ddn

These aren't really Corvette related, but they will be as soon as I start on the fiberglass work on my Corvette.

This weekend I broke one of my ski poles in my endless quest for mogul skiing supremacy. I had vowed I'd ski these poles for the rest of the season.

So I epoxied a dowel in between the 2 halves, and then fiberglassed over that. Complete waste of time and overkill, but it was fun.

I used a Evercoat Polyester topcoat resin. I also wrapped the repair tightly with electrical tape. I pulled the electrical tape off last night, and the resin didn't seem dry. Then this morning I quickly touched it before I left, but it still didn't seem dry.

What did I screw up?

Corz

did you put hardener in the resin?

MELVIN

I agree, You may have left the hardener out. Comes in a little tube. A LITTLE dab will do ya. Resin gets hard as a rock, and it doesnt take long

ddn

I promise I did =) I should have mentioned that. 18 drops of the hardener to 1 oz of resin.

The other question, I completely forgot. I wore latex gloves to keep things clean and my hands clean. But glass strands kept sticking to my fingers. And then I just kept changing gloves. What's the proper technique?


[Modified by ddn, 3:47 PM 2/12/2002]

63Banshee

Bitch'n pair of Vettes Corey!

SteveA

You can try cleaning it out again (use lacquer thinner) and use slow (normal) cure 'epoxy' resin (made by Evercoat also). Real strong stuff. Can find in boat supply stores (West Marine, BoatUS, etc). 2 cans in a kit...50/50 mix. Mix real well and exactly 50/50. Clamp pieces to immobilize....dont tape. Soak the glass & wrap around....but dont overwork it. Can use a propane torch (brush lightly over the surface) to get rid of the bubbles and get the cure going. If this doesn't hold buy new poles.

ddn

I already have various pairs of poles =) I just have a bond with this pair :jester

mountainmotor

I lay/smooth the resin with a brush or roller made for that purpose.I really wonder why it did not kick off for you.With that much hardener it should have set up in minutes which does not yield the ultimate strenght.I don't know.

I think you should be working on your Corvette though :D

Keep thinking 11's,11's11's :yesnod:

7t2vette

Out of curiosity, did you do this out in your garage? If it is not warm enough, the resin will never harden properly. Another problem is if the temp drops while the resin is curing.

ddn

Actually, interestingly, I did do it out in the garage, and yes it was cold. But as soon as I had it laid up and wrapped with tape I brought it in the house where it was very warm.

I just checked my little container of excess resin, and it's either frozen solid or hardened rock solid. Could the temperature of the resin be the problem?

This is actually kind of important because if temperature is a problem I'll have to wait till spring to do any of the glass work on the Corvette.


[Modified by ddn, 10:01 PM 2/12/2002]

mountainmotor

If you were to keep the resin and hardener inside where warm until ready to use it should not be a problem for small areas as long as the garage /shop does not get below freezing.If you can though try to do the repairs during the day when warmest to give it a little more time before night fall.Do you have an electric heater to warm the glass up on the car before applying the resin/cloth?

edited to add this!
Keep thinking 11's,11's11's He He!


[Modified by mountainmotor, 6:13 AM 2/13/2002]

427V8

Is the surface just stickey? or is the whole mess still like jelly?

If it's just the surface I would bet the electrical tape reacted with the epoxy and it will never harden...

If the all of the resin is soft, you have a catalizer problem.