Epoxy Tips

There has been some interest in the fine art of playing with epoxy, so I thought I would add some helpful hints;

Have all of your materials ready before you mix the epoxy. Once mixed, your working time is limited. Depending on temperature, it has a "pot life" of about 15 min. and a "working time" of about 30 min. It cures faster in hot weather, slower in cold. Materials you should have on hand are

-Mixing pots (the plastic ones, like for paint)

-Mixing sticks - I get the ones made for epoxy (black) 'cause you can reuse them a few times.

-Disposable Nitrile gloves (lots) - Harbor Freight has a box of 100 for about $6.00

-Disposable chip brushes - box of 50 (1") at HF for $3.00

-Fiberglass (cut to size before mixing)

-Thickener - I use West Systems 404 or 406 (high density adhesive fillers) for most of my work

-Acetone - Nasty stuff, but crucial for surface preparation.

-Chemical gloves - the nitrile gloves don't hold up to acetone, and it can destroy your liver.

(My liver needs all the breaks it can get)

I start with surface prep. Rust areas are de-rusted, then all areas that will touch epoxy get wiped down with acetone. When my repair area is clean and dry, I mix about 3 pumps of epoxy in a cup and stir thoroughly. To this first batch I add thickener to make the mix 'peanut butter' consistency. This is sloppy enough to still stick to stuff, but firm enough to hold its shape. I use a mixing stick to mash this into any holes/voids/uneven areas to make a semi-smooth surface for the fiberglass.

When I've used all the thickened epoxy, I mix another 3 pumps in the same pot. I use a brush to spread unthickened epoxy on the areas to be fiber glassed. Then I start adding fiberglass (you cut it to size already, right? the clock is ticking now.) Smallest pieces go on first. Apply fiberglass and press gently into the repair area. Use the brush to "wet out" the fiberglass, applying epoxy and smooshing it around until the fiberglass turns from white to clear. Add the next, larger layer of fiberglass, and repeat "wetting out". Add as many layers as you need to fill the hole or bond stuff together. I always finish with woven 'cloth' fiberglass because it gives a smoother finish once it hardens. If you do lots of layers, it's a good idea to get a resin roller and roll over it to mash out air bubbles and extra epoxy. No air bubbles=a much stronger repair.

Clean up spillage with acetone before it hardens, or better yet, protect surrounding surfaces before you get started. Epoxy sticks to ANYTHING and the only way to get it off once it hardens is sanding or grinding. Set the pot and mixing stick aside and let them cure. If you squeeze the pot and bend the stick once the epoxy is hard (the next day) it pops off and you can reuse the pot and stick (see picture, the brush is in a perfect epoxy mold of the pot).

I used about 4 layers of fiberglass to bond the floor to the walls. In the picture above you can see the pre-cut fiberglass layers for a large hole on the floor. Seven was just about right for that.

Once you finish the repair and it hardens, you can sand it and 'fair' it if you care what it looks like. (I'll go into fairing another time, it's a process unto itself) All fiberglass repairs should be painted or protected from sunlight. It is technically a plastic, and will start to break down with exposure to UV in sunlight.

Wearing a bandanna is a good idea if you have hair. I got epoxy in my bangs while working on the boat in Key West. Nothing to do but cut it out. So I had a nice little duck's ass curl in the middle of my forehead, and everybody laughed at me for a while. Fairly warned be ye, says I.

MY floor won't drop out

I've nearly finished prepping the floor of the van. It has been de-rusted and given a coat of primer. I just need to finish sealing all the joints and seams with fiberglass, then one more overall coat of primer. Sealing all the seams may be overkill, but this van is my future house. I'd rather overkill than wish I'd done better, later. Do it right, do it once. The next step is to install a plywood sub floor, which will level out the current uneven state of the floor, and serve as a secure attachment point for my interior structures.
I have also taken painstaking measurements, so I can draw the van to scale and come up with a "floor plan" for the bed/kitchen/cabinets/battery box, etc. I will also determine where I need wiring, so I can install it before I put up the insulation and "walls". I've always liked scale drawing. I've used it in innumerable carpentry projects, and did a stint as a landscape designer for a while. Drawing and writing are great tools in my creative process. They help me generate ideas, see what will work and what won't, and think through the constuction process so I don't leave out critical steps.
Measure twice, cut once.

Tampons and Ammo

We've been hearing that it's somehow OUR fault that the "recession" is continuing. Everybody is starting to wise up and not buy a bunch of worthless crap they don't need, and as buying worthless crap is 2/3 of our GDP, it 'aint looking good.

So I thought I would do my part to stimulate consumer spending. I blew about $200.00 today. Most of that was spent on ammo. The first sprawl mart I went to was nearly out. There were big empty spaces in the ammo case, and several men standing in front of it, talking on cell phones and scratching their heads. It concerned me. I was reassured to see that Sports Academy had added an entire table for ammo, and it was full. They're not stupid. They know what's selling. The second sprawl mart had the big boxes of .22lr I was after. I took half their stock.

I did get this super nifty case from Harbor Freight for $20.

It has a sturdy, bi-fold lid with piano hinges and additional latches, and locks. They are the cheap crappy combo locks, but at least kids can't open it. It even has neat little pockets inside to hold the gun cleaning stuff.

I also spent about $30 on tampons. I like them, and now have about 6 months worth. Turns out you get almost as many weird looks buying bullets and tampons as you do buying condoms and cucumbers.

Eagle Spirit

I saw a bald eagle today. He never flapped his wings once, just circled higher and higher on the currents of the wind.
I know it is not coincidence that this symbol of freedom should appear to me today.
I've seen him closer once before, and it seemed odd that he should be here, in the very heart of the city.
I think he is my soul.
Flying free despite the chaos that surrounds him.

