***URGENT*** Need help with resin mixture

[SQMonte]

I went out to my garage to lay down about 4 layers of glass on each joint of my amp enclosures, didn't get past the first layer on the first enclosure cause the resin turned into jello on me. It's not like I was out there lolly-gaggin' either. I poured the resin into a bowl, poked a hole in the hardener and put in the recommended amount, mixed it up for about 20 seconds and then brushed some resin onto the enclosure. Snapped a pic. Layed down one piece of fiberglass (that I had precut), resined it, snapped a pic. Layed down the other piece of glass, resined it. Snapped a pic. Placed another piece of glass over the first piece I layed down and went to resin it, when I pulled the brush up I noticed the resin wasn't dripping. I put the brush back in it and attempted to stir the mixture, shit was like jello! WTF?

The jug says 14 drops of hardener per ounce of resin. I mixed 6 oz of resin so I put 84 drops of hardener. What am I doing wrong? I need to get this right before I get it another go cause I don't have much hardener left and I want to be able to lay the rest of the glass on both enclosures.

BTW, it's 107 here in Sac, prolly a little hotter in my garage. I'm using the Bondo all purpose resin and Bondo glass mat.

Edited July 20, 2009 by SQMonte

[Stephen]

http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/ind...?showtopic=4443

[zfrerichs]

yeah butif your some norcal it is hot as fuck today so put in about half the recomended amount and do small batches at a time

[SQMonte]

yeah butif your some norcal it is hot as fuck today so put in about half the recomended amount and do small batches at a time

Half of what's recommended on the jug of resin I have or half of what's recommended on that chart?

[zfrerichs]

half on the chart

[SQMonte]

half on the chart

Cool. Thank for the quick response.

Just so I understand it better. The less hardener I put in, the longer it'll take to cure? Will it still cure as strong if I were to put more hardener? Just wondering.

[zfrerichs]

it will be just as strong with less hardner just cure slower too much hardner and the resin will crack

[SQMonte]

http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/ind...?showtopic=4443

it will be just as strong with less hardner just cure slower too much hardner and the resin will crack

Thanks to both of you guys I was able to get both amp enclosures done in this hot ass heat. Couldn't have done it w/o ya!

[Rogers]

the walmart resin says 12 drops of hardender per oz so by the time you mixed 6ounces together you basically got to double the amount that you needed... plus if it were me i wouldnt mix more than 3 ounces at a time unless you are putting it over a large area quickly... i do 2oz at a time normally and it starts jellin up on me before i get it applied...

[SQMonte]

the walmart resin says 12 drops of hardender per oz so by the time you mixed 6ounces together you basically got to double the amount that you needed... plus if it were me i wouldnt mix more than 3 ounces at a time unless you are putting it over a large area quickly... i do 2oz at a time normally and it starts jellin up on me before i get it applied...

Not too sure why you're telling me about the walmart resin, but ok.

When I first gave it a go, I mixed 6 oz. It said pot time was 15-20 minutes so I figured I could handle both enclosures in that time span easily. So after my experiment went bad and I got good info from Stephen and zfrerichs, I ended up mixing 4oz. pots and it was just the perfect amount. This was only my second time in my life using fiberglass, hopefully I'll never have a need for it again, it wasn't fun. I guess 107* weather doesn't help much either, at least not when applying it. For curing, it's perfect! My enclosures are in my oven, err, garage, baking as we speak.