David Paule
Well Known Member
Epoxy and Microballoon Practice
It's been a while since I worked with epoxy and microballoons and foam, and since I had enough stuff to work with, I decided to make a practice kit.
Starting at the far back, is a roll of fiberglass cloth which I didn't use today. Just in front of that is a bag of microballoons, left over from the sailboat I had the first decade of this century. Then the tall can is some epoxy resin, Rhino or Jeffco 1307 LV, and to its right is a quart of the associated medium hardener. At the right of the hardener is my mixing cup and the two pieces of scrap foam that I glued together with the microballoon and epoxy mix.
In the foreground we can see the gram scale and the syringes I used to meter out the resin and hardener.
This is the first time I'd used this resin system. Steve Smith recommended it, and so far, based on this one trial, I like it. It's available from Aircraft Spruce. Previously I'd mostly used the West Systems epoxy.
The gram scale measures and reads down to 1/100 of a gram. The closest I could get to the goal weight was about .03 grams and that took some doing. Frankly, I don't think that precision was necessary, but that's a guess; I don't really know.
The mix had the consistency of peanut butter. I could have made it drier and if I repeat the experiment, I probably will.
I'll let this cure completely and then carve and shape it and sand it to see how it feels.
Dave
It's been a while since I worked with epoxy and microballoons and foam, and since I had enough stuff to work with, I decided to make a practice kit.
Starting at the far back, is a roll of fiberglass cloth which I didn't use today. Just in front of that is a bag of microballoons, left over from the sailboat I had the first decade of this century. Then the tall can is some epoxy resin, Rhino or Jeffco 1307 LV, and to its right is a quart of the associated medium hardener. At the right of the hardener is my mixing cup and the two pieces of scrap foam that I glued together with the microballoon and epoxy mix.
In the foreground we can see the gram scale and the syringes I used to meter out the resin and hardener.
This is the first time I'd used this resin system. Steve Smith recommended it, and so far, based on this one trial, I like it. It's available from Aircraft Spruce. Previously I'd mostly used the West Systems epoxy.
The gram scale measures and reads down to 1/100 of a gram. The closest I could get to the goal weight was about .03 grams and that took some doing. Frankly, I don't think that precision was necessary, but that's a guess; I don't really know.
The mix had the consistency of peanut butter. I could have made it drier and if I repeat the experiment, I probably will.
I'll let this cure completely and then carve and shape it and sand it to see how it feels.
Dave