Epoxy and cold weather

[Paul Taylor]

Is it too cold to put on a thin coat of epoxy?
30-50 degrees

[wmiii]

 Why not just turn your heater on?

 Walter

[Clancy Arnold]

Rootbeard
Just heat it with your $cote heat gun and it will flow fine.
Clancy

[Bill Heher]

When i lived in the frozen North I used to warm the epoxy by letting the bottles sit in a pan of fairly hot water for 10-15 minutes. Mix normally and apply, then put the plane / part under a couple lamps with 100watt light bulbs about a foot or so above it. This was in  a basement workroom that stayed about 40-50 degrees unless I had a portable heater going. The lamps kept the rea under them at about 70, and the epoxy usually cured fully overnight.

Your other option is to move to FL, AZ, or another warm place- Worked for me!

[charlie]

One tip that can be handy for making small to medium sized bits in cold weather using epoxy for glueing or laminating is to find yourself a large cardboard box and fit a couple of light fittings into it with ordinary incandescent light globes (60 watt or so).  Insert the parts, turn on the lights and close up the box.  The radiated heat from the globes will warm the interior of the box and at some point the temperature will stabilize.  If you are concerned that it might get too hot, put a thermometer in the box and turn it on for a few hours for a dummy run while you are close by doing something else.  The temperature that it settles down to can be varied by changing the lights for others of a different wattage.  Once you are happy that all is safe you can shove in your bits and leave it to its own devices while you are elsewhere.
I have a good friend that has been in the fibreglass and related plastics business for 35 or 40 years.  His company puts out a quarterly newsletter of hints and tips for modellers that can be helpful.  If anyone is interested I can send or post the document file with the last few years tips.

Charlie

[Larry Fulwider]

. . .  I have a good friend that has been in the fibreglass and related plastics business for 35 or 40 years.  His company puts out a quarterly newsletter of hints and tips for modellers that can be helpful.  If anyone is interested I can send or post the document file with the last few years tips.

Charlie

I sent you an e-mail. Thanks! 

     Larry Fulwider

[Randy Powell]

And make sure that after it's on, the area is warm (either directed heat as Ty suggests or a warm area) until it kicks. I've put on epoxy in the cold and left the plane in the cold shop and they stuff never really got hard.