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. )

"Scott Smith" wrote in message
m...
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. )
Thanks. I will be doing some FG repairs on a canoe soon. I usually use
Wests, but will look for the Devcon. How much is a gallon?

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.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

According to Toller :

"Scott Smith" wrote in message
m...
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. )
Thanks. I will be doing some FG repairs on a canoe soon. I usually use
Wests, but will look for the Devcon. How much is a gallon?

Devcon appears to specialise in glues, adhesives and certain types
of coatings. It's web site only discusses 1min, 5min and 10min epoxy. Lots
of stuff for coating masonry, concrete, steel, lots of casting materials
for rebuilding machine parts, bonding metal, potting electrical parts,
conductive glues etc. But not one mention of fiberglassing or wood.

Nothing at all like the West system line of additives etc.

"East Systems" is virtually identical to West Systems (line of
additives etc), and should be somewhat cheaper. More than likely
somewhat harder to find tho.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

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 )

i like deacon plastic steel putty for metals ,but not for wood.

http://www.minibite.com/america/malone.htm

I've used a number of epoxies but have no favorites. Yes, I've noticed
that Devcon seems to specialize in adhesive products and they've been
around a long while. I'd tend to trust them over a brand I'm not
familiar with if I'm concerned with maximum performance.

I pretty much agree with the things that Don had to say, although my
experience isn't extensive.

One thing I've done for a long time is save grindings of steel and add
them to epoxy many times when I want extra strength. I got this idea
when I bought a "steel filled" epoxy that was marketed as having
exceptional strength. My reasoning is:

1. The embedded steel filings will add strength just by virtue of the
toughness of the steel.

2. Having a lot of rough surface area of embedded steel particles will
add to rather than diminish the toughness of the glue in resisting
breaking loose.

3. Adding the steel particles will increase the volume of the glue, so
it's more economical to use it this way.

Dan_Musicant wrote:

1. The embedded steel filings will add strength just by virtue of the
toughness of the steel.

2. Having a lot of rough surface area of embedded steel particles will
add to rather than diminish the toughness of the glue in resisting
breaking loose.

Adding steel particles will not increase the strength or toughness of epoxy. It
can increase the abrasion resistance of the epoxy and can change the working
characteristics (from liquid to paste).

Tensile strength will rely entirely on the epoxy. Compressive and shear
strengths might be greater if the density of the steel particles is quite high
(much more steel than epoxy) and the epoxy just acts to keep the particles in
place. Otherwise these characteristics won't be affected much.

Abrasion resistance will be increased since the epoxy will abrade from the
surface and the steel particles will take the wear.

Mike

According to Don Klipstein :

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.

5 minute epoxies are generally about 1/3rd as strong as "regular".
Eg: comparing 5min to West Systems "regular" stuff - 5000lb PSI shear
vs. 15,000lb or better PSI shear.

(5min epoxy is generally only about as strong as a good white or
carpenter's glue)

Gels can be nice, but an equivalent can be made by adding silica
powder (a few bucks a pound) to "regular" epoxy. This comes with
a modest sacrifice in strength, but not much.

["Devcon gel" is probably nothing more than ordinary epoxy with
silica or some similar additive.]

We do a fair amount of work with epoxy - glassing, fillets and "part
joining" (model and high power rocketry, where it _has_ to be
as strong as possible and yet light) with wood, cardboard, metal,
fiberglass and other things.

[My son established an altitude record with a rocket that had
hand laid epoxy-carbon fiber and epoxy-fiberglass body tubes, and
fins made with fiberglassed foamcore board, all assembled with
"regular" West. You can't do that with 5 minute or gel epoxy ;-)]

For the most part, we only use 5 minute epoxy for "tacking" (or for
field emergency repairs). Perhaps most often for tacking the edge
of a surface-mount fin to a body tube and getting it aligned. Once
that sets, out comes the West Systems with up to a 3:1 silica:epoxy
mix to fillet the fin roots. That's where most of the strength
comes from.

Even the thicker 5 min epoxies aren't thick enough on their own
for filleting.

We use West for everything _except_ when we need very fast set time,
because West is stronger.

Even then, we can accelerate set time by raising the temperature.

[The West instruction book talks about hot air guns or heat lamps.
Should work with just about any epoxy. Just don't elevate the
temperature past about 160F with ordinary epoxies. It'll destroy it.]
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

(Chris Lewis) wrote in
:

According to Toller :

"Scott Smith" wrote in message
m...
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. )
Thanks. I will be doing some FG repairs on a canoe soon. I usually
use Wests, but will look for the Devcon. How much is a gallon?

Devcon appears to specialise in glues, adhesives and certain types
of coatings. It's web site only discusses 1min, 5min and 10min epoxy.
Lots of stuff for coating masonry, concrete, steel, lots of casting
materials for rebuilding machine parts, bonding metal, potting
electrical parts, conductive glues etc. But not one mention of
fiberglassing or wood.

Nothing at all like the West system line of additives etc.

"East Systems" is virtually identical to West Systems (line of
additives etc), and should be somewhat cheaper. More than likely
somewhat harder to find tho.

West,System Three or RAKA are all good thin clear epoxies.
(boat-building/fiberglassing,and glue with fillers added)
I've had good success with RAKA(mail-order),but System Three has an
inexpensive trial kit(with The Epoxy Book,a GREAT must-have primer on epoxy
use!),and both S3 and West can be found locally. All of them sell a line of
fillers/additives,too.

FYI,you can also download The Epoxy Book at no charge from S3's website.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

(Chris Lewis) wrote in
:




We use West for everything _except_ when we need very fast set time,
because West is stronger.

Even then, we can accelerate set time by raising the temperature.

[The West instruction book talks about hot air guns or heat lamps.
Should work with just about any epoxy. Just don't elevate the
temperature past about 160F with ordinary epoxies. It'll destroy it.]

I just put the rocket or project in my car in the hot sun.
It's at least 140degF in there! (Florida)


--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

According to Jim Yanik :

West,System Three or RAKA are all good thin clear epoxies.
(boat-building/fiberglassing,and glue with fillers added)
I've had good success with RAKA(mail-order),but System Three has an
inexpensive trial kit(with The Epoxy Book,a GREAT must-have primer on epoxy
use!),and both S3 and West can be found locally. All of them sell a line of
fillers/additives,too.

FYI West also has a trial kit - that they label more as an "emergency
repair" kit. Enough to get an idea of what the stuff is like. I've
seen it as low as $10 CDN.

Not sure whether West's main "how to" book is free. West has quite a
library of technical books.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

In article , 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. )

Readers of this thread will be interested in the following link, a
massive and reasonably rigorous test for the ultimate adhesive, by
custom knifemakers:

http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/sh...ighlight=adhes
ive

Hint: It ain't Devcon.

-Frank

--
Here's some of my work:
http://www.franksknives.com/

Art wrote:
Actually I've heard from people who used epoxy for a living that
Devcon is definitely one of the best.


It may be, but that is not the question. I was questioning the motive
of posting the notice. Had the same information been provided in response
to a question, I would not have questioned it.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit