I saved mine for 30 years and used it on my next boat. I had to heat the base in 140 degree water for a while to turn the crystals back into liquid but otherwise it worked fine. In my experience, if stored properly, it does not separate, evaporate or degrade. It just sometimes crystalizes but can be restored by warming it to 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
I usually take a pass around the house and garage looking for that doll house ladder, the magnet that is supposed to be holding the bathroom mirror closed, or anything else broken recently that would benefit from re-unification.
When 'in build', or even if not, I almost always have some other project 'on the go'. Any excess epoxy gets smeared on the next naked bit of wood, however far it may, or may not, have got. For instance the inside of the hull which thus gets patched to eventual triumph.
I am an enthusiastic epoxerer, (that's like a 'sorcerer', only much, much stickier) and for many years now, all my boats are basically plasticized wooden endoskeletons, soaked in epoxy then all except the inside of buoyancy tanks, which are left epoxied only and not painted in case I should need to repair some damage at arm's length through an inspection hatch; all other ply surfaces are sheathed with polyester-cotton bed sheets
....WHAT? Well, I lived in the Middle East for some years and the sun was enough to rapidly take the surface veneer off any ply, particularly any convex surface such as a 'turtle-back' foredeck, then work its way down. I thought about this for a while and remembered that yachts here in the UK used to have canvas painted onto the deck by way of waterproofing. So I bought some decent polyester-cotton twill and epoxy-soaked it to the ply deck of my then current creation.
"Ahh but," I hear you cry, "sunlight damages epoxy!".... yes, so I then protected the epoxy with two-part polyurethane paint. Now, you can do primers then undercoats and overcoats etcetera, but over the years, I have found that two layers of two-part, top-coat, polyurethane paint sticks to lightly sanded epoxy like, er, 'stuff to a blanket'. If you're doing decks, then don't bother with the sanding and you'll tend to get a very reasonable non-slip surface.
OK, but what about the polyester-cotton bedsheets? Well, they're thinner, larger and cheaper than even light, woven fiberglass. Have you ever tried putting a foot through a bed sheet, or otherwise disrupting it? The weave moves enough to shape over any reasonable hull, chined or carvel and if applied at a suitably early stage, can be tugged threatened and cajoled flat over most things and clothes-pinned, or thumb-tacked to the gunwale edge of your developing hull.
The deck on that first, thus-sheathed creation is still fine after quarter of a century and my little lugger is still snugly wrapped in her (plasticizing) polycotton bedsheet, two-part polyurethane covered epoxy, a dozen or so years on. Nothing has required more than a touch-up of the scuffs meted out by a life on the ocean wave; well more to the point, the back-waters of your average gunk-hole.
Left over epoxy just means I have to start a new boat project. Just like having left over wood means a new boat project. All of this in hopes that someday I will have no left over wood and no left over epoxy and I can finally rest and just enjoy all the boats I have built.
For small amounts, the only amounts I've been using lately, I've switched to using a small metric food scale and following the "by weight" mixing instructions. Very easy and allows fairly small mixes to save waste.
I keep small projects, mostly repairs of non-boating stuff, available for already mixed epoxy. Then I put the first clean-up paper towel next to the project so I can check it later gauge the cured status.
Best thing to do with it is build another boat. Epoxy seems to last forever. Built my third boat 17 years after my second with the leftover epoxy. Raja
Left over--what left over epoxy? I mix it in 4 to 6 ounce batches and manage to use it all. Always used the slow hardener.
I recently tried West's 6 ten epoxy for a small job on Nereid. Excellent gap filling and super strong. As the dispensing tube only measures out what you need, there is no waste. My only complaint is that the "disposable" mixing tips are sacrificial and run the product price up. I have not figured out how to clean them up before setting.
Try saving one of the cartridges and once it's empty try refilling it with alcohol, MEK or laquer thinner and rinsing it out. You can then use that cartridge to jet solvent through your spiral mix tips to clean them for reuse?
I will try that, but I am still on my first tube. By the time I finish it, I will have at least 5 or 6 hardened tips sitting around. I am not sure that hardened epoxy will dissolve readily.
It depends on whether it is thickened and what it is thickened with. I always have something in mind for what may be left over: a check in a piece of wood, a concrete repair, etc..
I think the question has to do with already mixed epoxy. (The unmixed stuff lasts nearly forever.) I try to have a few things that need to be filled (or perhaps tacked into place for later complete filleting ) in mind when I mix up a batch for the "main" task. But still, I end up throwing out some stuff in the cup. I use syringes to measure small amounts for mixing, so that I can mix just enough for the job at hand.
I will also make fillets a little heavier or lighter to match the amount mixed, if structure and weight concerns are somewhat flexible.
I saved mine for 30 years and used it on my next boat. I had to heat the base in 140 degree water for a while to turn the crystals back into liquid but otherwise it worked fine. In my experience, if stored properly, it does not separate, evaporate or degrade. It just sometimes crystalizes but can be restored by warming it to 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
I use mine throughout the year to repair anything & everything!!
