In , Joseph Meehan wrote:
Scott Smith wrote:
Without a doubt the best epoxy for any use including all home
applications is Devcon epoxy, get the cream colored type, highest
strenght, can be found at OSH
truly amazing stuff. )

Gee - thanks for what is surely a totally unbiased testimonial.

But this does get me on a bit of a rant to say what epoxies I like, like
better for some applications, and what I dislike.

Biggest dislike - Radio Shack 5-minute epoxy. It is softened to close
to a non-sticky version of a gum by prolonged exposure (maybe just hours)
to water.

One that I like but not everywhe Devcon 5-minute gel epoxy. t is a
thickened form that does not run the way the more liquid ones do.
Disadvantage: Some compromise in strength (at least in my experience),
and in my experience takes almost as long as the slow-curing epoxy to
reach its full strength.

Another that I like for some but not all applications: The 4-minute
stuff for metal, dark color (one component black and the other some other
darkish color). It works on anything that epoxy works on, but I am
guessing it has metal dust mixed in to make its thermal expansion
characteristics closer to that of most common metals. It sticks well to
anything epoxy ever does (in my experience), sticks really well to glass,
and reaches close to full strength in less than an hour, often within half
an hour.
Too bad I got it mainly at Pep Boys and they took months to restock when
I depleted the supply of the Pep Boys near where I work and the one near
where I live (with that Pep Boys store closing after I most used epoxy).

Other than that, the slow dry liquidy stuff with one component clear
and the other component a yellowish color like diluted lighter color beer
is plenty good - just allow for it being liquid for half an hour to two
hours and taking half a day to a day to really cure at "room temperature"
(less time at elevated temperatures, more time at lower temperatures).

5-minute liquid ones other than Radio Shack mostly get close enough to
full strength in an hour or two, mostly resist water well the way most
other non-Radio-Shack epoxies do, and allow an hour or two for full
strength. Strength appears to me to be a bit compromised from that of the
slow-cure versions, but not by much.

- Don )