Mixing Hardener and Resin

    This is one of the most miss-understood steps, and least explained steps. On most bottles of hardener and resin, even if they are the same brand, they will give opposing mixing instructions. This has caused a lot of confusion, but I'll try to clear it all up, and give a more understandable way to mix the two. But, there are considerations you will have to take into affect when mixing the hardener and resin: Humidity and Temperature.

    On the kit I bought, it said if using 1/4 bottle of resin, use 1/4 bottle of hardener, and so on. But, if you buy everything separately, you will have to figure out how to mix it. So, here it is:

     For every 40 fluid ounces of resin you use, you will want to use 1 fluid ounce of hardener.

But, that is such a large amount, and people generally don't know how much a fluid ounce is, and bottles of resin don't come that large. They generally come in this size of 20 fluid ounces, so you would use .5 fluid ounces of hardener. But, how much is .5 fluid ounces. Well, that is about 60 drops of hardener. So there is a ratio of fluid ounces of resin to drops of hardener:

Normal Humidity and Temperature(70*)

1 fluid ounce of resin - 3 drops of hardener.

If is it warmer out, the resin/hardener mix will dry faster than under normal conditions, so use this ratio:

Normal Humidity and High Temperature(>75*)

 1 fluid ounce of resin - 2 drops of hardener.

If it is high humidity out, but normal temperature, the air is wetter, so use this ratio:

High Humidity and Normal Temperature(70*)

1 fluid ounce of resin - 4 drops of resin

If it is a high temperature, and the humidity is high, use this ratio:

High Humidity and High Temperature(>75*)

1 fluid ounce of resin - 3 drops of hardener

Use these ratios, and you should be fine.


How-To Guide to Fiberglassing        Creating Forms        Why Fiberglass        What You Will Need       

Warnings and Precautions        Home

 

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1