Combating Old Man Winter...

Believe it or not, some parts of Florida do get cold in the winter.  Sure, we don't get snow, and hardly ever any ice, but we still get temperatures that prevent glassing work from about Nov through Feb/Mar.

I had to find a way to keep working so I took a page from other builder logs and built a heat tent to enable glassed parts to cure at a proper temp.  Combined with my semi-heated garage, I should be able to work through the winter and keep making progress.

My solution was simple...1/2" PVC attached to the workbench in 4 places creating a tent structure to support 4 mil plastic.  Inside the tent is a small, oscillating ceramic heater capable of keeping the tent above 80 degrees.  Pic

The PVC is secured at the bottom with a wood screw so it can pivot.  The upper portion (of the bottom) is secured in place with a large nail used as a pin.  Pop the horizontal pieces on, cover in heavy plastic, and your in business.  When you pull the top horizontal pieces off, the vertical supports fold down out of the way when not needed. 














It's also adjustable for the job.  With 4 supports running the length of the bench, I can make it the size I need for the parts that are curing.  I can also easily put an extention on one or multiple sets of supports to make a portion taller if needed.

The whole project took about 1.5 hrs not counting the trip to Lowes.

Back to building.
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