Ok, if anyone saw this one last night (it was new), and can explain to me how working wet epoxy/resin with BARE HANDS into the fabric is anywhere near ok to do…or even possible? How the HELL do they clean their hands off?! Dip them in acetone!!!
Besides that, I want one…a yellow translucent light weight canoe!
I don’t know how the heck these shows choose a shop to film at. Probably a no-name company that is desperate for attention.
Sounds like they are making garbage products, and have no idea what the hell they’re doing!
Here it is, bare handing resin soaked cloth. Cannot be healthy to do this occupationally. Nice product though.
http://www.wenonah.com/video/index.php
It’s made in China. Watch that video and notice the scale they use to weigh the canoe is in Chinese.
[QUOTE=shawn_nj;22413]Here it is, bare handing resin soaked cloth. Cannot be healthy to do this occupationally. Nice product though.
http://www.wenonah.com/video/index.php
Thanks for posting the link. 
I like the kevlar shears, are they air or electric powered?
Thanks for the video. It confirms that product is garbage.
No way that shop is in China though. There are crappy workshops in the U.S. too, and they’re using cheap Chinese scales.
Looking at their processes, I can see why they dont wear gloves. They probably need ever single penny just to break even.
I still want one.
1: shears, can be air or electric…from the video, i can’t tell. Looks heavy duty. Need damn expensive blades though.
2: can’t be too bad. they have dealers in many states. The video, besides the obvious “WTFs”, didn’t look so bad. Chinese scales just mean it’s cheap. As long as it’s accurate within their specs. For a canoe…I’d say ± 1/2` is good enough!!
3: oh yeha, using mesh as a breather is odd too…
I’m going to go write the company and get some details.
You’re saying their process is expensive. Out of curiosity, How would you take the cost out of that?
The Chinese are infamous for not giving a crap about thier own health, or creating industrial health hazards. In fact they don’t care if the product they sell us here in the US has lead in it. Lead is cheap and plentiful… and apparently so is the Chinese labor.
I watched the video, the workers don’t look to be chinese…the only thing that had chinese on it was the scale. The bare hands for scraping resin is odd…unfortuntaly not unheard of though. Normally you get one old guy in a shop and he establishes the way things are done and the new guys that come in just don’t know any better and follow his example. now i have used mesh before as a breather fabric, it works great. Now i have used it for a oven cure or autoclave piece but i use it only when i’m debulking. It can be used over and over and over, without having to worry about resin sticking to it. It would work great for room temp cure stuff and debulking like i use it for.
Mesh does not work as a breather at all! It’s not a fabric, and doesn’t absorb anything. It will help air and resin flow, but won’t absorb any excess resin from a laminate.
I have never used mesh for a breather layer, however I am pretty sure that all those open cells would fill with excess resin. of course you probably wouldnt get as low of a RC that you would using breather.
Your right mesh will not asorb resin, but what if there not wanting to take any resin out laminate while curing.
Cool video, thanks for the post. Hey, Don’t panic…all you guys wear golves…right? Who cares if they don’t. It’s good to see what other folks do and how they build stuff. That’s how I learn more,sometimes the “what not to do” is invaluable.
BTW…hey TET, What’s up with all the “negative attitude” responses? For a site admin and expert,you sure tear up a lot of posts. Is that negativity really necessary?
It’s not negativity at all. They are corrections or constructive criticism.
In this case, there’s nothing good happening in that video. Do you want me to sugar coat my input?
It would be a happy world if everybody was right 100% of the time and didn’t need any corrections. But when there’s bad info or people are asking about how to do something right, people with experience need to help out.
So how is using mesh as a breather wrong? Does it work like breather, yes and no will it evactuate air like breather yes, will it asorb excess ressin, no. Is mesh breather reusable after cure, yes. Is typical cloth breather reusable after cure no. Will mesh breather crush after it has seen vacuum and or autoclave pressures…no does typical cloth breather crush, yes. Will mesh breather leave a imprint on the top of the part after cure, yes, will cloth breather leave a imprint. not normally.
Like i said in my first post in this thread, i have used both types of breathers, i normally use the mesh stuff for debulk if i have it around, but i don’t like the imprint it can leave on a part after cure. Plus when i’m building a composite tool or a autoclave part where the lamiate is coveres in solid release film that is taped to the tool with only glass string sticking out from the tool to help evacutate air out out of the laminate then cloth breather works best and not breather.
I hope this was the right information, i mean i’ve only been doing compostite work for 7 yrs.
With composites you guys should always listen and be open minded and not act like you know everything! theres way too many materials and process that have been and are being done along with many which have yet to be found. If you close your mind you’ll never advance. Its all about application.
exactly i was closed minded when a guy told me he was using black trash bags as bagging matterial. I laughed and said no way, then he showed me the parts he was making, i had to eat my words. He was also using a low temp cure and his molds were very simple conturs nothing fancy. It worked for him
I like the vacuum bags that Walmart sells in their closet isle… nice and stretchy for sure and one end is resealable… the bag can be reused many times if you protect it from resin… BUT those bags do suck for epoxy resin…eats holes in the bag. For polyester resin they work great. Cost around $6 or 7 per bag 26"x36" or so.