Will this blow me up?

Have a melamine enclosure that somewhere in the process will be getting coated in polyurethane sealer. 40ish sq foot worth.

I dont really have a heated area, and hit upon the idea of my backyard shed with power would fit the thing on sawhorses. Due to the cold, was thinking run a heater in there closed up should keep it nice and toasty. I know the fumes arn't good to breathe, but would they be heavy enough to be like condensing onto the heater and burning up or lighting in the air like gasoline vapor?

use an electric heater

Please videotape this.

In before the Knowing When To Put Your Husband Down thread.

It's an electric plug in, long and low, has like tilt protection. (Bump it turns off.) Gets hot enough though to make dust on it stink.....


Wonder if this cold the stuff will cure at all, or just have to wait 1month +.. Hesitant to even do in cold garage lest i stink up house.

Plough in heater, warm up shed and enclosure, turn off heater spray enclosure ( use air supply or at least a chunk of harden hose as a snorkel to outside the shed), vent fumes and plug heater in, close door and let it cure. Have a large fire extinguisher or two on hand just in case.

Hold my beer and watch this!!
But seriously leave the door open a crack. Make sure the piece is warm before you coat it. If its cold it may not cure. Are you brushing or spraying. If your spraying the risk is higher.

Just do do it in the basement?

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Originally Posted by Jamnanc

Hold my beer and watch this!!
But seriously leave the door open a crack. Make sure the piece is warm before you coat it. If its cold it may not cure. Are you brushing or spraying. If your spraying the risk is higher.

Just do do it in the basement?

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More ignition sources there most likely, water heater pilot, furnace pilot, sparks from light switches from other household members turning on or off lights. Fumes being sucked into the HVAC system.

Besides, as the OP stated, he doesn't want to stink up the house.

Must be just me but why are you sealing melamine?

If he's applying with a brush or roller it's not very likely he'll have a problem.

Brush,

It's a cage for a monitor. Needs to withstand humidity. Had some damage in it. (Used cage) It will actually likely be covered over in either decorative vinyl or pergo type flooring slats. Those and the melamine need to be protected from the 60-70% humidty (including a foot of damp dirt)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fitz19d

Brush,

It's a cage for a monitor. Needs to withstand humidity. Had some damage in it. (Used cage) It will actually likely be covered over in either decorative vinyl or pergo type flooring slats. Those and the melamine need to be protected from the 60-70% humidty (including a foot of damp dirt)

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Wait 1 month. Temp will affect cure time, with potential for issues down the road. Any reason you're not using shower enclosure plastic ?

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Originally Posted by jslo

Must be just me but why are you sealing melamine?

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I ditto this? Melamine is pretty slick, not much will stick to it.

From lizard forums I've read a bit on, even melamine if not given extra protection can get penetrated by moisture over time or if something like a big lizard scratches it. That and at least on the outside this one has some chunks out of it.


Now given what this cage is for it may be fine. But it's also practicing some skills at making what I want before I build the huge tegu tank by scratch 8x4x4foot. (Vs this 4x2x2 test subject.) (That one will be plywood so will need the coverage., will have cracks as it's going to be build to bolt/hinge toghether as it has to be in 2 parts to fit the door)


Going off from original thing, but I was still not quite sure what I was going to use to put either sheet vinyl or the boards to it. Assumed some kind of gorilla glue or purpose made glue, or possibly tiny little nails.

Use water based finish instead of lacquer based. Going to need to keep space in low 70's(minimum) for entire dry/cure cycle. Some ventilation(to evacuate flashed vapor - water) would be helpful but works against keeping temp up.

As has been stated, almost nothing will stick to the melamine surface for long. You could scuff sand it but that could defeat the purpose.

You could use (hpl) laminate and glue it to the melamine.

^^ The water based polys are a little harder also, and cure nicely indoors.