Titebond III testing

[Pirate Lowe]

I recieved my plans today. Wow, full size prints. They are copy righted from P.W. Blandford Associate of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects.
It reccomends the following glues: Aerolite 306, Cascamite and Beetle A.

It says I'll need about three pounds of glue. Good and bad on these brands?

[ancient kayaker]

Aerolite 306 and Cascamite are Urea-formaldehyde adhesives. They've been around for a long time and have pretty much been replaced by epoxy, but they are both effective and cheaper than epoxy I believe. I haven't used Aerolite 306 but I used to use Cascamite many years ago and it was a good adhesive, one of the best. Aerolite 306 is 2 part, a powder you mix with water and brush on one side of the joint and an activator that goes on the other side. Cascamite is just mixed with water. I believe both are somewhat gap-filling.

They seem to have gone out of style but I would like to try them out I knew where they are sold. They are readily available in the UK I understand.

[Pirate Lowe]

I got off me lazy butt and did a search, figures they would be available in the UK. Read some good and some bad about them. I think I may try the System three gel magic and see how that works. Seems like it may work well for this application. I'll post results when I get to that point.

[Boston]

its pricey and you get about 3/4 of the way out of a tube and done
so dont count on getting full use of all ounces listed

best
B

[Boston]

so here is what I did with those curved sections








that top step is outa here
it was kinda marginal to begin with and its developed a cup going in the wrong direction
that and its season checked on me
so Ill be replacing that soon before I dress the steps
other than that every piece has held straight and level

cheers
B

[ancient kayaker]

Originally Posted by Pirate Lowe

... I think I may try the System three gel magic ...

I am sure you will be happy with Gel Magic, as far as results are concerned. If you need a lot using the pumps with regular containers is much cheaper than the cartridges. Aerolite 306 and Cascamite are an older generation of adhesives but people got good results with them. No reason not to use them just because they go back 50 years or so.

Originally Posted by Boston

its pricey and you get about 3/4 of the way out of a tube and done
so dont count on getting full use of all ounces listed

best
B

I am sure you get the stated amount out of the tube, it's just that you think you have another 3 ounces to go when it runs dry.

[PAR]

You wouldn't believe what you actually end up spending on epoxy and fillers in cartridge format. The handiness factor is what you are buying and you do pay through the nose.

Personally, I use plastic syringes of various sizes and pack my own. It's not especially hard and I have sizes that can do a lot more then the big 10 ounce cartridges can. I can fit into places they can only dream. Of course I have to load and reload, but the savings are huge. The other advantage is I can select the filler mixture to suit the task, including the color.

[ancient kayaker]

I have experimented with using plastic syringes, the type used for farm animals, very cheap and all sorts of sizes. I find them difficult and messy to load however. any tips?

[hoytedow]

Try drawing the epoxy in from the front by suction, rather than spooning or trowelling it in from the back.

[Pirate Lowe]

This method sounds promising.

[PAR]

That's how I usually do it, I draw it up. This allows me to mix up a good size batch, then spread it out really thin on a cold plate, while I use up the goo in the syringe.

If you must "load from astern" then spoon some goo into a cone shaped paper funnel and squeeze it in like a cake decorator's bag.

On the other hand, if you can't draw it up into the syringe, you can't force it out when necessary anyway, so use a bigger tip or syringe.

[keith66]

I am curious that Beetle glue is still around, its an Amino formaldehyde & was made obsolete by better glues like Aerolite 306
I worked at a yard that swore by Beetle glue, as far as i was concerned the only good thing about it was it smelt nice. As a glue it was dreadful & i had several failures that would not have happened with any other glue.

[ancient kayaker]

I have used System Three's T-88 with a syringe but once mixed it is too thick to brush out thin let alone suck up with a syringe. I have tried putting it in the syringe before mixing but that leaves me with the job of mixing it inside the barrel of the syringe. If I "load from astern" - to use Par's exquisite phrase - then I get air in the syringe which makes application intermittent after the air bubble reaches the tip.

I have also tried using a bag like a cake decorator but if it bursts ... however using it to fill a syringe is an idea I haven't tried.

Maybe I'll change to a thinner epoxy, although T-88 is nice to use - stays put. Of course S3 have the cartridges -great to use but expensive. Cost is a problem with epoxy if used in small batches as it is necessary to prepare more than you think you'll need and there's never anything to use it on when you've done the job. Bitch, bitch ...

[PAR]

Terry, if there are any medical supply stores near you, there are many different size and types of syringes. The ones I use are common with dentists and vets. The body (barrel) is about 1" in diameter on the smaller one and the all plastic tip (needle) is curved, starting out quite wide in diameter, maybe 3/8", tapering to about 1/16". Cutting the tip back until you can draw up the goo is the trick.

I haven't used T-88 in years (cost too damn much). I can mix up a T-88 like batch for a fraction of it's cost.

If you get an air bubble, which is fairly common, you can "push" through it, but keep an eye on the barrel as you'll want to know when this is about to occur. I'm not a cake decorator bag person. I used this technique before I discovered syringes and I'll never go back. Mixing in the barrel or syringe body is insane, though the 1" or bigger body syringes make it possible.

I've found that with some experience, you can gauge how much epoxy you need for a task, quite precisely. It's not very often that I'm looking around for something to smear the last dollop of goo on. In this regard, I do try to have things around that need just a touch of goo, for those occasions I have some extra and don't want to waste it. I just repaired my better half's cutting board leg with some extra goo. I didn't have enough to fix the vase we use as an umbrella holder, that the dog broke a few weeks ago, but there's going to be extra goo soon and I got my eye on it.

[Boston]

I have those floating around for the horses
or did before hard times hit
now there just floating around
they are cheaper at the veterinary supply store and are used for irrigating wounds
you can buy em by the box cheaper still

I dont know jack about epoxy but I sure did my share of vetting
the tips cut off no problem and you can get ones with a flexible tip as well
not sure that would do any good for what your using em for but
if you need to get into a tight corner or whatnot

anyway

cheers
B