Wood hardeners: epoxy vs. CA vs. minwax hardener vs. Polyall etc...

[blueman]

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?

[Chris Friesen]

Assuming this is the same shelf, you said earlier that there was no tearout with 200lbs. Why would you need to reinforce it?

Chris

[blueman]

Belt & suspenders... My concern is that over many years, I may still get tearout due to wear-and-tear and abuse.

I have tested the setup using CA reinforced holes up to 400 lbs without tearout. Since CA is relatively expensive, this got me to wondering whether epoxy or minwax harderner would be equivalent or even better alternatives.

[B A R R Y]

using shelf pin sleeves).

Zap.

[Chris Friesen]

Fair enough. I'm partial to overkill as well.

Epoxy would probably be equivalent, if not better. CA can be brittle. Generally the longer cure epoxies are stronger than the 5-minute stuff.

Chris

[blueman]

using shelf pin sleeves).

2 clarifications:

1. Zap seems to be 2X the cost of some other thin CA brands. Is it worth the cost and if so, what makes it better?

1. Are you saying Zap (and CA in general) is better than expoxy and MinWax or are you just saying that if you use CA, then go with Zap?

Thanks!

[B A R R Y]

I my experience, it's been consistently fresher, in turn providing consistent performance.

Yes. I rarely prefer Minwax products for anything, and I don't think epoxy will penetrate the wood and toughen it up.

[Joe]

using shelf pin sleeves).

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

[BobK207]

using shelf pin sleeves).

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

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