Cold weather finishing

[mjcoman]

Today its 19 deg in the garage(shop) and I am having no luck finishing anything. I have 3 pens that I have tried to finish using the dissolved acrylic method. But I can't get it to set up correctly. Lots of ridges. What would be a good finish to use in cold weather?

I am trying to finish presents. THATS the only reason I am trying to turn in the snow.

Thanks for your help!

Cold Snowy and Not able to finish!

 

[fiferb]

Any way you can set up a space heater? Most finishes require the temp to be no lower than a certain degree. I'm sure 19 is well below that.

 

[mjcoman]

I wish I could do that. But I only have one socket. Laugh, between the lathe and the halogen lamp, I am afraid to add anything else to the circuit. But it is a good idea!!

 

[rdunn12]

Well if your space is large enough you could use a kerosene heater.I used to do that in my old shop.I would turn it on and let it heat up the shop and then turn it off after the shop was warm.Of course,it was'nt 19 in my shop.And it was well ventilated.And it was a small space.14 x 16,so it did'nt take long to heat up.

 

[maxwell_smart007]

Any chance you could hire an electrician for an hour to put in a new breaker and a few new outlets?

 

[wdcav1952]

Michael, without some heat I can't think of any finish that would work. From my perspective, you need to be around 60 degrees for finishing.

 

[ahoiberg]

hey michael, sounds like we're in the same area of the country. i've actually successfully used CA in my cold, cold shop. i just use accelerator and apply the CA heavily. then i sand down the cruddy looking appearance and it goes just like normal CA.

 

[mjcoman]

Sounds like I am outta time for pens and bottle stoppers. Next year I will get started soon. And then of course next year it will be 70 degrees all the way into December.

Thanks for your help.

 

[bradh]

CA sets with a chemical reaction and moisture is the main accelerant for this reaction. The problem maybe the low moisture content in the cold air rather than the temperature. Some one mentioned using an accererant spray in the cold; that is a good choice.
I find I have to adjust my finish set times from the hot humid summer days to the cold dry-air winter days; and my shop is in the heated/air conditioned house.

 

[thewishman]

I got frozen out on Saturday, 19 is too cold for me to hold the metal tools for very long. Just milling blanks was a little too cold. Heat wave is coming - supposed to be 45 in a day or so. Take advantage of the warm weather. I've done lots of plexi finishes in the 30s and 40s (that's degrees not decades.)