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Looking for Spindrift 11 build logs


Salty Cracker

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I saw Russel Brown using a heat gun on his mixing container while stirring A & B together. He said it thinned it out and makes it easier to mix. He did mention that he had to heat his shop up to 80° so I doubt it was Summer on the East coast where he was.

I'll be waiting until Spring before we get going on it just for this reason.

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Ha ha... yeah, now all I need to do is get the kit.

I'll be honest, I'm so excited to get to work on this that I need to busy myself with studying the details.

I'm also a little intimidated by it so I really want to be sure I have the details down so I don't lessen the experience for us when the project begins.

I do feel better about it though knowing that I have a team of advisors here to back me up. Thanks guys.

The videos at Off Center Harbor are also very helpful. There are a couple of projects there that have my mind wandering. I watch the videos in bed. So I end up going to sleep thinking about fillets and fill coats.

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41 minutes ago, Salty Cracker said:

So I end up going to sleep thinking about fillets and fill coats.


Yeah, ain’t that the truth!  ?

 

That IS an aspect I miss, since I don’t have an ongoing project going on right now to kinda challenge me.  
 

While I’m glad to have retired, I need to manage my needs for some thoughtful activity that “produces” more than a completed crossword puzzle.  ?.  In winter, skiing is a good activity for me, since there is always something to keep “working” on. I bought B&B’s mast float kit (two of them, one for each of my sailboats) that I’ll start soon… and I’m thinking about some other hobby work for my basement shop. 
 

Enjoy the THINKING. I find that it’s almost as fun as the doing. 
 

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2 hours ago, meester said:

Sometimes you just need a little batch of epoxy, and the pumps would squirt too much.  I use a little pocket scale ($10 to $15) with a chart like this: https://s3.amazonaws.com/duckbbs/supplies/epoxy/epoxy_weight_ratio.pdf to measure out the resin & hardener.

Yes, thank you for that. I've seen references to volume vs weight. If using B&B epoxy, I suppose I'd have to hope they could give me the weight ratios because I haven't been able to find out who manufactures their product.

 

2 hours ago, Hirilonde said:

Heating epoxy may thin it a bit, but it also speeds up the cure. This might be a good thing, or not.

Would it though if it were just a matter of bringing cold epoxy up to working temp? I thought the kicking off was instigated by a chemical reaction. This isn't a challenge to your advice. I don't know enough to do that. Rather just an honest question.

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It is a chemical reaction. Heat is a catalyst for that reaction, and the actual curing generates heat.  When I built my Lapwing in a tent in the winter I heated the resin all the time.  I have done jobs in the summer where I left the resin jug in a bath of ice water so that when I mixed it I had a little extra time. Epoxy, once mixed, will kick off rather quickly if left in the mixing pot, it will cure more slowly once spread out. Another way to regulate cure time is by choosing fast or slow hardener.

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15 hours ago, meester said:

Sometimes you just need a little batch of epoxy, and the pumps would squirt too much.  I use a little pocket scale


I put “half squirt” marks on the pump plungers when I’ve wanted small amounts of  epoxy or thickened epoxy and it has always come out fine. In fact, I’ve even split the “halfway” point of each pump to make a quarter amount for, say, gluing a small piece into place or fixing something minor.  Just an idea.  The ratio of resin to hardener remains the same with the “half squirt” marks.  (Just wanted to say “half squirt” again… I think it’s a funny technical term. ?)

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3 hours ago, PadrePoint said:


I put “half squirt” marks on the pump plungers when I’ve wanted small amounts of  epoxy or thickened epoxy and it has always come out fine. In fact, I’ve even split the “halfway” point of each pump to make a quarter amount for, say, gluing a small piece into place or fixing something minor.  Just an idea.  The ratio of resin to hardener remains the same with the “half squirt” marks.  (Just wanted to say “half squirt” again… I think it’s a funny technical term. ?)

FTR, Harbor freight sells electronic gram scales that make mixing even the tiniest amounts really easy. I got to the point I'd not ever count squirts. I still pump the right amount of resin, look at a chart and pump the hardener to the correct amount. Perfect every time! 

 

I use this chart for all my 2:1 epoxy, which has almost all been B & B:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/duckbbs/supplies/epoxy/epoxy_weight_ratio.pdf

 

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58 minutes ago, Steve W said:

I got to the point I'd not ever count squirts. I still pump the right amount of resin, look at a chart and pump the hardener to the correct amount. Perfect every time! 

 

I use this chart for all my 2:1 epoxy, which has almost all been B & B:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/duckbbs/supplies/epoxy/epoxy_weight_ratio.pdf

 

Losing count has crossed my mind every time I watch an epoxy how-to video. I know damn well I'm gonna be throwing out batches because I'll have to ask myself "did he fire 6 pumps or only 5... do I feel lucky, well do ya punk?". With two kids asking me questions and music going, I could see it happening.

I really do feel like this is they way I wanna go.

So you use that chart for B&B epoxy even though it's for a different brand?

I guess I could always set up my own weight ratios pretty easy too.

 

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1 hour ago, Salty Cracker said:

So you use that chart for B&B epoxy even though it's for a different brand?

I had some from duckworks before I bought some from B & B. I liked B & B's better with almost non-existent blush. The 2:1 ratio seemed pretty much the same and I decided that is the pumps were close enough the chart was too. I've never wound up without a good mix. what I like is that mixing even a tiny amount is possible with this approach. 

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