I was told by a friend that works at Dimond that Moonlight Glass in San Marcos is no longer doing epoxy due to health concerns .Is this BS ??.Never known my buddy to fib… but still.He says they have a sign hanging stating so.
** i have been saying this will be the outcome eventualy**
What are the so said health concerns?
Not too concerned with the health part.I want to know if Moonlight is no longer glassing epoxy.I know why ,I hate the stuff it makes me sick
it’s posted on their website/blog
They weren’t using epoxy, were using Resin X from what I heard.
From their website:
“Moonlight Glassing accepts walk-in shaped blanks from the public. If you
are a seasoned professional shaper or a backyard novice or somewhere in
between, we will glass your board. *Polyurethane
foam only, due to health concerns Moonlight no longer does epoxy
glassing.”
They’re entitled to do whatever kind of work they wish to offer, but it has to make you wonder. The epoxy I use has 95% less VOC’s than common polyester resin and the solvent is Gojo or orange based. If the stuff makes someone sick maybe they were sensitized to the epoxy by not using a barrier cream, gloves, and exposed themselves to acetone.
Acetone and catalysts are the two main ingredients to be concerned about. Probably styrene after that. Good ventilation is key to protecting yourself, and the extent to which most DIY’ers expose themselves is pretty negligible.
Maybe the crew down there just want to keep it simple and decided this was an acceptable reason to post? It’s an opportunity for someone else to offer high grade, professional epoxy work.
I do them both… 40 years and I’m not dead yet
…whatever pays the gas, groceries, utilities, and mortgage?
P.S. My apologies… I had not read the whole thread. Rash from sanding… I’ve had that then it went away. After that I took better precautions and no more problem. Peter Pinliner’s son explained their desire to keep it simple, and their work is soooo lyrically good they can do whatever they want…
certainly their right, but is it fair for them to perpetuate the myth of epoxy as the poisonous contaminate in their narraative at the expense of the vendors who have worked to to make it safe and more accessible to the public?
if used correctly, this stuff is child’s play compared to the materials they have standardized on.
look at the untimely cancerous deaths of so many of the shapers/finishers out there…all in an age long before epoxy entered the production shop.
They aren’t perpetuating anything and its been years since they’ve done epoxy. Nothing new here.
Someone became seriously alergic (as in swell up like a rasberry alergic). That constitues a health concern.
Even if they don't do epoxy they are still some of the best craftsmen working on boards you will ever find.
I was in the Yacht repair and painting bussiness for years. Like the people at Moonlight I became alergic to epoxy resin. I still get blistering on my arms and hands every so often.
Think about it. Polyester glass jobs , emplyees, epoxy. Why run the risk? I know of a couple of glass shops who do both in the same facility. They are small quality shops. They do Epoxy and Polyester. They've both had accidents already that required a hospital visit. You might be able to clean up with "Go-jo" for Epoxy but Poly requires acetone. There's the problem. Acetone and Epoxy are not friends. Spash a drop of acetone in your eye after you've been working with Epoxy and you maybe on your way to the ER. A small shop that the owner is personally watching over with maybe one or two careful employees; no problem. It only takes one accident to change operational practices and company procedures. Moonlight is damned busy. The typical wait on a glass job can be as long as twelve weeks. I'm sure they have more than one or two employees. Hard to watch over everybody and their bad habits. As an employer; Why run the risk? You can't watch everybody every second. Epoxy and Poly should each have their own seperate space with a closed door. Clean your hands throughly when you move from Epoxy to Poly. Don't take anything with Epoxy on it into your Poly space. Having said that; It's a fact that some people are either flat out allergic or develop allergies to either .
