Keepers build

[Keeper]

Best thing I bought was a box of disposable gloves and a good mask.Especially for the sanding.
This is the style I like best those little dust masks you can burn for all I care.These let you breathe better and are less than 20 bucks.They have an exhale valve under the 3M

Thats what I was using. I picked up a 3m 7500, It worked very well.

I will be picking some paper suits for when I start sanding, I am itchy now and I have not sanded much of anything.

 

[Youngster]

Put baby powder on exposed skin be fore you start.

Ron

 

[Keeper]

Thats a good idea, Thanks.

 

[2old2fast]

The ZEP co. makes a
'barrier cream' that you apply before you start , works O.K. , but just a long sleeve shirt , resperator, gloves , old stocking cap , then cold shower , before you use soap & water is what I've always done...

dave

 

[Ted Brown]

Run your dust collector or shop Vac, right at the sanding site...

 

[railroad]

Put baby powder on exposed skin be fore you start.

Ron

Before you start What hehe!!

 

[Keeper]

Run your dust collector or shop Vac, right at the sanding site...

I will hook the shop vac right up to the sander.

Okay so lets see what we got:

- baby powder
- long sleeve shirt and pants
- paper painters suit
- tape the ends
- respirator
- goggles
- hood

cold shower no soap.

I think that should cover it hahaha, maybe I will get out my old NBC MOPP suit and gas mask while I am at it.

 

[nolimits]

Keeper if you tear your mat instead of cutting it,, It will blend right in, And look like it was never fixed...Here's the one I did..See where you can see the line where they tryed to fix it...
This is the before shot..

 

[nolimits]

here's the after..No line on this one... I know it really don't matter where it is... But that's my way of doing it... And Some people don't know about doing it like this....

 

[nolimits]

And here it is without any floor...

 

[Keeper]

Thanks that helps.

When I started the first panel I did was cover the WHOLE floor at once. I learned that trying to work with a big panel is a mistake! After that I started tearing off manageable chunks of mat and it seemed to make things a lot easier. Still not a fan...lol

Any tips on going over corners? I had issue with trying to keep the corner from lifting, no matter how much resin I used the corner wanted to lift up on the top of the corner. There are a couple places where I need to cut the corner out as it did not bond to the wood at all.

 

[nolimits]

Thanks that helps.

When I started the first panel I did was cover the WHOLE floor at once. I learned that trying to work with a big panel is a mistake! After that I started tearing off manageable chunks of mat and it seemed to make things a lot easier. Still not a fan...lol

Any tips on going over corners? I had issue with trying to keep the corner from lifting, no matter how much resin I used the corner wanted to lift up on the top of the corner. There are a couple places where I need to cut the corner out as it did not bond to the wood at all.

Corners can get hard sometimes... If your trying to tuck in a corner... Tear into the corner.. It will lay down... Sometimes you have to watch when it starting to kick... Work it in with your brush... Then it will stay down... The good thing about fiber glass... You ''CAN'' do little spot's at a time... Just make sure you over lap each one a little... You can do half today and come back tomorrow and finish the other half... It doesn't have to be done at once... Just remember to ''TEAR'' your mat.... You will never see where you started and stopped... I love working with glass.. The sky is the limit.... I sometimes wish I whould have went with glass with my C-cab... But it's all good.. For now on any one off cars I do will be fiber glass custom's..

On a lot of the corners I do... I try to round them a little... It help's..

 

[Keeper]

Thanks

I will try and get some better pics of what was happening, I rounded all my corners as I do not like sharp corners on wood, to easy to chip.

I think the biggest tip a beginner can get (me in this case) is work small!

When I did the floor I brushed out a coat of resin, then laid in the whole sheet of glass, as soon as I started adding more resin to the top, I knew I was in trouble!

 

[nolimits]

Thanks

I will try and get some better pics of what was happening, I rounded all my corners as I do not like sharp corners on wood, to easy to chip.

I think the biggest tip a beginner can get (me in this case) is work small!

When I did the floor I brushed out a coat of resin, then laid in the whole sheet of glass, as soon as I started adding more resin to the top, I knew I was in trouble!

Well... the thing about big area's is in the mixing and the temperture outside..Once you know how to mix it according to the temperature outside, It will make bigger jobs easiers..You have to have time to do bigger jobs.. And the thing some people do wrong, Is mix it a little to hot... And it start's to kick to fast....

 

[nolimits]

And the thing to remember with glass is, The wetter you make it, The weaker it makes the part... You want just enough to wet the mat... NO More,,, The resin is weak by it's self... And make sure to use your roller....That help's to get everything flat, and get's the air pockets out.... A lot of resin doesn't make it stronger,, It makes it weaker,,, The mat added to resin is what holds the resin together... I'm sure you may know this... But maybe it will help someone else...Keep up the great work..

 

[Keeper]

Here is what was happening:

I probably made some stuff to wet in the beginning, I kept thinking "transparent" when its transparent its wet enough. I think I went more to the invisible side of things.

 

[Keeper]

When I was mixing I was mixing between 3/4% and 1% that gave me plenty of time to work with the stuff. It was a hot day so I made sure to mix it so I would have more time to work the stuff.

 

[nolimits]

Here is what was happening:

I probably made some stuff to wet in the beginning, I kept thinking "transparent" when its transparent its wet enough. I think I went more to the invisible side of things.

Keeper... On some corners if you can grind a little bevel on the eage, it also helps.... Them type of corners are very hard to work... I do my best to bevel them... Are like I said before, you have to stand over them and keep tucking them in with your brush.... As far as it being transparent..... Yes.. you shouldn't see any thing that look's white looking.. That means it isn't wet enought or a air pocket.... Now... The thing about the roller... If everything around the spot that don't look wet enough is wet enough... Use your roller... It will bring the resin that is around that area into that spot..... The resin will move with the roller.... Sometimes you may need to add some,, But if anything else look's really wet.. Try to roll it over...... You want eveything wet, But only enough that it is all the way through,,, Less is better... That's why they are doing a vaccum sealed mold now on things that need to be super strong... It pull's out ''ALL'' the extra resin.... Resin is real brittle when you have to much.... Do a little test... Let your resin dry in your cup... Then hit it with you hammer... Watch your eyes.... It will fly apart... But put as much mat into it as you can... Not just a little.. As much as it takes to suck all of it up... You won't break it.... I hope I'm writing this where anyone can understand what I'm trying to say here.... I'm much better at building cars then this stuff...:thinkn:

 

[nolimits]

When I was mixing I was mixing between 3/4% and 1% that gave me plenty of time to work with the stuff. It was a hot day so I made sure to mix it so I would have more time to work the stuff.

That's good... Some people don't see it that way... Like I said... I had a feeling you knew... Some don't..

I didn't mean to side track your thread here.. Sorry

 

[Youngster]

These are all very good tips for inexperienced and experienced builders. No need to appoligize.

I have found anything you can do to elliminate sharp corners will help get a good bond in those areas. When i set the floor in a body, I mix a batch of kitty hair to fill any gaps. This seems to get rid of the problem of the mat pulling during the curing process. This is also the reason I set my ribs in body filler. As I clamp the rib into place some of the filler will squeeze out. I take my finger ang make a slight radius from the rib to the body. Another reason for the filler is to fill any gaps between the rib wood and the body. I prefer to use a brush when wetting the mat. If you start in the middle of the mat strip and dab your way out, you can work the bubbles out pretty easy.

These are how I do it. That's not to say it's the only or best way. It has just worked well for me.

Ron