Alternative ways to heating a press?

[strocka]

Ive been looking for a way to heat my press for about a month now and I've been in contact with several companies that make silicon blankets and I cant find one that I can afford. Is there anything that can be a substitute for a silicon blanket? Any cheaper solutions from a company that I don't know about? Any system that I can get at a hardware store to heat this thing? The resin that I have is from QCM (EMV-0043 & ECA-032). Not exactly the fastest setting epoxy so I would like to add some heat to speed up the process. Any suggestions? please!

Thanks

[chrismp]

only other options i can think of are either heating your cattrack with water running through it given its a metal cattrack (this only gives you top heating unless you have two cattracks) or you could build a big box around your press and put a heater inside it.

[Richuk]

Not sure what temp you need... I used these for a while http://www.discountfloorheating.co.uk/c ... _price.asp . Will give you 40oC - I was never able to find the 200w version, but I think it's out there.

Used pipe insulation along the edge of the cassette - catches the epoxy and helps seal in the heat.

Line skis and Leaf ran hot water below the mold - assuming the mold must be around 3 mm

Whatever you chose, have a think about 'repeatable results' before pushing the boundaries of what is possible.

[twizzstyle]

The QCM epoxy you're using is designed for a heated cure, you shouldn't be using it if you're not heating it. ~180 deg F is the ballpark.

It will still cure without heat, but it won't be a complete cure.

You can get different epoxies that are better suited for room temperature cures.

There are a few clever ideas people have come up with for press heating, but for the amount of time/effort it takes to come up with a viable solution, you may be better off saving your pennies until you can afford a silicone blanket. They're expensive, but they work VERY well.