Fiberglass fumes?

[Monkeyman]

Could I fiberglass in a closed house? Would there be fumes? Haven't done any fiberglassing in years so I can't remember.

[Timay]

Not too many fumes...you use a two-part epoxy, which isn't too fume-ey.

Tim

[Monkeyman]

Thanks. Makes it easier to do fiberglass work in the winter when it's warm enough to cure. :)

[ringadingh]

The resin that Ive used in the past does have quite a smell to it. The stuff will end up giving you a good headache. Pick a nice day to do it in the garage, and it will cure overnight. You could do everything else in the house except mix and apply the resin.

[Loafer]

You can't remember the last time because of the fumes....

[cactusjack]

Not a fiberglass expert by any means, but if the fumes are flammable - you don't want to be in the vicinity of a natural gas water heater or furnace. Just something to think about.

[Monkeyman]

Ring --- Kinda thinking ahead on this one. If I get the new fairing on and wired up, I can ride all summer. In order to modify it the way I want, I have to take it back off the bike. Probably about an hour job and I risk scratches, etc. Also, it will take alot longer than a day to mock everything up as this will be some customizations completely from scratch. I was thinking, if I could do the fiberglassing in the house (unheated garage and I'd guess it would need to remain over about 50* for the fiberglass to cure), I wouldn't have to lose any riding time.

CJ --- Water heater/furnace are gas fired but in a room completely separate from the main part of the house. More like a room accessed from the outside. No worries about flammability, I don't think. Thanks for the heads up, though.

On the other hand, I might just buy another one with the OEM radio caddy (not exactly the look I'm after but...) and say to hell with the fiberglass. I'm good and unbolting something and putting it back together. Not much experience fabbing anything so it would probably turn out like ass anyway.

[cnc]

Fiberglass resin ( Polyester and Vinyl-ester ) do produce strong fumes, but can set up in as little as 20 minutes, it will still out gas for a longer period than that. Epoxy resin fumes are less noticeable, but cure much more slowly even with a fast hardener for cooler temps. Both produce heat as they cure, epoxy much less noticeable, but both require a warm environment to start and keep the process going. I have done many fair size epoxy projects in my basement with no real complaints from other members of the household. I would not try that with fiberglass resin. I used to have a normally unheated shop separate from the house that I worked in in the winter. You could do similar if you have an unheated garage. Keep the resins in the house at room temp to start with. I would heat the shop as best I could with electric heaters, do the layup, then direct a fan forced electric heater on the project. When it was really cold I had another trick that worked quite well. I reasoned that my 50,000 BTU gas barbecue would make a pretty good heater. I ran it on high for about 1/2 hour outside to burn all grease etc off so it would not smoke. I keep it in the shop for the winter. When I finished working I would light it and run it for about an hour to boost the temp in there and help get the curing process started, while I left and had a coffee in the house. If you try this, you must make your own judgment as to if it is safe for your situation. I would leave a window slightly open for ventilation etc and the barbecue was far from anything flammable etc.
I should also point ou that polyester resign fumes are flammable, and expoy fumes are not considered to be.

[Monkeyman]

That's alot of good info. Thanks. I would probably use an epoxy resin only for the fact that I'm scared of fire. (It is what it is.) If I decide to do some creative fiberglassing (even if I suck, it would still be kind of a cool thing), I guess I'll lose some riding time and do it in the summer. Maybe take a week off of work to make sure I wasn't rushed. (I've only got about 500 hours of vacation time accrued. Seriously. I suppose I should use some of it.)

[ringadingh]

Im sure if you used about 80 hours of vacation you could get a lot done on the bike before riding season sets in.

[Monkeyman]

Once I get all the right parts together, I'll probably take a week off so I can get it all done at once. I won't get any fiberglassing done but the bike will be ready to go riding. I just hate to do that as the work will just pile up when I get back. :) I hate leaving the bike sit any longer than necessary the way it is as it hasn't been very winterized yet (other than a bit of Stabil). No oil change and no battery charger. Another few weeks and I'll probably put it all back together so I can at least start it up and let it idle for 20 minutes or so. (Just so I can take it all back again.) It's all about money.