Allergic to West System vapors?
 

You guys didn't tell me that breathing the West System vapor would make give me a reaction. I woke up with my eyes all puffy. I didn't smell anything and didn't sense any risk. My brother says I should have all my brain cells back for a Spring launch.

I used alot of 2 part turning this mess:

http://www.foodmachinery.com/SeaCraf...s/DSC03096.JPG

into this:

http://www.foodmachinery.com/SeaCraf...s/DSC03372.JPG

In 50 years, this panel will still be solid!

Otto

Re: Allergic to West System vapors?
 

Hey Otto - That panel looks sweet, that is one looong panel, which is it,I didn't have any that big on my 23.
As to the puffiness, I think Scott hit it.It is probably the glass.Did you chip out the old core, and then recore all in the same time frame?Cutting out the old inner skin puts a lot of glass fiber in the air, and your eyes being moist an unprotected - that will do it, esp if they're sensitive.You could try goggles,if you can get them not to fog up on you.
Another thought is that sometimes if you have a heater burning gas in your work area, I have noticed you can get some irritation when working with epoxy or even oil based paints.
Anyway, nice work!

Re: Allergic to West System vapors?
 

Nice job Otto! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Thats a big hatch [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] , I hope my small one comes out that great.

Re: Allergic to West System vapors?
 

Otto,
Youshould try MAS expoxies! They were developed by someone who had reactions to West System, plus its stronger and thinner. They also make a thicker resin comparable to West sytem called Flag.
Looks good, is that the hatch cover for the fuel tank in a 20?
I did mine in COOSA reinfrced Foam, with a biaxla cloth over top, then gel coated, pleanty strong, will never ever rot.
Cheers,
JW

Re: Allergic to West System vapors?
 

Thanks guys. It's the fuel cell panal on an '89 23 CC. It actually came out better than I thought, as it represents my West System learning curve. Thanks for your comments.

Oh yeah, I finally read the warning label on the Epoxy. My conclusion is better ventilation (I hate wasting heat)and the mask. So here's my new uniform:

http://www.foodmachinery.com/SeaCraf...s/DSC03269.JPG

Thanks for your support.

Otto

Re: Allergic to West System vapors?
 

Nice work Otto-

Do you have pictures of the whole process? I would love use the pics to make a page decribing how to re-core a panel.

Your panel looks great, The suit... well its nice too [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] !

Re: Allergic to West System vapors?
 

Nice work--

Looks like you even managed to autograph it.... [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Re: Allergic to West System vapors?
 

Otto
First thing I would do is try to get a hold of the MSDS sheets for whatever you were using.

What about fiberglass dust during the prep work and cutting the new fiberglass cloth??? That’s a major irritant ....

Keep your hands out of your eyes while using any of this stuff (due to irritation due to contact) and If I were you next time I'm around this stuff I'd use at least a half face respirator with chemical filters (or whatever west system recommends) I've used both the Epoxy and Vinylester resin.....Never had problems with the epoxy ...... and never was around the vinylester without a respirator....Talk about killing brain cells !!!

Remember everyone reacts different to these things ...... you may very well be "allergic" to what your working with.

Oh .....nice deck [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Re: Allergic to West System vapors?
 

Trayder,

As you reccomended, I took alot of images, including this last one of the final enamal paint job:
http://www.foodmachinery.com/SeaCraf...s/DSC03379.JPG

I'm sending you the lot of images relating to the panal recoring. The site helped me visualize the process and get to it. Hopefully someone will benefit from the images.

Other than the long hours, there is nothing difficult, but be sure to wear gloves, goggles, proper respirator and have proper ventilation!

Regards,

Otto

Re: Allergic to West System vapors?
 

HI OTTO, LT DAN HERE. YOUR WORK LOOK'S GREAT. I JUST PULLED ALL 3 OF MY HATCHES OUT OF MY 23CC TO DO THE SAME JOB. I SEE YOU DIDN'T PUT THE CORE MATERIAL ALL THE WAY TO THE EDGE OF THE HATCH. CAN YOU EXPLANE WHY? 2 OF MINE ARE ORIGINAL, AND ARE DONE THE SAME WAY, BUT THE LONG ONE WAS REDONE AT SOME TIME AND HAS CORE ALL THE WAY TO THE EDGE. ARE THERE PRO'S OR CON'S TO DOING IT EITHER WAY? WHAT MADE YOU GO WITH THE WOOD INSTEAD OF SOME OF THE LIGHTER CORE MATERIAL'S AVAILABLE. THANK'S IN ADVANCE FOR THE INFO.
LT DAN

Re: Allergic to West System vapors?
 

ltdan,

Good question. I left about 1/4" gap all around. Yes, that's the way it was. It made sense at the time. I wrapped cloth around the edges to be sure they were sealed and "tucked-in" the last 2 layers of cloth and leveled it out with epoxy.

I didn't have immediate access to alternative materials and didn't have time to do the homework, track it down and get it here. Plus it had to be a 4' x 8' sheet and a pain to do anything but go put in the truck and bring it home.

Next time, I will take the time to get the right material in there and measure for the tightest fit and height (depth) profile to minimize the use of epoxy. For that matter, for $200 more, I could have replaced the whole piece with 3/4" King Starboard in there with enough left over to redo the dashboard.

Because there is no access from below, I also needed something I could screw into (battery boxes, oil res, etc.) Now that I really appreciate how strong the 2 part epoxy is, you can get almost anything to stick.

Water incursion and strength were my primary considerations.

At the end of the day, I think Mr. Potter would say "That'll do".

Otto

Re: Allergic to West System vapors?
 

I also had problem with fumes. Yesterday I used awlgrip primer on my transom. I rolled it on and used no respirator. The work was done outside and there was a nice breeze. Well about an hour after the work was compleated I felt a little lightheaded and that lasted for about 2 more hours. My next trip is to the store to obtain the proper respirator. No more fooling around with this stuff.