working with epoxy glue

[godfather]

I need suggestion on how to work with epoxy. Basically I find myself having to hold pieces together with my hand and wait for the glue to harden. Even pieces that are pinned seem to separate slightly depending on the angle of the figure. When I try and tape pieces together such as two halves of a tunic one piece seems to slip.

 

[Figure Mad]

Hi Talino

Holding the piece in the right position between bits of foam on your workbench or maybe try a little less glue as this will not slip as much or failing that you can get 1 minute and 5 minute epoxy resin glue, I would suggest the 5minute as it gives a little time to move pieces around to the right place...

Dave

 

[PJ Deluhery]

I use plasticine clay (modeling clay) to hold items until the glue drys. You can slap it on at any angle, or shape it any way you like to secure the join. It comes off easily after the glue drys. If it accidentally touches wet glue it can be easily sanded off. The clay never dries, though you may have to knead it if it's been sitting a while, so it's always ready. I have used the same lump of clay for about 20 years - so its cheap!
Good luck!

 

[mikec55]

Guy once gave me some good advice when dealing with 5 minute epoxy. After you mix the 2 ingredients, wait 2 or 3 minutes before putting the pieces together. It sure speeded up the process for me. I was wondering tho, does either one of those bottles have a limited shelf life? I'm still using the 1st bottles I bought about 5 years ago. It still seems to work fine but I was curious.

Mike

 

[nagashino]

Hi Bruno

I use a similar system to Pat, but use blue-tack instead of plasticine - that works for me.

Some of the 2-part epoxy glues on the market at the moment are IMHO worse than useless. I've tried 'em all. Some, especially the ones in the combined syringe-type tubes (where the stuff mixes in the nozzle) are a waste of money, as the consistency of the one part is thicker than the other, so the flow is uneven.

In UK we have 5 minute Araldite, which is pretty good, but needs careful mixing. Mike's suggestion of leaving it a couple of minutes is a good one, as this increases the viscosity of it.

If you have access to anyone in the Automotive trade, some of the 2-part glues they use are excellent. We have one over here called Perma-Bond "Double Bubble". It's not cheap, but man it will stick your grandma to the ceiling in 5 minutes flat!!

Hope this helps

Cheers

Phil

 

[Einion]

Superglue spot-welds, that's the ticket.

Einion

 

[godfather]

"Superglue spot-welds, that's the ticket."

Do you mean using super glue to hold piece in place with the additon of epoxy?

 

[Einion]

Yep, tiny dots of superglue to hold the parts for you while the epoxy sets - I usually apply the epoxy to the pin and cyano to the flat surfaces of the join if there are any. If you're glueing painted parts together (as I usually do since I like to paint in subassemblies as much as possible) you don't have to worry about contaminating the surface as much and there's less risk of rubbing paint off edges and high spots.

I like to use epoxy that has partly set too but I don't generally wait, I give it a quick blast with the hairdryer to speed the process along and when it's cooled it's good to go - gives you better 'grab'. If you're gluing more than one part at the same time though you might want to skip this step as you can run out of time, although it's cheap enough and waste is inevitable anyway.

Einion