I’ve found that adding in more of the hardening liquid is an excellent way to counter the effects of the cold… but too much is a great way to promote cracking/instability in the mix… which is really evident if you don’t use weave/cloth.
The main issue I’ve found in the cold is air bubbles get into the mix… when it starts dipping down to freezing temps, dear god in heaven the chaos!
I’ve been working fiberglass in the Minnesota winter for a very long time now and I really wish that I had a concrete formula to say to go by, but really the flavor of the mix changes with the temp.
I do know that when it dips down to crazy cold temps, I like to put up a wind blocker, and I’ve also used jet (forced air) heaters, as well as WARM the resin!
one more time for those in the back room… WARM YOUR RESIN!
I’ve found that a el-cheapo candle warmer at Walmart makes a night/day difference when trying to work with cold weather resin.
If I’m in the cold wearing a bunny suit, I’ll separate out and pre-cut my sheets and shove them in the bunny suit to keep them warm. This will certainly ruin a bunny suit by boogering it up in resin.
The best way with the bunny suit is to work in quick layers, and you’ll tear thru some chem. gloves, so the el-cheapo ones are awesome for that.
Lastly… there are some up here who swear by West… but some swear at.
I like Bondo fiberglass resin. It’s cheap, works well… hell I even like the smell.
But West does make some claims, like it’s workable to 35°F.
I just didn’t like the stuff, but if you want to check it out, they have a site, and it can tell you where to buy.
link!
It’s really 6 of one, half a dozen of another with resin.