Re: [VAC] Epoxy testimonial

["terry tyler" <tylerbears@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Annie,

You wrote, "I mixed the whole quart can at once...didn't know you had like THIRTY SECONDS to glop
the stuff on before it petrified...I now have a kind of interesting sculpture with a pancake flipper
stuck in it."

Annie, capillary action is the principle upon which this stuff works. That's why mixing small
amounts and spreading it fast before it hardens is so important. Don't feel bad, you aren't the
first one to make that mistake, nor will you be the last one. 

To facilitate capillary action, I drilled a series of staggered 1/4" holes and started filling them
and saturating all the wood around them from one end and progressing slowly to the other end. I
didn't want to start in the middle and trap air in the middle (and create a weak link). 

I thought it would be better to start where the wood was okay, work it in well as I went along and
when I got to where the rot was most evident (and where there was a dip in the surface from me
pulling out a small area of complete/total rot), I mixed dry saw dust with the stuff and used that
as fill material. 

Considerable amount of patience was needed to make sure actual penetration occurred and complete
saturation was achieved (otherwise capillary action wouldn't do its thing). Because the stuff
doesn't displace water and dampness will cause it to cure slowly (read = eventually), I dried it
thorougly with a small heater before starting. I wanted it unequivocally bone dry. I could have used
acetone to assist in drying, but didn't.

This is probably more than you need to hear. Sometimes, I get caught up in the details of exactly
how things work and then, get wrapped up in making sure I get maximum benefit from my labor. In this
case, that may have been overkill. 

But, if I can't indulge myself while restoring an Airstream, when can I? It's fun (once in awhile)
to give an activity my full concentration to the exclusion of everything else - even if only for an
hour or two.  

Give it another go with patience and persistence,

Terry