Allergic to West System vapors?

[ocuyler]

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:



into this:



In 50 years, this panel will still be solid!

Otto

[Billybob]

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!

[Jon G]

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.

[jw]

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

[ocuyler]

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:



Thanks for your support.

Otto

[Trayder]

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] !

[deepsushi]

Nice work--

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

[Scott]

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]

[ocuyler]

Trayder,

As you reccomended, I took alot of images, including this last one of the final enamal paint job:


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

[ltdan]

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