From: RWolf99@aol.com
Message-ID: <7d.f1a16fa.27862348@aol.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2001 14:04:40 EST
Subject: Sticky Stuff Dispensers
To: lancair.list@olsusa.com
Reply-To: lancair.list@olsusa.com
Mime-Version: 1.0

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I bypassed the problem of sticky stuff dispensers turning my epoxy dark by 
simply not using one.  I keep my epoxy bottles (resin, fast hardener, slow 
hardener) in a cardboard box on a shelf in the laundry room next to the 
garage.  This room is heated and air conditioned, like the rest of the house. 
 (The garage is not.)  When I mix epoxy, I put a paper mixing cup on a 
digital gram scale, pour in XX grams of resin straight from the bottle, hit 
the "tare" button, and then pour in XX / 4 grams from the hardener bottle.

If a huge layup requiring pre-measured amounts is necessary -- to be mixed in 
the heat of battle -- I premeasure the resin and hardener in separate cups.  
About 3 grams of hardener stays in a 3 oz Dixie cup when I pour it into the 
resin cup, so I increase the amount of hardener by 3 grams.

It takes about 1/2 gram of resin per ply-in2 for small layups and 1/3 gram 
per ply-in2 for large layups.  (A 10x10 inch 2-BID is 200 ply-in2.  That's a 
large layup.)  This gives some leftover for brushing onto the surface before 
placing wet BID sandwiches and enough for ensuring peel ply is fully wet out 
-- you will eventually develop your own rule of thumb in terms of "grams of 
resin per ply-in2".  I may have more excess than other folks, but I hate to 
run out in the middle of a layup.

The electronic digital scale cost about $100 several years ago (they're 
cheaper now) and is small enough to leave on my workbench all the time.  The 
epoxy stays warm in winter and cool in summer.  I have used sticky stuff 
dispeners and they are very handy, but that was when I had a 
temperature-controlled lab at work and we were mixing lots of epoxy all day 
long -- not 2 or 3 small layups after dinner.

- Rob Wolf
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