Fibreglassing? What NOT to do!

[bufferoo]

I was glassing the inside of a frame for an airboat yesterday and had about 100ml of resin sitting in a mixing pot. Put it to the side to move some stuff around and didn't notice that I put it on a pile of rags. Some of you may know where I'm going with this. ;) Since this stuff can get warm as it cures I keep it in a bowl of ice to help lengthen the pot life. Well apparently when I moved a board I knocked a large shop towel over top of the pot and completely covered the resin. Then my wife called me... :rolleyes:

Came back after only about 3 minutes and the garage was filled with smoke. I nice ribbon of smoke was trailing up through the rags. I realized what had happened and lifted the towel off the pot. HOLY COW!!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: That stuff get's hot! It completely melted the HDPE pot I was using and when I lifted it with a set of pliars the pot was literally dripping on the floor. Actually managed to scorch the rags. It stayed hot for FOUR hours after that even when I kept in out in the open. Could've burned my house to the ground. I'm sure the insurance would have believed that story too. :rolleyes:

Well...chalk it up to experience. At least I learned.

Bufferoo

[Hydro Junkie]

Haven't gone that for yet, but I managed to get 2nd degree burns by being stupid and trying to pick up one of those little 1 ounce mixing cups full of cooking epoxy. Like you, got called by the "Boss", and upon returning less than 2 minutes later, the stuff had already kicked off. Being an almost full ounce in the cup meant LOTS OF HEAT. Needless to say, my fingers on my left hand were now blisterred, my mood totally blown, and the "Boss" standing there asking what the problem was. She quickly found out when I dropped the epoxy into the glass of water she was holding and it started to bubble from the heat right in her hand.