resin thickener

[Guest]

I am working on an old dingy someone gave me.I need to glue a new transom on it.I have some old west epoxy which I hope will work.But I dont have anything proper to thicken it and there are no boat shops nearby.Can anyone say if flour will work?Is there any other common material I could use?I dont have any fine wood dust.

[Guest]

Apparently talcum powder is ok.

[wheels 543]

Talc used to be used as the glue thickener years ago, but it does have some negatives. It absorbs moisture, it is heavy and it is not as strong. The reason for not as strong is that it is a fine powder. The glue powders of today are fine "strands" (not quite correct, but close enough) and so they tie together in the mix and make it stronger.

What you can do is finely cut some glass fibres as finely as you can and mic in with the Talc. If you have some pieces of old GRP, sand of grind them up with a machine sander and collect the dust. It makes great glue powder.

 

I don't know about Bunnings, But our Mega 10 here has glue powder. Expensive though. But can you get to a Mega 10?

 

As for flour, I am not sure, you might need to try a test piece. But I expect it will also be too fine and you could run into absorbtion issues.

[MrWolf 0]

I am working on an old dingy someone gave me.I need to glue a new transom on it.I have some old west epoxy which I hope will work.But I dont have anything proper to thicken it and there are no boat shops nearby.Can anyone say if flour will work?Is there any other common material I could use?I dont have any fine wood dust.

 

Do you want the dinghy to float?

And you don't want the transom to fall out.

 

I assume so.

 

west System epoxy doesn't last forever, so mix up a small batch to make sure it goes off.

 

Talc that used to be used as a glue thickener is not the same as the Talc you buy in the supermarket. It doesn't contain the fillers, extenders and perfumes.

 

Aerosil, or 403 powder is what you need.

If you can't get to a boat shop you can get it couriered to you.

 

it doesn't make sense to try to reinvent a new glue powder when the consequences of a stern falling out of a dinghy are !!!!

[Guest]

Thanks for those ideas.What about finely chopping a piece of cotton?Or other clothing material?I dont want to go to town if I can avoid it.Its 20km.

[wheels 543]

I don'tthink Cotton would be strong enough. But do you have any old lines that have Kevlar inners? Kevlar is a fawny or light honey colour.

Otherwise, what Mr Wolf said is good advise. Is it really worth the risk? do it once, do it right.

[Guest]

Nope.Its an old free dingy.Not worth a rebuild.Patch it up and hope to get a couple of years out of it.Micro fibres used to be my favorite thickner.I wonder what kind of fibres they were.

[wheels 543]

Fumed Silica

[Guest]

Fumed?This is after its been fuming?So I get silica and make it angry?

 

Looks like micro fibres are what Mr Wolf called 403 powder.

 

WEST SYSTEM 403 - 0,15kg Microfibres

A blend of cellulose cotton fibres used as a thickening additive with resin/hardener to create a multipurpose adhesive with excellent gap filling properties. 0.15kg

[wheels 543]

Cotton...well there ya go. Although I have not been a fan of the West 403.

 

Fumed Silica is a unique product. Microscopicaly, it is a very complex looking little creature. Sort of three tree like arms and when it is in Bulk, it interlocks together and acts as a "Thixotropic" additive. It is used in everything from Paint, to Toothpaste, and is the additive that makes a Milkshake a Thickshake. I find it much easier to mix in to the resin than the 403 and it doesn't puff into the air and go everywhere. it makes a far supperior gap filler and is excellent to out into Fairing compound to stop it from slumping.

 

If you are going to chop up a cotton PJ for a gap filler, you are going to be there awhile though.

[Guest]

at a pinch the stuff from the belt sander bag is useful