Borgie

You want to make certain that when you wet out the inside surface with VE, that the resin has been mixed with MEKP. I did mine hot (3%) waited about 20 or so minutes until it taked up, meanwhile I was mixing a big batch of corebond at 1.5 % MEKP(3M's chemist recommendation). Once tacky apply your activated corebond and work diligently as you have a 45 min pot time and it goes by quick!

Glassdave gave me the pointer on hot coating the surface to be bonded with Corebond. Really a smart way to achieve the best possible bond. Overall I couldn't have been happier not only with the results, but the products used. Corebond is a truly amazing bonding compound. I have a new respect for glass guys. Can't say enough about Dave as well!

sparky24

i dunno about the 3m product but the ATC corebond i used is 55 min WORKING time (more like 40 mins from what i can tell). If you leave it in the pot for more than 25-30 your pretty much screwed.

Work as fast as you can and you will just finish in time lol. I used polyester resin with the corebond by recommendation of the ATC chemists, they said that have seen problems with VE resin not curing in an airtight environment. Im sure its fine though.

i would not try to corebond a transom by yourself, if something were to go wrong you will be absolutely screwed, mine as well sawzall the boat in half if that happens. lol

MooresWarlock

Thanks guys!!! I hope to tackle the transom and stringers this weekend - I'll keep ya'lls posted!!!!!!

glassdave

ive had pretty good work time with the 3m corebond, mixed to a strict ratio by weight I have no prob getting forty min but you are right, left in mass (in the bucket) or if temps are up in can get away from ya. as with any composite project ya wanna keep moving pretty good

phragle

Random thought.... I dont know if its the same with poly/ve, but with west systems epoxy the shape of the container makes a difference in pot life. With the epoxy a big batch in a cup will kick a lot faster than a big batch in say, a frisbee.

sparky24

yeah i noticed that too. Ive been mixing my VE in cheapo 1 gallon pail liners i got at home depot. No need to waste money on the graduated pots because its better to use a drug dealer type scale

I ussually mix 1000 grams with 10 grams of MEKP for 1 % so its only about 2 inches high in the bottom of the pot any more than that and it gets a little too fast paced and i have to worry about staying ahead of it

glassdave

thats to funny that you say 1000 grams, thats exactly what i do as roughly 24oz in one of those graduated cups is 1000 grams so through repetition i got stuck on the metric system as well lol. I buy one quart paper movie theater style popcorn tubs at 500 for eighty bucks to get around the cost of containers and as a bonus they actually fit my gel coat gun perfectly

these

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

sparky24

get the good pots for mixing the corebond though... the thin ones end up all misshapen and screwed up while your trying to quickly mix it ask me how i know :/

glassdave

are you mixing my hand or with a mixing bit on a drill? the cheapo paper tubs I get are pretty flimsy but hold up fine as long as you work quick. I have a HF cordless drill with a mixing bit on it just for corebond, I just hold it on the floor between my feet and hit it for like thirty seconds. I also use red tinted mek so I know when its fully mixed.

sparky24

i mixed the big batch with a drill but for the smaller batches ive been mixing by hand. Ya the ATC is bpo green tinted so its easy to get the streaks out