Mixing small batches of Epoxy
Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 5:31 pm
If this has already been mentioned, then disregard. If not, I found this helpful for small jobs.
As I don’t have a pump dispenser, I’ve made use of Matt’s plastic cups idea for resin mixing for a lot of my build so far. I marked a few cups with different Hardener/Resin levels for different size batches. However, making very small batches for little jobs was beyond the cup method and I found out very quickly how it could be easy to waste a lot of resin.
For small jobs I got a hold of some disposable plastic syringes. They do the job. One used for hardener and another for resin. So they don’t get confused, I use two sizes, a 3mm and a 12mm (or you could just mark them if they are the same size).
When I want to make up a small batch of glue/putty to fill some small cracks for example, I’ll draw (using 4:1), let’s say 2mm of hardener with the small syringe and then 8mm of resin with the larger, (or 1mm & 4mm, or 3 & 12, or 5 & 20, etc, etc) mix in a cup, add wood flour and fill the gaps/cracks.
You can draw direct from the containers, or pour a little resin and hardener into separate cups and draw from them, mixing in a third, then pour the excess back into the containers when finished.
The resin syringe is fine to continually re-use, but the hardener syringe (I found) gets a bit crusty after a bit and needs wiping down, or just tossing out and a new one used.
Cheers,
Whirly
As I don’t have a pump dispenser, I’ve made use of Matt’s plastic cups idea for resin mixing for a lot of my build so far. I marked a few cups with different Hardener/Resin levels for different size batches. However, making very small batches for little jobs was beyond the cup method and I found out very quickly how it could be easy to waste a lot of resin.
For small jobs I got a hold of some disposable plastic syringes. They do the job. One used for hardener and another for resin. So they don’t get confused, I use two sizes, a 3mm and a 12mm (or you could just mark them if they are the same size).
When I want to make up a small batch of glue/putty to fill some small cracks for example, I’ll draw (using 4:1), let’s say 2mm of hardener with the small syringe and then 8mm of resin with the larger, (or 1mm & 4mm, or 3 & 12, or 5 & 20, etc, etc) mix in a cup, add wood flour and fill the gaps/cracks.
You can draw direct from the containers, or pour a little resin and hardener into separate cups and draw from them, mixing in a third, then pour the excess back into the containers when finished.
The resin syringe is fine to continually re-use, but the hardener syringe (I found) gets a bit crusty after a bit and needs wiping down, or just tossing out and a new one used.
Cheers,
Whirly