I am so thankful today. The voice of beauty and truth is speaking to me once again.
I am on my path, and the Universe provides.

She's Got her Ticket

I now have a hard date of April 1st to be out of here. I had the Difficult Discussion last night, and it was easier than I thought. We both agreed it was time for me to move on.

So I have 2 months to finish the van and get ret rid of the remaining material crap I have accumulated, while still working part time. That is pushing it. I'd better get my ass in gear.

It is a relief to know that the last attachment holding me here has been dissolved.

I do grieve for that which is passing away, but I am really excited about the road ahead.

Mostly though, I just feel FREE.

Goodbye

It's so difficult for me to see you sitting there looking all dejected. You try to look stoic, and you do, but I can feel the waves of hurt coming off of you. They harmonize with the hurt I already feel and make being in your presence intolerable.

I hate to hurt anyone, especially someone I love.

It has, however, become impossible for me to deny that we are on two very different paths. Due to my experiences with the Dominant Paradigm, and to my free spirited nature, I choose to reject what our society sees as worldly success. By most accounts that makes me certifiably insane. But I believe that life is not measured in the number of breaths we take but by the number of breathtaking moments we experience.

Don't get me wrong, I admire you for being ambitious and working hard. And I can completely understand that you have a plan to make a secure future for yourself.

I also have a plan to make a secure future for myself. But it doesn't involve lots of money and a 401K and Social Security. It involves fertile Earth and a community of like minded people who actually get pleasure from chopping wood and carrying water. It involves a lifestyle of direct connection to the Earth and it's cycles, and of sustainability and respect that I find this culture so sorely lacking.

Yes, I do plan on going off to "grow carrots" (and a whole lot more!) for a living. And if I die in poverty at 45 or 55, at least I will be able to go out into the woods and meet death on my own terms.

I will not be struck dead by heart attack or stroke trying to keep up with the unnatural demands of this system. And I will not die a horrific painful drawn-out death on machines and chemicals as I suffer from some Industrial disease. I will not live a miserable life as a wage slave, and wonder at the end, what I lived for.

I will die happy.

I seek to escape this trap our culture has set for us; make more money to buy more things, be indentured for 30+ years to the 'company store' just to have a roof over my head. Fuck that. You only live once (well, maybe not, but I intend to make the most of it).

As I am certifiably mad, I cannot ask and don't expect that you subsidise my pipe-dream hippie reality with your conventional reality. I completely understand if you want me to leave. But I would like to stay for a couple months while I get my new home ready. I will pay rent of course, and try not to be a burden or disturbance. But if you want me to go I will find a way.

I used to hope you would come with me, but unless the world ends tomorrow I know that is unlikely.

For some reason I feel like I need to make clear my reasons for leaving;

New Orleans is not a logical place to live. Glaciers all over the world are melting at an unprecedented rate, a 25 mile chunk of Antarctica is getting ready to break off, and we are several feet below sea level. I can only see the sea levels rising, and tropical storms intensifying as our poor abused planet tries to blow off heat.

Our food production and distribution systems are fatally flawed. They depend entirely on fossil fuels and are inherently unstable, not to mention unhealthy.

Our economy has for some time been built on pretend money. The depth of its imaginary nature is just beginning to be seen, and I believe the price we will pay in terms of cost in human lives has yet to come due, but is not far off.

We are approaching the nexus of a perfect storm created by our greed and lack of foresight. I don't know what exactly is coming, but I feel in my bones that we are rapidly approaching a time of great change. Our false, unsustainable systems will fall away, and I want to be a part of the sustainable systems that will eventually take their place.

I also want to be with my family, especially my Mom, as things restructure themselves. I owe her a deep debt of gratitude, as throughout the twists and turns of my rather bizarre life she has always been there for me without judgement and without fail.

I love you and I wish you the best. I hope I am wrong about the coming changes. But I will still be happiest growing 'carrots' in a communal setting.

I am truly, deeply sorry for hurting you. I do love you, and I did try to live your life. But I am stifled here. I am a caged bird. I cannot breathe in this city.

And you wouldn't love me anyway if I killed the part of me that is free.

So I cast off the bowlines and take a leap of faith into the unknown.

Bring me that horizon.

Spoiler

I have completed the first layup of my rain catching van "spoiler". I still need a few more layers of fiberglass to get the height and strength that I want, then a good bit of grinding and fairing to make it look halfway decent. But already the van leaks less and rattles less. She grows stronger by the day.

I used a piece of the steel trim that holds up the interior ceiling panels as support for my new gutter. I applied blue tape and spray-on cooking oil to the trim first, to keep it from becoming a permanent part of my fiberglass artwork.

As it begins to cure and solidify I squish air bubbles out of it and encourage it into the shape I desire. When it starts to get fairly stiff I will add another layer to "hot batch" it all together.

If the epoxy is allowed to cure completely, it is necessary to give it a light sanding and wipe it down with acetone to remove the 'amine blush' that will prevent the next layer from making a good bond.

I didn't think it was possible, but my van is even uglier than it used to be. Nothing says classy like uneven patches of gray primer, and strings of fiberglass flying in the wind....

I actually enjoy the fact that it is so ugly as to be offensive to all the sheeple in their Hummers and Escalades. It's sort of fun to watch pedestrians tremble in fear when they consider crossing in front of me. If I didn't anticipate stealth parking I wouldn't even paint it, but anyone who sees it parked on their street now is definitely going to think a serial killer lives in it and call the cops.

Eventually it will get painted 'Desert-ed tan' which is a flat paint the color of dust in the desert. It will still look scary, just not serial killer scary.

I've got to get the interior liveable first though.

"Count down, America, where are you now? Minuteman, please show me how, to wash this blood from my hands, make it go away. The evils of my forefathers pale to those today."

Clutch - 'Arcadia'