The fact is that epoxy is actually safer from a chemistry standpoint than Polyester. The problem is that some peiople are highly allergic to the amines that are mostly present in the hardener or “B” side of the system. They become what is called “sensitized” to the amines after usually some prolonged period (some can sensitize after their first exposure) and then are super sensitive to the product. I personally know of a case at Northrup Grumman where a woman used epoxy for 5 years until one day she started to get red bumps up and down her arms and found it difficult to breath. She couldn’t even be in the same BUILDING that the epoxy was being used after her episode. However, this does not mean epoxy is any more harmful than any other plastic resin system. To aleviate this problem just have an employee perform a simple allergy test at any local clinic and they can check for their proclivity to have a reaction to the amines present in most epoxies.
Howzit DS, I was taught that acetone affects the kidneys( might be why we are such big beer drinkers) catalyst affects the liver andstyrene is a cancer toxin. Ithinkacetone dehydrates our kidney( think I need a beer) but bn't know how catalyst affects the liver. I do kow that acetone and especially dirty acetone opens the pores and lets the chemicals in it in to oue body which definitly can't be good. But since Styrene is a known cancer maker I would just punch a hole inmt quart cans of styrene and SA so I would just squeeze the can and never got it on my skin. There is a chance that these vry chems may have contributed to my cancer since I used them for way tomany yers without any knowledge or protection. We live and learn and hopefully the younger generation can learn about the dangers of the chemical and not just how to use them to make surfboards. When I glassed for Rich Parr on Queen st in Honolulu I would come out at the end of the day just reeling and couldn't drink a beer fast enough. Have ha many surfers ask me to please make heir boards and I have had to stand my ground nd say. No but then I explain why.As for th epoxy I read here that the old West systems epoxy was probably the main culprit when it came to allergies, just my 2 cents. Aloha,Kokua
I was very affected by West system epoxy. Seems that whatever was in the Epoxy would build up in your body to a point that your body would try to rid it's self of the toxin by blistering the skin. My hands would swell up like grapefruits then turn purple and blue then blister and ooze puss. After that the top layer of skin would peal off then it took about two weeks to get back to normal. The last time I used west was around 1990 and I still get swollen fingers now and again.
All The chemicals used in surfboard production can be harmful.
the idea of ridding your body of toxins is generally poo-pooed by the mainstream medical community especially as it relates to the Natural Health field.
The Natural Health field does have very little in it to recommend, but one of their gems is ridding yourself of toxins by breaking down your fat deposits/reserves where these chemicals are bounded
up most of the time.
Losing alot of weight, combined with strenous exercise can accomplish this by breaking down your fat and losing it.
Lose the necessary weight, take a 2 week vacation , surf strenously 2-3 times a day, add running or bicycling–dont gain weight.
and yet another less effective method than the ‘lose weight/strenous exercise routine’ is the Dianetic/ Scientology/Ron Hubbard derived way whereby
you sit in steam rooms and sweat it out aided by taking niacin, probably can combine this with a bit of dietary restrictions.
Another method , but much less effective is the lemon juice fast,(perhaps the only thing sedentary people can do) but that doesnt beat any of the above by any measure.
Being succesful at this will present itself as your symptoms becoming much worse as these chemicals are unloosed from your fat deposits, then much better.
Mix and match all the above and you might have a personal recipe.
If your allergic to epoxy resin are you basicly finished with using it?
I’ve only ever glassed 1 board with epoxy, I did get a very small amount on my hands and a few days later got red dots that showed up on my palms, they itched and burned like crazy. They came and went over a period of 2 months but haven’t come back.
Am I finished with wanting to use epoxy? because I am deffinitly reluctant to glass another board with the stuff, burning red itchy hands was not fun.
hey marsh
sorry for not catching up sooner will e mail ya soon
one very good reason not to bother with epoxy look at this pic
next to the yellow railed board are two surfblanks yellows glassed with midgets ultra bright uv poly
the others are another brand foam of good repute glassed with epoxy
these boards are in my store room and are all newnot been in the sun
and yes you have been sensitised it can only get worse
**[img_assist|nid=1052821|title=a bit brown|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=286|height=640]
**
Ha! Something I can agree with from a bunch o" convicts.
Otis, I'll take the surf vacation cure.