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I took the plunge :-)


tdale4

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I ordered my Cozy plans today...they will arive on friday:D Perhaps the plans will cover these questions, but I'm a little excited and perhaps a little impatient. I ordered the 285 MGS epoxy system with the sticky pump. first question. I live in the DFW area in texas, it's not extremly cold but cold none the less, what temp does it have to be for the epoxy? I'm building in my unheated garage, will this be a problem? what ratio of fast and slow hardner should i use? If i use all slow i have a long pot life right....why the need for fast? can I get by with just slow? Is the sticky pump easily adjusted for the correct ratio used by MGS? what do most of y'all do, make copies of the plans for templates or cut out the origional? and lastly any builders in the DFW area out there?

 

Tim Dale

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Welcome to the fun, Tim,

 

>what temp does it have to be for the epoxy?

Keep the epoxy in an old fridge with a light bulb to get the temp up to 110/115f.

 

>I'm building in my unheated garage, will this be a problem?

Yes. The ambiant temp (and the temp of the part) need to be at LEAST 65f, ideally 75f. You can do it at lower, but you'll use much more epoxy and the part will be heavy. Using a hair drier you'll be able to get "close" to warmer work, but its a lot of effort. Dont try a big layup with low temps.

 

>what ratio of fast and slow hardner should i use?

Directly related to ambient temp. If you use all slow and the cure temp is, say, 65f it might take 3 days to fully cure. If you use all fast and its 80f you'll be lucky to get it out of the pot before it exotherms. At a temp of 70f I'd recommend startign with 50/50. You'll learn what adjustments to make. Obviously if you need more time, like for a big layup with lots of plies, then use more slow.

 

>Is the sticky pump easily adjusted for the correct ratio used by MGS?

You have to order the right one, or an adjustable one and calibrate it using a scale. My sticky stuff pump is preset at the correct ratio for MGS. Check the ratio of the pump against what it says on the MGS bottle before filling it. Make sure the "by volume" ratio is correct. When calibrating with scales, use the "by weight" ratio.

 

>what do most of y'all do, make copies of the plans for templates or >cut out the origional?

I used the originals. If I build another plane I'll buy another set of plans. Might be a good idea to make copies first for reference. See the Cozy list archives for years of dicussion on photocopies errors. Nat recommends tracing on a light table. Cutting the originals was the easiest way for me.

 

>and lastly any builders in the DFW area out there?

I think there are. Check the Cozy list and CSA database.

Don't know what CSA is? Central States Association. This is essential information. Can't find the link right now, but it's in this database somewhere. Search for CSA and you'll find it.

I can be reached on the "other" forum http://canardaviationforum.dmt.net

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>what do most of y'all do, make copies of the plans for templates or >cut out the origional?

 

 

No, i bought a roll of tracing paper and then glued it down on luan plywood and then formed the plywood and then double sided tapped it to the roughly shaped part and patern routed the part out

 

enjoy the build

 

dust

maker wood dust and shavings - foam and fiberglass dust and one day a cozy will pop out, enjoying the build

 

i can be reached at

 

http://www.canardcommunity.com/

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Well I guess I need to place a heater in the garage...because it's not close to 70 yet. My garage has drywall in place....but no insulation behind the drywall. I don't want to tear down all the drywall....if I don't have to. I was hoping i coud get by with cutting foam insulation into pannels to fit in the metal garage door to limit heat loss thru it??? Any ideas for a grarge heater? Maybe a portable kerosene/propane heater?

 

Tim

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>I don't want to tear down all the drywall....if I don't have to

There are companies that will fill the space with expanding foam through a small hole. This might be a solution for you.

 

A search of the database here and the Cozy list archives (use Rick Maddy's search engine) will give you all the discussion on heaters you can handle. Bottom line seems to be that you need lots of ventilation.

I can be reached on the "other" forum http://canardaviationforum.dmt.net

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<... ....but no insulation behind the drywall. I don't want to tear down all the drywall....if I don't have to ...>

There's always celulose insulation. They cut a little (4") hole in the top of each bay (between studs) and blow it in. Much better R factor than fiberglass too. $/R# is lower than fiberglass.

...Destiny's Plaything...

