Thining epoxy

[kevin nee]

I have purchased some 2 part epoxy from Woodcraft which I plan to dye and pour into
some large voids in a dry Oak Burl. My question is how can I thin this epoxy to make it flow more easily and evenly into the bottom of these voids which will be small. Any tips would
be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[Dick Strauss]

Kevin,
You can thin most epoxies with DNA, any kind of petroleum distillates (mineral sprits, paint thinner, etc) or lacquer thinner IIRC.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I mix in DNA after mixing the epoxy. You can thin it to whatever consistancy you need.

[Tim Thiebaut]

This is good to know for future use!

[Paul Douglass]

I've done it many times with Acetone.

[Barbara Gill]

I was once advised by a guy who used a lot of epoxy to build a heat box with a low wattage light bulb as the heat source. He said to pre-warm the wood in the box and then cure it there. This will cause the epoxy to thin slightly for better penetration into the wood. I never tried it. Has anyone else?

[Jim Burr]

Good thread!! Can you thin just one of the parts? Is it best to use 5 or 20 min epoxy? What part would you mix color into if you wanted a tint? I don't use expoy...yet...so let's toss this one around for a bit

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jim,

Do an advanced search and use the term "epoxy cocktail" as the search key words. You will find a lot of threads where this was discussed. Look for posts by John Hart. He IIRC was one of the first I remember experimenting with this....but there are a lot of discussions and information.

[Jerry Marcantel]

Here is my 2 cents..... Why would anyone buy a 2 part system and then add a 3rd part to it? It weakens it. You might get it to do what you want it to do, but it will fail sooner than later. Barbra is on the right track.... If your epoxy wont run, it needs to heated for it to fill. I was having the same problem with the epoxt running so far, and when I would remove the tape, there would be all kinds of voids. My epoxy supplier told me to heat up my wood, mix the epoxy at room temp., and pour it. What I actually do now is mix the 2 parts in a plastic cup, insert the cup into a pan of hot water for about 5 minutes, wipe off the water, then pour it..... Wow, what a difference...... BTW, I use the slow hardener, 2-4 hours, and a gram scale for a proper mix.... ...... Jerry (in Tucson)

[Sid Matheny]

You can also heat each of the two parts before mixing for the quicker setup time types.


Sid

[Paul Williams]

A long time ago (1982) in a different hobby, I built an experimental aircraft out of glass and expoxy. We kept the epoxy pump in a light box at 90 degrees. We also heated the foam base for each layup and the glass fiber to around 80 degrees before starting a major layup. There is an unbelieveable difference between cold epoxy and warm epoxy as far as ease of application and penetration are concerned. Heat would be my first choice. If I couldn't heat the blank I would still heat the epoxy before mixing the two parts together. Having said that I have also thinned epoxy for turnings with acetone or with DNA. I have also added coloring agents to epoxy and observed no difference in set up. I wouldn't do either for a structual element, but for filling holes in a turning I see to problems

[Jeff Nicol]

In response to Jerry, thinning the epoxy is used to stabilize punky wood like spalting or some rot. The adding of the tint is done in the resin part of the 2 part epoxy and for filling voids etc I have never had any trouble with the epoxy not working. One of the things I use to color the epoxy is oil artists paints as they have a lot of pigment and only a tiny bit is needed to change the epoxy to the desired color with no weakness in the glue.

Try it out!

Jeff

[Steve Braman]

My epoxy experience is mostly from the boat building world. I often preheat my wood by setting it in the sun or using heat lamps prior to layup and complete the layup in the shade. This helps draw the exopy into any voids. The air trapped in the surface will contract rather than expand from the heat generated during the curing process. For this reason, I would always suggest moving the object being filled to a cooler location while the exopy is curing. Direct sunlight will often cause a part to fail.

Warming the epoxy and hardener will have several impacts. It WILL flow like water as you pump and mix, but the working time will be dramatically reduced. My favorite epoxy as of late is MAS. It is less brittle and does not have an amine blush after set up. It seems to move with the wood quite a bit more and handle impacts better than others I have worked with. Having said this, I have not tried to turn any of it yet.

[Doug Wolf]

I have had good luck warming the epoxy in a microwave oven for a few seconds before mixing to thin it down. I also use Peal Ex to color the epoxy, it doesen't take much. It buffs out when you use the 3 buff system. Here is a white oak plate with it used to fill a void.

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