dixontj93060
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2009
- Messages
- 13,083
- Reaction score
- 45
Well the time has come. I have to do something to reduce the "friction" when working on rockets in/around the house. My wife, after experiencing full blown Lyme's Disease a couple years back, now has extreme sensitivity to odors, especially those related to the typical volatile solvents we utilize in finish work of our rockets. The result is I have been evaluating options that reduce VOC emissions and, in turn, tend to significantly reduce outgassing odors. First, I want to say this is not a scientific and/or exhaustive search, it is just a quick evaluation and determination based on past experiences with products and some initial testing on a couple of builds. I have used a wide variety laminate and finish systems both branded and generic. My current "go to" combo is as follows:
I have been experimenting with the following with fairly good results. My low-VOC choice for primer is now a brush on Rust-Oleum product under the sub-brand Zinsser, called Bondz. This is specially formulated with high solids and some type of acrylic resin/bonding agent to provide superior adhesion. In fact, it has worked so well, I have stopped using Dupli-Color Adhesion Promoter (another extreme odor product) on my nosecones. I usually do two application rounds with a chip brush to a FG laminate base. I then sand to near full exposure and do one more "spot" application to fill more stubborn weave areas. In the past I had tried Kilz products--this is far better and more like a two-part primer such as PolyFiber EP-420. The other advantage to Bondz is that it bright white, so I no longer do a base coat and have been able to achieve good results with flat, gloss, and metallic final coats after final primer sanding with 320 grit paper. But above all, the Bondz product has very little, to no odor.
The other "nut to crack" is my reliance on Bondo Spot Putty. As most know, the odor from this product is extremely strong and pungent. It is also extremely convenient. No mixing and great application compatibility with Rust-Oleum automotive products for fixing minor imperfections. It is also easy to sand/feather making sanding rounds reasonably fast and successful. The one drawback is that it is soft and can nick and be damaged fairly easy if hit in the right spot. There is a wonderful product on the market that fits all the requirements in this area and, in fact, is a bridge between PolyFiber SuperFil and Bondo Spot Putty, it is AeroPoxy Light. This product even more important for this application, is zero VOC. Saying that, and although I have trialed it, I'm not quite ready to jump completely to AeroPoxy Light due to the cost especially considering the many successive final rounds of filler/sanding. So my current plan is to retire both the PolyFiber SuperFil and the Bondo Spot Putty by using US Composites 635 with Fast Hardener along with their SM Fairing Filler and Q-cells (micro-balloons). This combination works extremely well and reasonably mimics AeroPoxy Light at a much lower cost. Also, given the epoxy base, it is more durable than the Bondo Spot Putty. The downside is that you use a lot of filler. Ratios here are 1:2 epoxy vs filler by volume (and for the 2-parts I use an equal amount of SM Fairing and micro-balloons). The saving grace is that the filler material is cheap averaging ~$10 for 5 quarts of product.
OK, so that's where I'm at with my first step in reducing VOC/odor. I don't know if any others have run into this problem and are addressing it, if so, I'd love to hear of options you are considering.
- US Composites 635 for lamination
- SuperFil (from PolyFiber) for major/first fill
- Rust-Oleum Automotive Filler-Primer spray
- Bondo Spot Putty for minor/subsequent fill rounds
- Rust-Oleum 2X White Primer as base coat
- Rust-Oleum 2X, Rust-Oleum Metallic or Dupli-Color auto for final coat
- Future Finish acrylic clear coat
I have been experimenting with the following with fairly good results. My low-VOC choice for primer is now a brush on Rust-Oleum product under the sub-brand Zinsser, called Bondz. This is specially formulated with high solids and some type of acrylic resin/bonding agent to provide superior adhesion. In fact, it has worked so well, I have stopped using Dupli-Color Adhesion Promoter (another extreme odor product) on my nosecones. I usually do two application rounds with a chip brush to a FG laminate base. I then sand to near full exposure and do one more "spot" application to fill more stubborn weave areas. In the past I had tried Kilz products--this is far better and more like a two-part primer such as PolyFiber EP-420. The other advantage to Bondz is that it bright white, so I no longer do a base coat and have been able to achieve good results with flat, gloss, and metallic final coats after final primer sanding with 320 grit paper. But above all, the Bondz product has very little, to no odor.
The other "nut to crack" is my reliance on Bondo Spot Putty. As most know, the odor from this product is extremely strong and pungent. It is also extremely convenient. No mixing and great application compatibility with Rust-Oleum automotive products for fixing minor imperfections. It is also easy to sand/feather making sanding rounds reasonably fast and successful. The one drawback is that it is soft and can nick and be damaged fairly easy if hit in the right spot. There is a wonderful product on the market that fits all the requirements in this area and, in fact, is a bridge between PolyFiber SuperFil and Bondo Spot Putty, it is AeroPoxy Light. This product even more important for this application, is zero VOC. Saying that, and although I have trialed it, I'm not quite ready to jump completely to AeroPoxy Light due to the cost especially considering the many successive final rounds of filler/sanding. So my current plan is to retire both the PolyFiber SuperFil and the Bondo Spot Putty by using US Composites 635 with Fast Hardener along with their SM Fairing Filler and Q-cells (micro-balloons). This combination works extremely well and reasonably mimics AeroPoxy Light at a much lower cost. Also, given the epoxy base, it is more durable than the Bondo Spot Putty. The downside is that you use a lot of filler. Ratios here are 1:2 epoxy vs filler by volume (and for the 2-parts I use an equal amount of SM Fairing and micro-balloons). The saving grace is that the filler material is cheap averaging ~$10 for 5 quarts of product.
OK, so that's where I'm at with my first step in reducing VOC/odor. I don't know if any others have run into this problem and are addressing it, if so, I'd love to hear of options you are considering.
Last edited: