blueman wrote:
I am looking for a wood hardener to reinforce shelf pin holes (drilled
in 3/4" plywood) so that they don't tearout under load (note that I am also using shelf pin sleeves).

For this application, I was wondering what would be the best choice:
- Thin CA (any brand recommendations?)
- Thin epoxy
- Minwax wood hardener
- Polyall
- other?

My thought is that a glue like CA or epoxy might be best because in
addition to hardening the wood they would also bond the shelf sleeve
to the hole and further lock it all together.

Any suggestions on what might be best?

A slow cured 2 part epoxy resin is much more robust than cured
cyanoacrylate resins. The CA has the lower viscosity advantage, but to
overcome that difference, it is easy to warm the wood with a heat gun
to maybe 120-130 F and the epoxy will flow and penetrate very nicely.
This trick works especially well on old weathered wood restoration
projects. HTH

Joe

Joe wrote:
blueman wrote:
I am looking for a wood hardener to reinforce shelf pin holes (drilled
in 3/4" plywood) so that they don't tearout under load (note that I am also using shelf pin sleeves).

For this application, I was wondering what would be the best choice:
- Thin CA (any brand recommendations?)
- Thin epoxy
- Minwax wood hardener
- Polyall
- other?

My thought is that a glue like CA or epoxy might be best because in
addition to hardening the wood they would also bond the shelf sleeve
to the hole and further lock it all together.

Any suggestions on what might be best?

A slow cured 2 part epoxy resin is much more robust than cured
cyanoacrylate resins. The CA has the lower viscosity advantage, but to
overcome that difference, it is easy to warm the wood with a heat gun
to maybe 120-130 F and the epoxy will flow and penetrate very nicely.
This trick works especially well on old weathered wood restoration
projects. HTH

Joe


I use LiquidWood epoxy for wood repair & hardening as well

they also make a structural paste WoodEpox

Liquid wood will stay good for years if kept in tightly sealed metal
containers....I have some that is over 20 years old & still hardens
when mixed up. I don't usethe old stuff for critical applications or
for outside use (I use new stuff for that) I do still use it.

available from http://abatron.com


http://abatron.com/cgi-bin/shop/inde...2.28174&pid=32

if you do you the stuff, mix it up & let it sit in the mix cup for ~30
minutes, this "inductin period" will get the reaction going so that
when you let it seep into the wood (thin layers slow down the cure
process) it will "kick" in a reasonable amount of time. Heat gun it at
~120 to 150F & it will kick it an hour or so.

cheers
Bob