Page 1 of 1
Epoxy & Sanding Equipment
Posted:
Fri Aug 18, 2023 8:35 amby Creekboater
Re: Epoxy & Sanding Equipment
Posted:
Fri Aug 18, 2023 1:59 pmby dbeck
Martin,
the dual pump approach is very interesting. What is the smallest amount of epoxy you can get from this?
Our approach with epoxy is different. We got pumps with the kit but never used them. We simple pour and weigh on a digital kitchen balance. Worked great so far, even with small amounts of a few grams only. We never had issues such as epoxy not curing.
About fillet sanding. We let the fillets cure for 2-3 hours, use the alcohol-finger-trick to smooth the fillet and then immediately glass over the still 'wet' fillet. For sanding the glassed fillet, I have a hand-sanding-block made of cork which works surprisingly easy. In case of longer (meters!) fillets like the ones in the cockpit or footwell, using our smaller sander with a flexible disk and some caution works very well too.
Dietrich
Re: Epoxy & Sanding Equipment
Posted:
Fri Aug 18, 2023 3:19 pmby Creekboater
Dietrich,
Smallest amount from pump : I haven't actually used the dual pump yet. The instructions say a full pump is 18cc but as long as the pump is primed you can depress the handle in as small an increment as you wish. I'm not sure I trust this though.
Kit pumps : I did not have these for my first build and simply used graduated cups. I have loved having the kit pumps on this build and have had zero problem with curing. My shop is conditioned so I don't have the worry about pumps getting cold and syrupy. But on large batches my mind can wander and I get off count, or at least I get worried that I am. I'm looking forward to the dual pump eliminating that concern.
Fillet sanding : I use the alcohol trick too and it really helps. The flexible sander disk is interesting. I might look for one of those!
Martin
Re: Epoxy & Sanding Equipment
Posted:
Sun Aug 20, 2023 4:57 pmI did most of my epoxy mixing by weight instead of volume or pumps. I think it's much more accurate.
I used a kitchen scale for larger batches, and for mixing up an ounce or two, I used a little scale that
measures to 100 grams in milligrams.
You have to use the correct weight ratio: 1 unit of resin to 0.442 units of hardener (the resin is denser
than the hardener). A calculator in a ziploc bag came in handy...
Doug