Fiberglass - What does temperature have to do with it?

DSMRevolution · Dec 15, 2003

I have this Raytec temperature gun that I bought awhile back when I was heavily into RC cars. I was reading up about fiberglassing and I saw something along the lines of the resin will set up at a certin temperature.

I have no idea what this means. Can you help? I want to do my best fiberglassing so if temperature has anything to do with the resin, I want to know about it.

Today I bought some marine (I think) fiberglass resin and a small tube of liquid like hardner. Is that what I will need? I also got acetone, laytex gloves, face mask, paint brushes, and some 100% polyester felt. I don't know what I am going to make yet, but I want to have the supplies handy.

Thanks a bunch!

jrivard00 · Dec 15, 2003

Fiberglass takes longer to set in colder temperatures so more hardner will need to be mixed in than if you were using it in warmer temps. YOu might want to keep baby powder on hand just incase you get resin on your hands. YOu can dose yourself with the powder to keep you from sticking to everything you touch,.

devlish · Dec 17, 2003

one thing to keep in mind as well... the more hardener you use, the faster it sill dry. However, the faster it dries the more brittle it is. use the reccommended amount, or even slightly less. it may take a little longer to dry, but it won't be as brittle.

i always do my 'glassing in temps between 60' & 80' or so. never had any problems really.

good luck with your project. check out the Audio threads, there is a STICKY in there dealing with glassing. it may give you some pointers on your project

DSMRevolution · Dec 17, 2003

Oh cool thanks for the help guys. So how long does fiberglass take to dry before you can sand it?

devlish · Dec 17, 2003

i've done it in a few hours... then apply the filler directly afterwards, filler dries for about 20-40min, then sand that too.

However, i am usually too tired or lazy to do a entire project all at once. usually the next day (or week) i do my sanding

really depends on how much hardener you use i guess

AWDTSI · Dec 18, 2003

If you are using polyester resin you dont have to heat it as it dries fairly quickly(in a 150 degree oven it will cure in 15 minutes). However if you use other resin like I do heating it helps cure it quickly. I put the fiberglass in a 350 degree over for an hour to fully cure it. Once the resin reches about 325 degrees it fully cures almost instantly. However the resin I use is specialized but probably is still similar to what you are using.

Fiberglass - What does temperature have to do with it?

DSMRevolution

jrivard00

devlish

DSMRevolution

devlish

AWDTSI

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