Can you use sand to thicken EPOXY?

Discussion in 'Materials' started by Jeremy Clarkson, Nov 5, 2011.

  1. Jeremy Clarkson
    Joined: Aug 2011
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    Jeremy Clarkson Junior Member

    For I plug I want to spread thickened epoxy along an edge because the fiberglass cant quite bend to the exact shape.

    I have heard of colloidal silica filler for this, can't I just use sand? or crushed up dry clay?
     
  2. Yellowjacket
    Joined: May 2009
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    Yellowjacket Senior Member

    It would be heavier than all get out, and you wouldn't be able to work it after you did it, it would tear up any tools that you tried to use to cut it. Much better to use wood flour or sawdust or something like that.
     
  3. AndrewK
    Joined: Mar 2007
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    AndrewK Senior Member

    You could use flour or talc, what ever you can get the cheapest.
    But if you need easy to sand material then you have to spend money on microspheres.
     
  4. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Sand is also way too large on an order of considerable magnitude, for use as a filler material. Why sand and what is it's primary goal in the matrix?
     
  5. Steve W
    Joined: Jul 2004
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    Steve W Senior Member

    Or why not just use the colloidial silica? its not expensive.
    Steve.
     
  6. Frosty

    Frosty Previous Member

    Sand will be heavy --if thats a concern . I have used rice and sago infact there is many products on the supermarket shelf can fil out some resin / epoxy.
     
  7. PAR
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Sand will also be imposable to sand down well.
     
  8. gonzo
    Joined: Aug 2002
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    gonzo Senior Member

    I can see using sand in a plug to fill really big holes. You can then use fumed silica or other more easily worked filler for final fairing.
     
  9. cyclops2
    Joined: Sep 2010
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    cyclops2 Senior Member

    Sand will NOT sand down in a mold of anything.
    You are going to use sand in a problem area ?

    If it is TOTALLY OUT OF SIGHT & NEVER needs to be sanded or removed ????

    You can use anything.
     
  10. Frosty

    Frosty Previous Member

    I think thats pretty un-important.

    I used rice an a dinghy keel, hey if I ever get on a desert Island at least I can eat the dinghy.
     
  11. dfy711
    Joined: Apr 2011
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    dfy711 New Member

    jeremy,if you weigh the cost,youll find the colloidal thickeners are much less expensive than sand or clay when you have 100 ft of lake under you,and your further from shore than your swimming abilities allow.there are great brands out there,i use west system, mostly because thier online assistance is ideally suited to a novice like myself.this site is also one of the best sources of info ive found
     
  12. Jeremy Clarkson
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    Jeremy Clarkson Junior Member

    I just need the thickened epoxy to fill the hard corner where the bottom of the plug meets the flange board.

    It's not for a Boat.

    I could use flour? Has anyone ever used flour
     
  13. SuenosAzules
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    SuenosAzules Junior Member

    The answer to this would simply be no..
     
  14. Jeremy Clarkson
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    Jeremy Clarkson Junior Member

    What?
     

  15. SuenosAzules
    Joined: Apr 2010
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    SuenosAzules Junior Member

    Jeremy, you could use many things such as West-System filler, silica, and yes even rice, but sand would be at the bottom of my list of things to use unless I was in a pinch and had limited resources. I have worked with epoxy and fillers in my younger days working in a boat yard on custom fiberglass boats and many things were sometimes rigged, but sand can be course, wet, and dirty to have a good adhesion to it.
     
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