Anne, >and a fireplace whose use would be ill-advised. Most epoxies won't burn very well (unlike polyester, vinylester, and AME resins) so don't worry about that aspect. Might get some smoke or soot on your boat, though! I build paddles out of vinylester resin and heat my shop with a woodstove (the fire marshall and my insurance company both know it). Some people think I'm nuts, but I'm not stupid about it, been doing it for over 10 years now, and plan on another 10 or more. >Are there >concerns about ventilation when using epoxy, resin, varnish, As someone else mentioned, the varnish can be nasty stuff, but as a general rule, the epoxy resin and hardener are not. There are some bad epoxy hardeners, but it's unlikely you'd be using them as they are difficult to work with and hard to buy in small quantities. Don't worry about breathing epoxy for the little bit of time you'll be exposed to it. Intermittant inhalation for a month or so wouldn't usually require a filter mask. Some people get so sensitive to epoxy that just breathing fumes causes a reaction -- I've heard of such, but never met anyone who was like that. Do keep it off your skin. Clean work habits (gained by experience which you don't have yet) are often sufficient, but I'd recommend gloves while working with the resin until after you've done several boats (bet you can't build just one!). You can wash up most epoxy systems with soap and water fairly easily, you don't need acetone (which is nasty, too, and as flammable as gasoline). Soap and water will even clean up brushes okay, as well as other work implements, but takes more time and elbow grease than acetone does. I usually use cheapies and just throw the brush or roller cover away after finishing a job (one for the outside of a canoe, one for the inside, it may take 4 for a kayak). Squeegies can be washed off fairly easily. Be forwarned that a little acetone can and will soak into bare skin, taking some epoxy with it, which increases the risk of sensitization. Hank Hays Lightning Paddles *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sun Mar 14 1999 - 15:46:39 PST
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