lml@lancaironline.net Mailing List Archive

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> << Lancair Builders' Mail List >> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Lots of good ideas! This is great! Cleaning up epoxy on your skin has never been easy. I occasionally succumb to the "just a quick wipe of MC won't hurt me" but I really hate to do that. I'll try the vinegar. Concerning brush cleaning -- I bought a lifetime supply of "chip brushes" (that's what they call them at the tool store). I bought them from a safety equipment store in the Los Angeles area, whose name I forgot. Their minimum order was $50, which bought me about 250 brushes. These are the same type of brushes that Lancair sold us about 3 of in the kit. (Okay, maybe it was 3 dozen...) I just throw them away. Cleaning plastic squeegees -- leave all the epoxy on them and lay them aside to cure. When it hardens, break it off by flexing the plastic. If you try to wipe it off prior to cure, you won't get it all off and it will be too thin to crack off after curing. Just lay it on a piece of plastic baggie when you've finished wetting out the cloth. Replacement squeegees can be obtained at the hardware or auto parts store in the Bondo section. About 35 cents each. I bought a big white rubber squeegee from Aircraft Spruce, and it was terrible! At least I can't use it -- maybe you guys are better than me at this. Latex gloves can be obtained at the industrial tool stores in your area. A box of 100 costs about $8. I probably use three times as many as I need to, since when they get epoxy on them I take them off and put on a new pair. Maybe it's extravagant, but I don't have sticky fingerprints all over my shop. When I got married, we each had vacuum cleaners. I took the crappy one and I leave it under my project, so it's easy to get to. I seem to be turning it on about every 20 minutes for about 30 seconds to clean up the mess I just made. No, it's not a shop vac, but it works fine. Maybe it's overkill, but the garage is clean and I don't track dust thru the house. Someday I'll change the bag. Happy building! - Rob Wolf [Re: cleanup... Rubbing alcohol works great as well. Watch for sales at your local grocery or department store... Walmart frequently has it on sale for 33c a bottle. Re: chip brushes... Harbor Freight sells one inchers for a quarter and two inchers for 33 cents each. Another great deal is to stock up on acid brushes, those are the ones with the tubular metal handles, at both Sun'n'Fun and Oshkosh... there are dealers all over the fly markets that will have them for as little as a nickel apiece. I buy a couple hundred at a time and they last me til the next convention. Re: latex gloves... Harbor Freight again... 5 bux a box. Re: vacuums... Take a look at the Shop page on my website... I've got a mod listed there for your average shop vac. It entails installing a standpipe at the hose inlet to the tank and replacing the paper filter with a foam one. The standpipe goes to within an inch of the bottom of the canister which has about 3-4" of water in it. Everything gets filtered by the water. Use a 1/2 cup of Clorox in the water to keep it from smelling bad. Nary a lick of dust ever gets past the water filter. <Marv> ] LML website: http://www.olsusa.com/Users/Mkaye/maillist.html LML Builders' Bookstore: http://www.buildersbooks.com/lancair Please send your photos and drawings to marvkaye@olsusa.com.