On Sat, 5 Feb 2000, Jeff McNeal wrote:
> Well, it's all done now. That fiberglass resin and fabric when goopy and
> wet seems so flimsy that it's hard to imagine that it's going to set up to
> be as strong as I know it will be. It's drying now. I have no idea how
> long that takes since the instructions didn't specify, but I'm assuming 24
> hours.
If you can, get some moderate heat near the curing resin. When curing, it
will 'go off' and harden almost at once- nasty stuff.
In 24 hours it should be fully cured. If you used the recommended ratios
of MEKP to resin, then it will take about 15 minutes to set at room
temperature, an hour before you can work with it, and a few days to fully
cure.
If the temperature is lower then it will take longer, sometimes much
longer.
The resin will harden faster where it is thicker (higher concentrations of
catalysts)
I think the secret ingredient is heat that is a product of the catalytic
reaction when you put the MEKP into the resins. There's often some other
really nasty stuff in there (The blue comes from cobalt). However, making
the resin warm will make it cure faster.
Not too hot, or it might ignite. (No Sparks Or Open Flame, please). Not
even too much regular heat- my dad once mixed a pot of resin with too much
hardener and it self-combusted (this was before my time, but I'll take his
word for it). I've had times when I put 'not enough color' and 'too much
hardener' in the mix and it grabbed the stir stick and hardened right
there...
but I digress.
-Malcolm
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