Epoxy Thinning Question

[Mac1]

I've been told alcohol is a good way to thin epoxy. What kind of alcohol is the one to use? I assume denatured, but am not certain. Thanks for your help, and Good Fishing, Mac

[JB]

you can thin epoxy by heating it and adding solvents, but this can also cause it to discolor and I know fora fact it makes it set up much faster.

[Rebbasser]

Mac-denatured alcolhol is what is recommended, although supposedly it can weaken the epoxy by up to 30%. I've also seen use a hair dryer to heat it up long enough to get the job done. It will thin down as it heats up but starts to set at about 150 degrees. Or so I've read. haven't done that first hand.

[WTL]

Will vodka work? How about thunderbird, I have a couple bottles of that laying around and to be honest, its about as good for drinkin as rubbing alcohol.



Seriously I would think paint thinner/turpentine would be the best bet.

[JRL]

Use lacquer thinner.

Just remember that for every 5% of LT your vicsosity will drop by 60%. And the epoxy's compressive strength will decrease by 35%.

On some of our non-airborn test equipment I use 2%. It works well. Add the solvent, and stir the epoxy. Then add the hardner last.


Really solvent ruins most of the valuable traits of epoxy. In the future I would just buy a very thin epoxy from the get go.

USComposites.com sells a really cheap, and thin epoxy. Even with the fast hardner its pretty thin stuff. If you need extremely thin epoxy adtech sells a resin infusion epoxy. Its viscosity is even lower than Poly or Vinyl Ester. Dry heat, like a heat gun, hair dryer, or light bulbs can decrease epoxy's viscosity. Just make sure you heat up the part your coating, and the part "A" of the epoxy. Then mix the hardner once everything is nice and warm. Just remember your working time shortens considerably when you heat epoxy. A rule of thumb is the gel time decreases by half for every increase of 10 degrees of temp.

Heres some cons before you do it:

slower gel/set/cure time
Increased run off
Increased shrinkage
Decreased stregth/hardness

[Mac1]

Thanks for all the posts and information. I'll be trying a little denatured alcohol for starters. I've also written down the sources for thinner epoxies...thanks Jason for all the detailed information as well. Good Fishing, Mac

[zooker]

mac
why are you trying to thin it down?? i like full strenth stuff for every thing glue up..

zooker

[dampeoples]

Originally Posted by zooker

mac
why are you trying to thin it down?? i like full strenth stuff for every thing glue up..

zooker

Yeah, that's my question.

[JB]

i think it flows better if thinned, like pouring it over mesh for example

[JRL]

Originally Posted by JB

i think it flows better if thinned, like pouring it over mesh for example

Epoxy flows much better when thinnned. But then you get increased run-off (epoxy not sticking to vertical surfaces). Most epoxys are in the 600 to 1300 cps range. Resin infusion epoxy's are in the 200cps range.

To give you an idea of everyday items cps value:

Water 0-5
Blood or Kerosene 10
Anti-Freeze or Ethylene Glycol 15
Motor Oil SAE10 or Mazola Corn Oil 50 - 100
Motor Oil SAE30 or Maple Syrup 150 - 200
Motor Oil SAE40 or Castor Oil 250 - 500
Motor Oil SAE60 or Glycerin 1000 - 2000
Karo Corn Syrup or Honey 2000 - 3000
Blackstrap Molasses 5000 - 10000
Hershey Chocolate Syrup 10000 - 25000
Heinz Ketchup or French's Mustard 50000 - 75000
Tomato Paste or Peanut Butter 100000+

This chart is pretty help full when ordering epoxy off the net. Most vendors will list the cps value in the products data sheet.

[zooker]

i have seen peanut butter flow up hill -wait it might have been a drug induced coma i was in..


zooker

[1FASTLASER]

Originally Posted by zooker

i have seen peanut butter flow up hill -wait it might have been a drug induced coma i was in..


zooker

Dang you zook you totally caught me off guard wit dat 1. ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!

[Mac1]

Why thin? Been coating jigheads with the DevCon type epoxy from Wal Mart and just wanted to thin a little to facilitate spread-ability.....was getting too much on and some of the jigs when hung to cure were asquiring a clear nose on the front. Thinning now with the denatured alcohol and it's working much better and can do more jigs before setting up in the cup.

Thanks for all the help, Good fishing, Mac

[Mac1]

Zooker, I see by your signature, the word Yadkin......are you near Yadkinville, or the Yadkin River? We had a preacher move to Yadkinville a few years ago....just wondering, Mac

[zooker]

yadkinville is about 80 miles away roughly.. but it means the yadkin river chain..

zooker

[Mac1]

Thanks for letting me know. We cross the river several times on 75. I'll have to check it on the map.....didn't know it was a chain. Good fishing, Mac

[zooker]

you mean i-77 ..

zooker