Greeting everyone.
I could use a little advice. I have just started my NE Dory build. This has created a little conflict between my wife and I. She is concerned about the potential cost of heating our garage. I have come up with as much of a compromise as I can and would like some input as to whether it will be OK. I work a nontraditional work week. I work an alternating shift of 3 days a week followed by 4 days. My plan is to lower the temp in the garage to the upper 50’s during my work week. I will then heat it up to a comfortable working temp on my weekends. Of course any time epoxy is curing I will keep the temp at 68 and above. Does anyone see any issues with this?
Just to update everyone on this topic. We are in the middle of an unusual cold snap for us, this time of year. Two nights ago we dropped to -1F (-18C) and last night we warmed up to a balmy 10 (-12C). All 3 of my little heaters were charging along as best they could but all they could pull off was 60 (15C) inside my garage. The coldest night I didn't do any gluing at all. Just sanding and shaping. Last night I did mix up some think epoxy and wood flour and used it as filler in a few sports to prepare for glassing the underside of my Dory tonight. I let the temp drop down to 50 (10C) immediately after applying the epoxy. I just went out and checked, the epoxy cured up just fine!
Congrats on your rapid progress. And congrats on keeping your garage so warm in this frigid weather. . . . I've been having trouble keeping my house at 60!
I would think you'll be fine. I made my Ches 17 LT uner the awning in the photograph below between Feb and May this year (you can just make it out) Temperatures fluctuated quite a bit (it's open of course) and I had to build a bit of tent to stop the nesting birds doing what comes naturally on the boat. As well as wanting puzzle joints I'd also like a garage or a shed!
Yambo,
Don't you live in sunny, warm Greece?
Mikeflys,
Another compromise is to keep the boat warm, rather than the whole garage. A plastic tent with an incandescent bulb inside is a cheap way of keeping the boat warm while the epoxy cures. There's also no need to keep the garage in the 50's for the boat's sake, as long as you store the resin, hardener, varnish & paint indoors where it's above freezing.
The other alternative is to wait for spring, which is what I do. It's the simplest and cheapest option. It also makes spousal relations easier. Think of it as using renewable solar heating if that'll help with the impatience :-)
Good luck,
Laszlo
Wait till spring!!!!! I don’t think so! I am really hoping to have the boat ready for fishing this summer. I thought about draping the boat as you suggest, but when I mentioned it to my wife the first thing out of her mouth was “fire”. My garage wont freeze even with no direct heat in it. We had the garage insulated when it was built and the furnace and water heater are both out there. They seem to provide enough heat that even in the coldest part of winter liquid things don’t freeze, its defiantly not pleasant, but above freezing.
A 100-watt bulb is plenty to maintain the temperature and as long as it doesn't touch anything there's no fire hazard. Have your wife put her hand close to a lamp and see that her fingers don't burst into flame, then point out that the bulb will be at least that far from the tent. Wood, BTW, has to get to something like 460 degrees fahrenheit to burn. Remind her of the old EasyBake oven kid's toy which used a 100-watt bulb as the heating element and only got up to 350 degrees. Finally, how about all thos table lamps with fabric shades?
Good luck,
Laszlo
Your temps are a little high. I biuld in my basement here in New England. The basement is a gradient from 65 at head hieght (if the heat is running) to 55 at the floor. The work (latest a Shearwater 17) is at waist level. The epoxy kicks just fine. The only problem I have is the MASS Epoxy resin tends to crystalize. No problem from the West System. I plan to keep the Mas epoxy warmer this season in a metal cabnet with a little heater.
Joel
Your temps are a little high. I biuld in my basement here in New England. The basement is a gradient from 65 at head hieght (if the heat is running) to 55 at the floor. The work (latest a Shearwater 17) is at waist level. The epoxy kicks just fine. The only problem I have is the MASS Epoxy resin tends to crystalize. No problem from the West System. I plan to keep the Mas epoxy warmer this season in a metal cabnet with a little heater.
Joel
You live in Texas, right? What you propose should work just fine-- especially if you can time your fiberglass work to take advantage of the warmer days. I bought four cheap shop lamps and some incandescent bulbs to provide direct heat when needed. You can see my setup in this blog entry: http://lakenorforkadventures.blogspot.com/2015/11/building-chesapeake-light-craft_28.html
The one problem I had is that the incandescent bulbs I bought were so cheap (advertised as more efficient) that they burned out if you breathed too loudly. I think we can thank the EPA for that, and maybe China too.
Texas? Nope Ilive in Idaho!! it was a nice warm 29 last night and its getting colder.
The reason I picked 50 for the low is, I don't really have the ability to bring the epoxy into the house when I am not working. I was afraid that if the epoxy gets to cold it will get thick, and it would take too long after warming the garage for it to warm up and thin out. I was hoping 50 would be an ok temp to hold it at.
Idaho? Brrrr... 28 when I got up today (west central WI) & signs of snow on rooftops where 40+ mph winds didn't blow it off.
If keeping your epoxy warm's your only catchpoint, I suggest buying a sheet of 1-1/2" EPS insulation to build a box w/lid you can store it in.
Duct taped together, with a 60W lightbulb in a porcelain lamp holder inside & plugged in, will keep everything at a comfy working temp. Stick a cheap thermometer inside too just so you know what's going on in there.
I have an old camp cooler I've used similarly. Run the lamp cord thru the drain hole.
The insulation idea's 'cause few folks'd likely have an old cooler around, but the physics still work.
I like the box idea. I will wait until the first power bill comes. If my sweet wife freaks out too much I will give it a try. Otherwise I will just keep moving ahead!
I have a small table that I keep my epoxy and resin on that sets next to a water heater (not gas)
Hi Mike,
I just aim a shop lamp with a 150 watt bulb at the epoxy and it works well enough over here in Missoula (see right side of photo). I built a NE Dory last winter and learned the hard way you will definitely want to keep the epoxy warmed up. I am currently building an Expedtion Wherry (pictured).
Hi Mike,
I just aim a shop lamp with a 150 watt bulb at the epoxy and it works well enough over here in Missoula (see right side of photo). I built a NE Dory last winter and learned the hard way you will definitely want to keep the epoxy warmed up. I am currently building an Expedtion Wherry (pictured).
Depending on what you pay for grid juice, a 60W conventional filament incandescent bulb (the kind that will soon be difficult to find in stores as they're 'inefficient' thus contributing to global warming) running 24/7 will burn off just under 10.1kW in a week.
By comparison, running a typical 1,500W electric space heater (NOT recommended in such a small enclosed space as that insulated box I described!!!) 24/7 burns ~ 25 times more or 252kW.
Where I am grid juice costs me $0.14/kW/h so that 60W bulb'd add $1.41 to my weekly usage (about $0.20 a day) where that space heater'd eat $35.00.
Your utility bill will tell you what you can expect to pay for everything you plug in / turn on then leave on if you know how much juice each device uses over time.
Last night I glued up all the puzzle joints for my Dory. I am a night shift worker so I do my boat building after my wife goes to bed. I turned the heat up from about 50 to 68 at 7:00PM. I went out to start working at 10PM. Finished at Midnight, before I went to bed at 3 I turned the heater back down to 50. I was a little concerned that letting the garage cool down might impact the glues hardening. I just checked and it all looks really good!