Epoxy

Since epoxies were developed in 1939 they have been adapting to the societies need to attach things to things. They are one of the most varied family of adhesives. What classifies an epoxy is a two component system where the chemical reaction of the resin and the hardener produces a bonding with any material in contact with these two components (does this sound too complicated?) Epoxies have been developed to be water resistant, heat resistant, heat conductant, flexible or brittle. The versatility of the epoxy system is what has made it such a popular adhesive. But unfortunately these specialty epoxies do not come cheaply and are usually packaged in large amounts for industry. For the domestic user, epoxies are more limited. There is a choice in the set up time from 5 minutes to 4 hours, there are steel epoxies, such as J.B. Weld and lepages steel epoxy, and there are the gap filling epoxy braids such as the Fast Steel Epoxy putty.

Here are some tips for using epoxies:

• Don't buy the dual syringe epoxy. It is very difficult to get an equal amount of resin to hardener with this system. Two separate tubes is a more controllable system.
• Make sure that you mix the resin and the hardener completely, or it won't work. When you think you have mixed it enough, mix it some more.
• Domestic epoxies will deteriorate in sub freezing temperatures.
• If you need your 5 minute epoxy to fill gaps you can add talc, baby powder or saw dust to the resin, then add the hardener. This will slow down the reacting speed however.