Glyn,

What you describe sounds to me like the sort of joint for which I would pretty much without thinking put my hand out for the epoxy glue. This would most likely be a 24 hour variety (i.e. one where initial setting time is around 30 minutes [you will usually find them labeled as 30' epoxy] and where the epoxy has gone off fully after about 24 hours), as the final bond will be stronger and less prone to turn brittle than is the case with the instant grip varieties ("5 minute epoxy"; "rapid epoxy&quot. It also gives you a longer time to adjust everything to your liking before there is full grip in the joint, but on the other hand you do ideally need to be able to apply pressure to the parts for 24 hours, too.

I also prefer to buy two-bottle system epoxies, rather than the self-mixing syringes that you find in DIY stores, and then mix what I need by weight; it comes out much less expensive, and also I have found that the longer setting time epoxies are harder to get hold of in syringe form.

Any excess glue can easily be wiped off from the joint edges with methylated spirits, provided it hasn't yet set and – important! – on condition that the surface you are wiping down will not react to the spirits (some acrylic paints for example might start to dissolve).

Mattias

I have been using these glues for a long time now.

The cyano is very good and performs well. The epoxy in the syringe works well – adheres strongly and is slightly flexible for the first year or so. To get an even amount out you simply press harder on the side of the plunger which you think is flowing least.

I have tried the epoxy in separate tubes twice. Both times it refused to set at all. Avoid it – it’s a waste of money.

Try pushing directly over one syringe while holding the other end up! Alternatively, cut through the syringe plunger alone. You don’t need to separate both tubes.

If you do separate them, how do you sort out the cover, which is designed to be used with the tubes together?

Incidentally, you do know that the ‘strange structure’ is the cover, don’t you? This might explain the mess!!

Edited By Dodgy Geezer on 02/05/2017 13:43:03

Except the very occasional syringe for joints where the applicator reach comes in handy, I only ever use mix-your-own epoxies that come in two separate bottles, usually either BSI Slow-Cure 30 Minute (**LINK**) or Zap Z-Poxy 30 Minute (**LINK**), although I also have a 15 and a 5 minute variety to hand.

I always measure out the quantities by weight, using a set of digital fine scales accurate to within a tenth of a gram, and have never had any problems at all with the epoxy not setting.

Mattias

Glyn – a useful tip, if you haven’t started yet, is to roughen up the brass prop shaft at the area to be joined….. Sandpaper will suffice. This gives a good ‘key’ for the epoxy to grab to.

Every now-and-again I read something that is so blindingly obvious yet devilishly cunning that I wonder why on earth it never occurred to me before. Well it didn't, but now I have the solution to keeping the levels in those Z-Poxy finishing resin bottles equal. I've been using graduated 60ml polythene measuring cups for mixing but the stuff is so viscous that it's practically impossible to "eyeball" equal amounts in the small quantities I mix. A set of 200g/0.01g Digital scales have now been ordered!

Once again I am indebted to you, Mr H.

Dave M

I say, Dave! I'm very glad to hear that you found the idea useful — for my part, I initially got the set of fine scales for mixing paints (not pints, paints) in small quantities with as consistent results as differences between manufacturers' batches allow. However, once I had them I realised that here was also a ready-made solution to those two-bottle epoxies, where one bottle would always run out before the other. Also, although I believe most epoxies have a mixing margin of error of +/- 10%, when you are mixing up a total of, say, 1.2 grams (which is the sort of amount I'd mix for sticking together a couple of parts), that margin of error is not huge in absolute terms, and I find that weighing gives nice, consistent results.

Mattias