Hey Tony,
No Problem... Sometimes when I'm on the board it's late at night... in fact... usually. So, I'm not always fresh and thinking clearly.
However, I don't have to tell you that when it comes to welding there are alot of variables. Almost any quality epoxy is good if the welding is done at a high enough distance. One the problems I have answering this question is that I'm not that familiar with welding... AND... the only welding I am familiar with is in an industrial environment. So, I'm trying to be careful because I know that I'm not as knowledgeable in this area as I'd like to be. One thing you can count on from me is that I'm not going to tell you something that I don't know. So, since I don't have direct knowledge I have to use comparisons to what I do know.
Then I am to assume by your carefully chosen words......If a fair amount of slag falls....it's gonna burn a big ole' hole in my floor.
I understand that few things can repel molten metal and am not looking for a miracle here....but I wish I knew better what to expect.
If I burn a hole.....can it be "patched or repaired depending on color I assume. I am going to email the contact you provided, but I would like to address that here on the board as well.
I that is a good way to put it. Molten Metal is going to burn just about anything. So, all you can really do is make a polymer that is resistant. There is no coating that is burn proof as far as asthetics go. All of our products are very repairable so you can recover if you have an accident.
I want to talk just a little bit about what we (coatings formulators) do to determine the likelyhood that a coating is 'resistant' to heat/molten metal/fire/hot stuff. All polymers can be quantified for this based on a trait called Tg (Glass Transition Temperature). This is just a big fancy expression to define the temperature it takes to begin to melt a cured coating. The higher the Tg the better the heat resistance. However, there is more to it than just using resins that have a high Tg. Also, there are different kinds of heat (wet, dry, molten... etc.). One good example would be that we'd all rather get burned with 200f water than 200f oil. In addition to using resins that have a high Tg, you also have to consider what else is in the coating and the porosity of the coating. The higher the solids of the coating the less porous the cured film should be. In addition, fire/heat retardant fillers can be added to further increase the resistance. In other words, good resins coupled with other stuff that doesn't burn well equals a 'resistant' coating.
Whew... this is getting long...
Anyway, the reason I ask you to fill our the form is so that Bill can get all of the particulars about what you do in YOUR shop. We don't know everything about welding environments and we need to ask questions to ensure that you install the right coating for the way you use (or expect to use) your shop.
Guys, it's okay to ask direct questions. As I've mentioned a bunch of times, we are investigating this residential market. We expect that even our lowest technology products are overkill for this but we still need to learn the differnt ways people use their garages and thier expectations. The other thing is that if you ever feel like I'm dodging a question or maybe I don't answer it as detailed as you want... just send me a PM. Sometimes... I just get tired of writing and make short posts... All of your 'info requests' get forwarded to Bill because he has the time to answer them...
This is one of those times where I am shortening an answer because I'm really tired of writing... sorry... maybe I'll get back on later and explain some more... I've got to go eat right now...
