Are you wearing latex gloves? It could be latex allergy, very common.
Switch to vinyl. I have the same problem, latex was part of it. I
used shea butter as a barrier and also found it suprisingly soothing
for the death of a thousand cuts itch you get from fibreglass. I wait
2 years in between boat projects, wear an organic vapor mask and long
sleeve shirts even in hot weather when working with epoxy. Atarax
(hydroxyzine), another antihistamine you'll need a perscription to get,
it works better for itching than Benedryl. You can also take Zyrtec,
another perscription antihistamine, it's an active metabolite of Atarax
and it's far less sedating so you can take it during the day, it lasts
24hrs. As always though, you should first discuss this issue with your
doctor.

Ed.


Pete C wrote:
On 11 Oct 2006 06:43:24 -0700, "SkipGundlach"
wrote:

As to the epoxy, West sez it takes a week to fully cure. There were
many areas of prior repair that, in the course of chasing either wet
spots or delaminations, I would have ground out "adolescent" epoxy.
However, the biggie (which occured after the first flareup), therudder
shoe/skeg area was very large. I was fairing it for several days, and
at the very end, cut through about 1/8" for about 3 feet. I'd thought
I'd had the grinder such that the dust was going away from me, but
witnesses said the fan we were using blew most of it right on me - and
that time I wasn't wearing a suit.

So, it might be sun poisoning, but I'm betting epoxy. Either way, I
guess I'm going to have to see some medical folks, because I no longer
can even treat the symptoms...

Hi,

If you'v been using a grinder for a long while it might be hand arm
vibration syndrome:

http://www.google.com/search?lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Hand%20Arm%20Vibration

If it's epoxy and you're sleeping on the boat, you might want to try
sleeping off it or at least having very good ventilation.

cheers,
Pete.