Umm...all I can say is that I have some very shiny, very well protected wooden sawhorses....Bill Rutherford
Currently building a boat, there is ALWAYS some place that can use a dab of epoxy. I generally have 2-3 work areas in progress.
I usually take a pass around the house and garage looking for that doll house ladder, the magnet that is supposed to be holding the bathroom mirror closed, or anything else broken recently that would benefit from re-unification.
Protecting your boat
When 'in build', or even if not, I almost always have some other project 'on the go'. Any excess epoxy gets smeared on the next naked bit of wood, however far it may, or may not, have got. For instance the inside of the hull which thus gets patched to eventual triumph.
I am an enthusiastic epoxerer, (that's like a 'sorcerer', only much, much stickier) and for many years now, all my boats are basically plasticized wooden endoskeletons, soaked in epoxy then all except the inside of buoyancy tanks, which are left epoxied only and not painted in case I should need to repair some damage at arm's length through an inspection hatch; all other ply surfaces are sheathed with polyester-cotton bed sheets
....WHAT? Well, I lived in the Middle East for some years and the sun was enough to rapidly take the surface veneer off any ply, particularly any convex surface such as a 'turtle-back' foredeck, then work its way down. I thought about this for a while and remembered that yachts here in the UK used to have canvas painted onto the deck by way of waterproofing. So I bought some decent polyester-cotton twill and epoxy-soaked it to the ply deck of my then current creation.
"Ahh but," I hear you cry, "sunlight damages epoxy!".... yes, so I then protected the epoxy with two-part polyurethane paint. Now, you can do primers then undercoats and overcoats etcetera, but over the years, I have found that two layers of two-part, top-coat, polyurethane paint sticks to lightly sanded epoxy like, er, 'stuff to a blanket'. If you're doing decks, then don't bother with the sanding and you'll tend to get a very reasonable non-slip surface.
OK, but what about the polyester-cotton bedsheets? Well, they're thinner, larger and cheaper than even light, woven fiberglass. Have you ever tried putting a foot through a bed sheet, or otherwise disrupting it? The weave moves enough to shape over any reasonable hull, chined or carvel and if applied at a suitably early stage, can be tugged threatened and cajoled flat over most things and clothes-pinned, or thumb-tacked to the gunwale edge of your developing hull.
The deck on that first, thus-sheathed creation is still fine after quarter of a century and my little lugger is still snugly wrapped in her (plasticizing) polycotton bedsheet, two-part polyurethane covered epoxy, a dozen or so years on. Nothing has required more than a touch-up of the scuffs meted out by a life on the ocean wave; well more to the point, the back-waters of your average gunk-hole.
Always have more jobs lying around in-waiting
Than you have mixed epoxy
Easy
Left over epoxy just means I have to start a new boat project. Just like having left over wood means a new boat project. All of this in hopes that someday I will have no left over wood and no left over epoxy and I can finally rest and just enjoy all the boats I have built.
For small amounts, the only amounts I've been using lately, I've switched to using a small metric food scale and following the "by weight" mixing instructions. Very easy and allows fairly small mixes to save waste.
I'm with you, a pair of ketchup squeeze bottles and a small digital scale has drastically reduced my waste.
I keep small projects, mostly repairs of non-boating stuff, available for already mixed epoxy. Then I put the first clean-up paper towel next to the project so I can check it later gauge the cured status.
Best thing to do with it is build another boat. Epoxy seems to last forever. Built my third boat 17 years after my second with the leftover epoxy. Raja
Left over--what left over epoxy? I mix it in 4 to 6 ounce batches and manage to use it all. Always used the slow hardener.
I recently tried West's 6 ten epoxy for a small job on Nereid. Excellent gap filling and super strong. As the dispensing tube only measures out what you need, there is no waste. My only complaint is that the "disposable" mixing tips are sacrificial and run the product price up. I have not figured out how to clean them up before setting.
Try saving one of the cartridges and once it's empty try refilling it with alcohol, MEK or laquer thinner and rinsing it out. You can then use that cartridge to jet solvent through your spiral mix tips to clean them for reuse?
I will try that, but I am still on my first tube. By the time I finish it, I will have at least 5 or 6 hardened tips sitting around. I am not sure that hardened epoxy will dissolve readily.
Yeah, it has to be cleaned before it hardens. You're not getting it out of the mixing tips once it hardens.
A friend of mine used to save the epoxy in his freezer. then use it for end pours to reinforce the stems of his kayaks.
It depends on whether it is thickened and what it is thickened with. I always have something in mind for what may be left over: a check in a piece of wood, a concrete repair, etc..
What leftover epoxy, no such thing
I think the question has to do with already mixed epoxy. (The unmixed stuff lasts nearly forever.) I try to have a few things that need to be filled (or perhaps tacked into place for later complete filleting ) in mind when I mix up a batch for the "main" task. But still, I end up throwing out some stuff in the cup. I use syringes to measure small amounts for mixing, so that I can mix just enough for the job at hand.
I will also make fillets a little heavier or lighter to match the amount mixed, if structure and weight concerns are somewhat flexible.
When the pumps are clean and dry, mark the 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 positions. Small boats = many small projects.