West System epoxy 105

[Evanism]

Just bought 4 litres of the stuff and 800ml of SLOW hardener. (see below)

I'm using it to fill holes and gaps in chop boards.... mix using the plungers (and scale) and add in some sawdust.

For those who use it, do you use the fast or slow hardener? It seems like the harden time on slow is very slow (10 to 16 hours).

* doofus me didn't read the spec sheet, did I! I assumed fast was 10 to 30 minutes and slow might have been an hour or two....nooooo, I was super wrong.

[Master Splinter]

I could do with some slow hardener, if you want to get rid of it! Sounds like you picked up the 209.

206 gives about 20-30 minutes on a mid-20's summer day. (that's to "yeh, na, not using that no more" stage, not "Oh, ready to sand!!" stage - that's essentially overnight).

I have occasionally set fire to force cured epoxy with a heat gun, but the line between rapid cure and thermal decomposition is a fine one which I am happy to admit I have not mastered!

[dusteater]

You can mix the hardeners ,so you`ll end up with something in between.

[mark david]

Have just bough 4 litres +hardener
Fast hardener is pretty slow and slow hardener is mega slow even slower than a post office queue

Thin laminate times

205 fast hardener 12 hours....................Pot life 9 mins
206 slow hardener 17hours......................Pot life 20 Mins
209 super slow hardener 25 hours...................pot life 37 mins

[Evanism]

Sorry, thought I put that in, it's the 206 hardener. I'll grab some 205 I suppose.

It's a bit surprising how hot it became given it takes 10-16 Hours to cure (and MD advises 17). Overnight is ok, I can wait, but in a production environment even 12 hours using 205 must feel glaciatic.

Obviously I'm only using it for one of its intended purposes. It's really nice to mix and pour, I can see why it's popular.

Btw, I'll avoid Master splinters suggestion ... don't need the neighbours/Feds thinking I'm running a meth lab with all the stink and fumes