L

Loman

Well Known Member
So, I am about to enter the brave new world of fibreglass and the first task that comes my way is bonding in the W-931 spanwise tip rib before riveting it. Vans specifies this in order to avoid the puckering that would result from riveting only.

They also say that the resin should be thickened with flox. Now, searching on "flox" suggests that everybody here is totally familiar with this substance but I am having a real hard time getting hold of it locally. On the other hand, there IS a distributor for the West System. However, West have a range of fillers, none of which are called "Flox" or "Flocked Cotton filler" either.

On the basis of function (strong bond of high density materials), the nearest seems to be 404 High Density Filler (http://westsystem.com/ss/404-high-density-filler/) but on the basis of name, the nearest seems to be the 403 Microfibres (http://westsystem.com/ss/403-microfibers/). Which one do you think I should go for, or are both off the mark?
 
from the descriptions,



404 High-Density filler is a thickening additive developed for maximum physical properties in hardware bonding where high-cyclic loads are anticipated. It can also be used for filleting and gap filling where maximum strength is necessary.

403 Microfibers, a fine fiber blend, is used as a thickening additive with resin/hardener to create a multi-purpose adhesive, especially for bonding wood. Epoxy thickened with microfibers has good gap-filling qualities while retaining excellent wetting/penetrating capability.


high density filler is closer to flox in characteristics. flox + resin is used in fiberglass airplanes as a structural adhesive.

if you want to wait a week or so i can send you some flox.
 
Thanks for the offer

Danny,

That is a really kind and generous offer. I have just one more phonecall to make tomorrow to rule out the last chance of a local source of actual flox and if that checks out negative then I will take you up on your offer. I wouldn't want to put you to that trouble unnecessarily. I will PM you If I still can't get hold of the real thing.

Boy what a great bunch of compadres!

Loman
 
West Systems User Manual

Get yourself a copy of the (free) West Systems User Manual. It has a lot of helpful info.


Referring to the West fillers, I've used 404, 406, 403, 407 & 410. I've also used cotton flox. Seems to me that flox is more like #403 or #406. Each of the fillers has it's own good points and bad points. #410 is easiest to work with and sand but it is also the lowest strength. # 407 is much harder and a lot more difficult to sand. The lower number fillers are even more difficult to sand but have more strength.

I often custom mix the fillers to achieve the properties that I want. I was doing some glass work today on my wheel pants. Using 1 pump of West resin, I added about a tablespoon of 407 then added 410 until I got the thickness that I wanted.
 
Got Flox at last

I was beginning to fear that the country had closed down completely but I am glad to report that Ireland is still in business and can supply any requirement for amateur FG afficionados. I managed to get some appropriate fibre filler (plus a great deal of good advice) from Marine & Industrial Distribution (http://www.mid.ie) who are only 10 minutes away from my office.

So thanks to everyone who replied, especially Danny, who won't have to post some to me afterall and Rick for the suggestion about the Users Manual, which is on its way to me right now (I hope)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.