My goodness, the first time I mixed up a batch, within 2 minutes my cup full of resin was rock hard. (no, i didn't mean to add too much) Next, always make sure you don't get any fiberglass on yourself, its very itchy, and way uncomfortable. When planning a mod that uses fiberglass, add about 2 weeks onto when you think it will be done, it takes time, money, and sweat. I didn't know it was going to be this hard.. and easy. Somethings I thought were going to be hard weren't and vice versa. So, thats my 2 cents, if anyone else has an experience with this, they can add in. I just wanted to let you know, its hard, but worth it if you are going to do it. Ask any questions you may have, I'll try to answer them. -emu
Welcome to the forums. I did my first stuff with epoxy today, and ya it's not good for ya. BTW, where in Austin are you? I am in the Barton Creek area (Near Mopac, and 360) It's always great to have another Texan on the forums.
Up north, Parmer/Mopac, then Parmer/Metric -> Scofield Thank ya.. Yeah, I did the work early in the day, and I still have a headache. That mask I wore didn't help at all. -emu
A "SARS" mask (sorry i cant think of the proper term, but u know what i mean) will only work against solids not vapour of the resin. A proper environmental mask (gas mask?) will stop and filter everything. Thanks for the info though. Ive been thinking about a YY Cube and Fibreglassing a new front cover, thx for the info
Yea I am thiking of fibre glasing, but I have worked wiht it before. It is damn itchy!!!!!!!! I nearly tore all my skin off sratching caus the little fibre hook on clothing and keep itching ya more and more!
I was a GRP boat builder when I left school some years ago now. My tips to add. 1. Wear a paper overall if cutting or grinding. It will prevent the dust getting in all those itchy places. 2. Keep an eye wash bottle handy. The harder (Catalyst) is an acid and will burn on contact with the eye. Any splashes on the face will also pick. 3. Avoid working in direct sunlight it make the mix cure quicker! I'll try and think of some more
Just a quick safety notice to anyone reading this and thinking of doing carbon fibre + epoxy work: You MUST wear the correct safety clothes, ie respirator for epoxy (organic vapour respirator) and protective gloves/goggles. I use three different types of hardener and each one has a different hazard, irritant, corrosive, and highly toxic. If you are thinking of sawing/drilling carbon fibre you will need suitable gloves, eye protection and most of all, toxic dust respirator. The dust can kill you. If you are not prepared, do not think about using it.
Its not a conc. acid i doubt though. Getting the dust in your eyes is more harmful than a "less than stomach acid conc" acid tbh. Uber Geek time HOOC-R-COOH + HO-R-OH -->(H+ Cat, i cant draw mechanisms on a pc unfortunatly)--> HOOC-R-(CO)-O-C-R-OH + H2O If anyone's interested that is.. simple condensation reaction of monomers. It isnt that toxic, but a bit stinky cause ur using an alcohol (mmmmm nice smelling) and a carboxylic acid (which is probably more of an irritant than the hardener acid).
Well if it splashed in your eye, I doubt you make it counting to ten before you ran out side yelling and screaming. This is not a Jack Ass stunt to be tried at home either. We used to mop up splashes of harder and toss the rag outside to find they would catch fire under direct sunlight! I've bonded decks to hulls upside with little air or light to find a piece of wet matting fall on my face. I hope for one minute you not going to do this but you have to be careful around the face area it will give you a burning sensation you would sooner not have. I've built boats to Lloyds ship wright standards, at the age of 17 some twenty years ago that ain't bad. I repaired cars, jets ski's, motor bikes and racing cars. Above all have fun and be careful
Airfed respirators are normally only really necessary when you're working with IsoCyanate based stuff - for most things, a cartridge mask (for long exposure to fumes) or a simple filter mask (valved or not) will suffice. See here. (Boo!) Most kits include gloves, it pays to use them (although I forget sometimes). I believe acetone is good for cleaning brushes afterwards (I come from near Birmingham originally though, so I use a lump hammer. ) As stated, the resin sets quickly (about 10 minutes before it's gel-like and unworkable on average) so only mix up around 10 to 20ml at a time until you're used to it.
