Epoxy Ribs

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EPOXY PROCESSES
January 11, 2005		Here is the type of epoxy that I decided to go with for building my hovercraft. It is made by "West Systems" and is supposed to be the "top dog" of Epoxies. My other choice was a brand called "System Three" but I picked up the West Systems for about the same price System Three when you take into consideration I did not have to have to incurs shipping cost as I would have with my second choice of epoxy. Because this will be my first time using epoxy I decided to go with the slower hardener (small can on the left) so I have a little more time to work with the epoxy before it gels over. It also came with a good user manual (FREE) that explains the basics of "how to epoxy" and other information that is helpful to know which you can see on the bottom of the picture.

January 11, 2005		Here is the user manual with the easy to understand directions. To avoid copyright issues I made it so that you cant read it! Take that laser eyes!

March 12th, 2005		Since I never worked with epoxy before, I though it would be best to test it out on a few scrap pieces of wood first. I rather learn on scrap wood than ruin the hovercraft parts I have worked so hard to make. These are just two of the test that I used the epoxy on to get the feel for how long I could work with the epoxy before it became unworkable. Since I was working in my basement it was cooler and actually gave me about 20 minutes of workable time with the mixed epoxy. About 10 minutes would have been sufficient but remember when I am up in my garage this summer when the temperature is much warmer, the workable time will be much less.

March 12th, 2005		First, Thanks to my daughter for taking this picture. As you can see I needed both of my hands to perform this stunt. Much to my surprise, the epoxy bond the next day was much stronger than I thought it would be. In this picture I am using all my strength to try an break the bond. I only have about 1 inch of epoxy holding these two pieces of wood together and the remaining wood I used as leverage to try and break the bond. The bond wasn't going to break today or anytime soon. Yes I had wheaties for breakfast. Yes I had a good lunch Yes I had a good dinner and Yes the epoxy is stronger than me.

March 12th, 2005		I am sure that you really didn't care to see how I mixed the epoxy but I include this picture to point you will need disposable brushes to apply the epoxy. You can imagine what cured epoxy does to the brush that applied the epoxy. Lets just say you can use it for a chisel after the epoxy hardens. For all of you readers who are really paying attention to my pictures, yes that is the bottom of a 16 oz. Pepsi that I chugged the day earlier. That was the only thing that I could find to mix the epoxy.

March 12th, 2005		This is rib 2 that I epoxied first. I finally found a use for my bench weights that laid idle in my basement for the past 10+ years. I decided not to clamp the corners where the epoxy was because I though it was more important that the rib stayed level. I only used the clamps to give slight pressure to pull the top and bottom of the rib together. The weight of the small weights will apply enough pressure to create a super strong bond.

March 12th, 2005		This is a picture of rib 3 partially epoxied together. I will epoxy the remaining parts of the rib sometime this week when I have time. You can also see in the right most picture that I used scrap wood to separate the bench weight from the rib. The last think I wanted to have was a bench weight stuck to the rib. The scrap wood is placed on the rib where no epoxy exist yet it allows the weight to distribute over the epoxied joint itself. Although this picture makes it as if the scrap wood in on the larger base of the rib, it is really positioned on the smaller piece of wood that is being epoxied to the base.

March 12th, 2005		This is rib 4 partially epoxied together. Instead of using more bench weights I found a use for the table saw motor I burned out earlier (see miscellaneous pictures). I also use my grinder to hold the parts together "snuggly". You do not want to apply too much pressure because you will squeeze the epoxy out of the joint and create a starved joint. Another thing I wanted to mention is that the vertical pieces of wood should be at 90 degree angles to the bottom of the rib. I used my square to make sure that they were before I set my weight on the wood for final curing.

March 12th, 2005		This is rib 6 partially epoxied together. Somehow I forgot to epoxy rib 5 before rib 6. Naturally it doesn't really matter but I am now concerned that the epoxy vapors are beginning to effect me. Its time to end my wonderful evening of epoxy adventures.

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