I think you will find that many formulations of epoxy do thicken with age, often the hardener. The jb weld the op is using is a putty so I'm thinking it has a lot of thickeners in it already. I have experienced old epoxy thickening as well but it continued to harden fine. You can also thin it with a small amount of alcohol but that can weaken the final product. Many "wood preservatives" are simply thinned epoxy.
The biggest issue with JB weld is that it is JB Weld. Epoxy that sets in 5 minutes is never going to produce the kind of result you get with real epoxy resin and hardner mixed with job specific fillers.
JB Weld is right up there with duct tape for professional results. "Handy", is it's only redeeming feature.
it sounds good, but in all ACTUALITY, JB is an excellent product. The slow kind , the original, not the kwik. I've repaired, patched, glued several things over the years with it and it works great. But you have to use the original, not the kwik stuff.
s
Well, of course not. OTOH, it's cheap, versatile, and handy, everything your "job-specific" alternative isn't.
Now, if I could only find an equivelent to the old non-mixing filled epoxy by the brand name, Liquid Steel.
nb
JB WELD is NOT cheap! It is far more expensive than the real stuff. It's an easy sell to amateurs, though.
It isn't nearly as versatile as mixing job specific epoxy and filers, either.
I'll give you handy, if it is with the stipulation that the result is inferior.
re: "Epoxy that sets in 5 minutes..."
JB Weld does not set in 5 minutes. JB Kwik might, but not JB Weld.
JB Weld is 4 - 6 hours to set, 15 to full hard (more or less)
Granted, it's not as versatile as something like West Systems and all it's related fillers and stuff, but when I need just a dab of Epoxy, JB Weld is pretty handy.
I've got an old piece of stiff plastic (1/8" x 4" x ~2') leftover from some project that's dotted with dried up blobs of JB Weld with tooth picks sticking out of them. It's my favorite mixing board.
snipped-for-privacy@dog.com wrote: ...
...
ooh, Red Green is rolling in his yet-to-be-grave...
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re: "Now, if I could only find an equivelent to the old non-mixing filled epoxy by the brand name, Liquid Steel"
You mean something like:
OK...the last one might not be exactly what you are looking for. ;-)
$5 is expensive?
Providing you have the fillers. I don't keep a lot of alum or iron filings on hand.
nb
The fillers I use with epoxy are not metal filings. I use these:
For that tiny amount of epoxy? Yes, it is OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive.
That will have to remain your problem. If you don't keep some milk on hand, you will have to eat your cornflakes dry, too. :-)
So I buy a pt/qt of epoxy for a little fix? I imagine it would be even cheaper if I bought a railroad tank car load, too, but I'm not currently assembling a full sized aircraft.
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As has been mentioned, epoxy keeps pretty much FOREVER.
Geez ...I always forget to add, "in my lifetime!"
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This came from a link returned by the search engine on the West Systems site when searching for "Shelf Life":
That certainly nails it down, doesn't it? ;-)
My only problem has been the pumps going bad when stored for too long. Once they go bad, you can't get the mix ratio right because they won't prime correctly and they just sputter and drip. If you toss them, you end up tossing some of the product too and the stuff ain't cheap.
I suggest you try uscomposites instead of west. West's stuff is ridiculously expensive. And neither are actually making epoxy, they're just repackaging it.
JB Weld retails for about $7 an ounce, which works out to $896 per gallon. How does that compare with West?
LOL
-snip-
If it is more than $21 then I'd be at a net loss for the past 30 years-
I did buy a couple gallons of West years ago when I built a couple Bolger boats. If I ever build that strip kayak I'll probably get some more. But in the meantime- JB weld works just fine.
Had to look it up- 1 gallon West +hardener= @$120
1 Gal US Composites epoxy +hardener- @$70 until I have a specific job, I think I'll get by with the tube of JB weld on my workbench.Jim
There's no argument that JB Weld is much more expensive than West Systems (or many others).
However, I'm not going to pull out my pumps, mixing cups, stir sticks, etc. to mix up a tiny glob of epoxy.
If I did, I'd have to factor in the cost of the waste since I couldn't reliably measure such a small amount like I can with the 1:1 ratio of JB Weld. Eyeballing a 5:1 ratio of 2 liquids is a little tougher than a 1:1 ratio of 2 pastes.
I guess I could look into West Systems G/flex, which has a 1:1 mix ratio, but my gut tells me that it's in the price range of JB Weld. Anybody know?
Look at all that money you're wasting! Buy a gallon and it's less than $1/oz!! So you don't use it and have to pass it on to your great-great-great-great-great.... Nevermind. With all these toxic chemicals lying around waiting for someone to use them, I doubt life as we know it will exist that long.
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