Super Jet 5200 vs. Epoxy + Cabosil for Bond line filling?

BrightE's

BrightE's

Paul
Location
Seattle, WA
Ive been doing my fair share of reading between here and PWC today, and there seems to be mixed emotions about using thickened epoxy vs. 5200 for bond line filling when reinforcing with glass.

People in the 5200 camp enjoy ease of application and claim that the flexibility of the adhesive is a good thing.

The people in the epoxy camp claim rigidness is your friend, and that you get a true chemical bond if you glass over the epoxy filled bond line before it completely cures.

Can anyone add any extra weight to either of these cases? I am looking to find which method is best for a general purpose reinforcement on a RN SJ.

Cheers!
 
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yamanube

yamanube

This Is The Way
Staff member
Location
Mandalor
If you are worried about extra weight use two part foam. The flexibility of the 5200 would be negated by the reinforcement, and I would imagine 5200 would end up costing significantly more.
 
BrightE's

BrightE's

Paul
Location
Seattle, WA
Excellent Feedback! Thanks guys. Quick question for you Zero - do the microballoons/balls act to thicken up the epoxy as well or will the mix still require cabosil to get that peanut-butter like consistency?
 
#ZERO

#ZERO

Beach Bum
Location
Florida - U.S.A.
Yes it will have a peanut-butter like consistency and don't be afraid to dump in lots of balloons with very little epoxy. I would use a less than a pint of epoxy to a quart or more of the micro balloons ratio and it will sand extremely smooth very easily.
 
Mobile Chernobyl

Mobile Chernobyl

Location
1 Mile High in Colorado
The nice thing about the cab-o-sil + epoxy is you can do the glass reinforcement of the bondrails and the filling all in the same lay up. If you used 5200 you'd have to let it cure most likely making it necessary for a 2 step jobber.
 
davy87nj

davy87nj

Location
Santa Maria, CA
good thread, I was thinking about this after viewing two builds, one with foam and one with 5200. 5200 is pricy and I personally never have good luck with it for anything. What are microballons? Like what do they consist of?
 
#ZERO

#ZERO

Beach Bum
Location
Florida - U.S.A.
davy87nj said:
good thread, I was thinking about this after viewing two builds, one with foam and one with 5200. 5200 is pricy and I personally never have good luck with it for anything. What are microballons? Like what do they consist of?
Click to expand...
They're just hollow glass bubbles used as lightweight filler material for composites, synthetic foam, concrete etc.

I'm going to use them to re-foam my tray on the next build because they have great compression strength that far exceeds two part expanding foam and they will not shrink.
 
Sparkplug

Sparkplug

Location
Red Bluff CA
You can add anything to the epoxy really. We have added baby powder. Next time I do a bondline Im going to add milled fibers. Basically chopped up fiber glass mat. I think that would make it the strongest.

We cover both sides, the bulkhead, and the bottom in glass all at the same time so it all cures as one solid piece. Works out good.

edit; we dont let the bondline filler dry, we put the glass over the top while its wet, and just roller the glass, makes it perfectly flat without sanding. The excess will go into the fabric, and when you paint then hull, you cant see the color difference
 
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MCrider

MCrider

Location
Jackson MI
Sparkplug said:
You can add anything to the epoxy really. We have added baby powder. Next time I do a bondline Im going to add milled fibers. Basically chopped up fiber glass mat. I think that would make it the strongest.

We cover both sides, the bulkhead, and the bottom in glass all at the same time so it all cures as one solid piece. Works out good.

edit; we dont let the bondline filler dry, we put the glass over the top while its wet, and just roller the glass, makes it perfectly flat without sanding. The excess will go into the fabric, and when you paint then hull, you cant see the color difference
Click to expand...


agreed, i'v used flower as filler it worked great.
 
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