Orange tooling Gel help

[fiberglass jack]

a little to cold are u doing it outdoors

[j2nh]

Yes we are outdoors. There is simply no way to transport the jump to an indoor location. Other option we are considering is building a temporary sturcture with tarps and heating with propane. What sort of temps should we be looking for for application and then for the next 24 hours?

[fiberglass jack]

the thing is gelcoat needs around 70 ,on a good day the sun will heat the jump and the gel will cure fast, all you need is a simple tent and some heaters, make sure you leave enough room to work if u try to cover after spraying the tarp may drop on the jump thrust me murphy will be with u, go with 3% hardner and u should be fine, the hotter the better for curing gel

[fiberglass jack]

the gel coat should be ready to sand in 3 to 6 hours if its still soft after that u have a problem some times the cold weather will retard the gel and the chemicals separate if this happens wash it off with acetone and go again, with the heat you should only need 6 hours not 24

[j2nh]

Thanks Jack, I am Murphy when it comes to things going wrong. Will watch the weather and start putting together a tent.
Appreciate all of the help.
Jim

[adamfocht]

Gel coats (especially tooling gel coats) are formulated to use at around 70 degrees. So if you have a consistant 60 degree temperature, adjust the catalyst ratio of your gel coat accordingly. Most tooling gel coats I've used are formulated for a 1.8 to 2.2% mixing ratio. This basically means that for each quart of gel coat, add 18 to 22 cc of catalyst and then 2% wax additive (20 cc). At 60 degrees you should have about a 15-17 minute working time and roughly a 30 minute gel time once applied.

Are you sure it's a tooling gel coat? I only ask because tooling gel coats don't hold up to UV nearly as well as standard gel coats, and are more brittle and prone to stress cracking than standard gel coats.

good luck

[j2nh]

Positive. Orange Tooling Gel. As I memtioned earlier this was used many years ago on the first fiberglass surface. Some of those surfaces are still in use today (20 years). Because of the need for consistancy between jump ramps Orange Tooling Gel, for better or worse, is the standard.

[fiberglass jack]

tooling gel is a iso resin and some are vinyalester. regular gel is orth, the tooling gel for jumps would have a uv block added , tooling gel can handle the heat and stress thats why its used for tooling, the problem is if the fiberglass is layed up with GP resin ortho this would cause stress on the gel as its iso and contract differently this is why u will see stress cracks tooling gel is far better only that it costs more, i only use tooling gel iso i buy it clear so i can make it what ever color i want