Advice Is epoxy glue food safe?

[Frederick Skelly]

I want to make a laminated meat tenderizer mallet for my mom. Core and handle will be walnut. The sides will be maple. I want her to be able to wash it in the sink (not dishwasher!). Can I use epoxy glue to hold the handle in the head and to glue the sides to the core? If not, what should I use?

Thanks guys!
Fred

[Andrew J. Coholic]

You can use epoxy - once fully cured (generally takes a week to two weeks) it is pretty inert stuff. Separately, the hardener and resin are not. But once its undergone full cure, it is. I spoke to the tech guys 20 years ago from one of the more popular marine epoxies, as I was hoping to coat the insides of a few bins that were to hold food. I was asking about using their epoxy. He could not technically say "yes" as it doesnt have a certification for food contact. Off the record he said as long as you let the epoxy cure fully, it wont be an issue.

For what you are talking about, I'd not be too worried. Also, you can use Titebond III if you dont want to use epoxy.

[Frederick Skelly]

Thanks Andrew!

[Wayne Lomman]

Yes, I agree. Go for it. Cheers

[Bill Conerly]

Andrew's answer sounds right to me, but really important issues merit more research than reading answers on an Internet forum.

[Doug Hepler]

Fred,

The question of food safe epoxy is a major issue for sailors and others who need to make or repair drinking water storage tanks. You can learn a lot from the sailboat forums. It is also an issue for people who want to make drinking vessels like mugs out of wood and then waterproof them. I'm one of the latter group, which is how I got interested in the topic.

There is at least one product on the market, Max Clr, that is certified as food safe. My personal opinion is to agree with Andrew, above. I made a beer mug and waterproofed it with West System epoxy. It smelled of hardener for a little while after the initial cure, but the smell disappeared after I sanded it out, I have drunk beer from this mug and there is no smell or taste that I can detect. My opinion is that epoxy would not be an issue with a meat mallet. However, as suggested above, PVA will also work and is food safe.

Doug

[Keith Westfall]

I use some of the Bob Smith epoxy, so I emailed them and asked. The word i got back was: The Slow-Cure is food safe as long as it is not heated above 180 degrees F.

Can't imagine that the 5 minute is much different, but I didn't ask about it specifically.

Keith

[Mike Cutler]

Yes, epoxy is food safe. Not all of them will be labeled this way, but there are many that are. IIRC 10CFR17 covers the spec them. Here is the first one I found with Google, but there are many others. ( http://www.masterbond.com/certifications/food-grade )

As others have stated, epoxy reaches it full cure in 7+ days.It will cure to within ~80% in the first 24 hours, but the full cure takes time, even the 5 minute stuff does.

For the application that you intend, it's difficult to see very much, if any, actual contact with food. System 3 T88 is a structural epoxy that I would highly recommend for what you're making. It's a very forgiving epoxy with the thixotropic agents already in it.
No matter what type, or brand, of epoxy you use, do not clamp it like a traditional glue or you will definitely end up with a fragile, starved, joint. Only use enough clamping force as necessary to align and hold the pieces in place.