So what is the safest resin/fiberglass to use inside with little to no toxic fumes, as I am in the Military and live on base with no real workshop/ work space to use highly toxic substances. And with that being said what is the fastest setting stuff I could use to do a pep as I do have a deployment coming up and want to make some head way before I ship out.
resin and fiberglass Q
- Thread starter sjb4552
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In the future this should be asked in the "HELP! For Resin and Fiberglass" thread at the top of the forum page, where it will get better exposure and keep from cluttering the build threads.
No polyester or epoxy resins are safe for indoor use. You need to go with an aqua based resin. People have been met with mixed results on these products, a recent thread about jesmonite seemed promising, though no water based resin will give you the strength or lightweight of straight toxic fiberglass. (which is only air toxic while it cures)
If you go with water based resins, you will be able to work indoors.
If you go with poly resins, you can do it in your drive-way or whatever, leave it there for two hours, and then take it inside (preferably to a garage or basement or attic since it will still let off a little bit of fumes for a few days)
No polyester or epoxy resins are safe for indoor use. You need to go with an aqua based resin. People have been met with mixed results on these products, a recent thread about jesmonite seemed promising, though no water based resin will give you the strength or lightweight of straight toxic fiberglass. (which is only air toxic while it cures)
If you go with water based resins, you will be able to work indoors.
If you go with poly resins, you can do it in your drive-way or whatever, leave it there for two hours, and then take it inside (preferably to a garage or basement or attic since it will still let off a little bit of fumes for a few days)
spartan IV
Jr Member
If you are going to ship out soon I suggest you focus only on pepping your armor. I Have resined my helmet, but that being the only exception I've spent 150+ hour alone on making and remaking pieces until I have them just the right size. Even then I haven't started any pieces from the cod down.
Drewhinkle09
New Member
Honestly few resins are truly non toxic. Always read the msds for materials you use, because those give you the best idea of the dangers involved. A lot of people believe that smoothcast is non toxic but the msds says otherwise. So just be aware of the safety measures needed. An option could be to work with the aqua resin and wall joint compound (spackle) or jesmonite as katsu recommended, and then to mold the piece and cast using smoothcast once you have the time and place to work in. That way the bulk of the work can be done indoors, with the final piece only taking an afternoon of slush casting. It's more expensive, but it would give you the strength of a poly/epoxy resin part, without the hassles of those materials.
Another option would be to build out of foam and use James Bruton's plasticising method he details on the rpf, along with a tutorial video on YouTube. His YouTube username is xrobots. (Website: xrobots.co.uk). This is another build it there finalize it later method, so it may allow you to at least get something built while on base. After plasticising the piece can be detailed with bondo and sanded normally, so it's not a bad option, being that it combines some of the benefits of foam building and bondo detailing.
I'm not experienced with anything other than polyester resin, bondo, and smoothcast, but from what I have read some of the alternatives can be a pain to work with. Hopefully you can find an option that works for you!
Good luck!
Drew
Another option would be to build out of foam and use James Bruton's plasticising method he details on the rpf, along with a tutorial video on YouTube. His YouTube username is xrobots. (Website: xrobots.co.uk). This is another build it there finalize it later method, so it may allow you to at least get something built while on base. After plasticising the piece can be detailed with bondo and sanded normally, so it's not a bad option, being that it combines some of the benefits of foam building and bondo detailing.
I'm not experienced with anything other than polyester resin, bondo, and smoothcast, but from what I have read some of the alternatives can be a pain to work with. Hopefully you can find an option that works for you!
Good luck!
Drew
Thank you for all the advice, Sorry for the incorect post location, still learning and all. I think I will try my hand at just doing it all out of foam and seeing how that turns out, since it doesnt seem that much different from leather and I make leather armor for my reenactment group.
Chriscamo
New Member
Hey sjb,
If you check out my threads or search chriscamos pepakura on facebook you will see I've been using jesmonite ... It's damn strong but does weigh a bit more than normal resin and fibreglass ... For America I suggest aqua resin as jesmonite is UK based and not or world wide distribution I'm afraid ... It's easy to use non toxic and no odour ..
If you want any advice on it I've me a shout
If you check out my threads or search chriscamos pepakura on facebook you will see I've been using jesmonite ... It's damn strong but does weigh a bit more than normal resin and fibreglass ... For America I suggest aqua resin as jesmonite is UK based and not or world wide distribution I'm afraid ... It's easy to use non toxic and no odour ..
If you want any advice on it I've me a shout
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