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While I agree that cellulose has a better $/R ratio it doesn't have better R ratio than fiberglass. Actually fiberglass is a little better. I put 12" of cellulose in the attic of my shop/garage which gives me R40 while the 5.5" of fiberglass in the walls gives me R20.

Rui Lopes

Cozy MkIV S/N: 1121

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I just put a garage heater in my garage. I bought the heater from home depot. The heater is 30k BTU with a thermostat. It's natural gas and I ran a line to my gas line in my house. The installation was pretty straight forward.

 

I have put it on the first setting and it keeps my 2 car garage at about 60 deg. f. I live in Columbus Ohio and the outside temps have been around the 20's here lately. I put r-19 attic bats on the top and one half of my garage wall is insulated with r-13 and drywalled. I plan to insulate the other half in the near future.

 

I was talking to a friend last night and he told me that if you buy more than $100 of the blown fiberglass stuff from Home depot they will let you use the shooter for free. If I had to do it over again I would use the blown stuff for the top. I think you get better coverage with it.

 

I'm insulating my garage doors with the pink 1" foam. The squares in my garage door are about 21.5" x 45". I split the foam in the middle and piece it in and seal it to the door with the yellow squirt foam.

 

The heater was $250 and the gas line was about $1 a foot plus fittings.

I'm not aware of too many things. I know what I know if you know what I mean.

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Dear Tim:

 

Congrats on taking the plunge. You don't have to heat the entire garage to be able to do the glasswork. It HELPS, but it's not a show stopper. I'm in Virginia and I'm thankful it's only 33 degrees out. That never stopped me from working on my plane when it was in the garage.

 

All you have to do is (1) have warm epoxy to start with, (2) keep localized heat into the immediate area you're working on, and (3) keep the epoxy in your mixing cup warm.

 

John Slade and the others already told you about keeping your epoxy in a hot box. When fiberglassing a part, I use a heat gun or hair dryer and fan the hot air across the part continuously to keep the area warm. I occasionally point the gun into the cup to keep the epoxy warm.

 

Your body will let you know when it's too cold to do glass work. If you can work for an hour or more in your garage without feeling like an icicle, then you can do glasswork given the above provisions. I wouldn't try doing something as large as a wing, but you can certainly do bulkheads!

 

If you shiver enough to shake out your dentures, then it's way too cold. That's when you give up until spring or go buy some supplemental heat.

 

I used to live in Houston, so I know that Texas cold fronts don't last but a couple of days! :-) Be thankful.

 

So go forth! I thumb my nose at the groundhog and Mr. Winter.

 

....Wayne Hicks

Wayne Hicks

Cozy IV Plans #678

http://www.ez.org/pages/waynehicks

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I really love Houston for many reasons (I know, I am one of the few....but we sure do know how to put on a Super Bowl party....or at least halt-time).:0 ;)

 

I am gratefull that our cold only gets down to the 40's for the most part. If it dips into the twenties....or, heavans forbid the teens, the whole city shuts down.

 

We have two seasons....hot and not so hot. Summer and hot with less humidity. My layups do cure pretty well though. <g>

 

Wayne, what part of Houston did you live in?

 

Tim, where are you in Dallas. I grew up there (LBJ off Plano Rd) and most my relatives live there and SWMBO folks live in North Richland Hills (north of Ft Worth). We get up there often. She is there now visiting her folks....which means I can do lots of airplane building this weekend sans "honeydo's"

 

All the best,

 

Chris

Christopher Barber

Velocity SE/FG w/yoke. Zoom, zoom, zoom.

www.LoneStarVelocity.com

 

Live with Passion...

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League City, by Clear Creek high School. I was actually in Houston last weekend (2/1) hosting a Superbowl party. Yes, I do live in Vriginia now, but friends wanted us back to host a party. I cooked seafood gumbeaux and the red beans and rice. I promise to do the same for the Cozies some day if I can (a) host a fly-in on a weekend without 5 inches of rain, and (b) make it to Rough River some day.

 

Wayne Hicks

Wayne Hicks

Cozy IV Plans #678

http://www.ez.org/pages/waynehicks

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Chris,

 

I live in Keller, right next to north richland hills. I saw your website....Nice. I noticed you mentioned a rotary engine. I too am going to use one, either the 13B or the new renisis. But it will be a while before I have an airframe to put it on :-)

 

Tim

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