Filler Alternatives
- Thread starter funbun
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Were it me, I would just go to http://www.raka.com/ And order some glass bubbles or silica to
use. There are also other fillers on his site. Just pick one.
Or, just save what you have sanded and use that.
The glass & silica seam to make the epoxy go further than wood flours.
YMMV
use. There are also other fillers on his site. Just pick one.
Or, just save what you have sanded and use that.
The glass & silica seam to make the epoxy go further than wood flours.
YMMV
I have personally used a fair amount of plain flower, Betty White IIRC. :wink: But anyway, flower requires a lot of epoxy and is very hard to almost impossible to sand. I used it as fillets under glass because of the price in a small boat application and I could get it easily. I also wanted to experienment myself. The added weight and the extra resin seems to defeat the purpose. I do see a plus side of it though as it seems to be on the order of the West System 404 fillers for making hardware wedges and for instances of structual fits that needs to have a flat surface on a curved area. my .02
The glass bubbles expand the amount of epoxy and make the sanding a lot nicer / easier if you need to sand at all. They also don't add the weight the rest of the stuff does.
To put it in plain language they are what I like to use and I even add some wood flour with them to make a light colored wood fillet.
Chuck.
To put it in plain language they are what I like to use and I even add some wood flour with them to make a light colored wood fillet.
Chuck.
While the particular use was not stated, glass bubbles is not meant for anyhting other than fairing . So make sure you do not use them in tape and glue construction for fillets under the glass tapes.
Sorry about not being specific in my use of glass bubbles , they are for fillets only. When epoxying the wood (joints) seams and anything else getting the boat into shape all I use is plain ole epoxy and nothing else with it.
When he said filler , I naturally assumed it was being referred to the fillets for the boat.
When he said filler , I naturally assumed it was being referred to the fillets for the boat.
I've used kitchen flour because;
-I ran out of wood flour and didn't want to wait for more to come in the mail.
-I was too cheap and/or lazy to go to West Marine and buy something better.
Seems to work ok. Can't judge as to how much epoxy it soaks up because I've never used anything other than wood flour and wheat flour. Those two seem about the same to me.
It is indeed tough to sand, which may or may not be relevant, according to what you are using it for.
I'm confused about the previous two posts. One guy is saying glass bubbles are only for fairing, the other guy is saying they are only for fillets. ?
When I am gluing two pieces of wood to each other, I like to thicken the epoxy a little with flour. I believe this makes the epoxy easier to work with (less runny, less drippy), and I also think it prevents all the epoxy from getting squeezed out of a joint when you clamp is. It also obviously gap-fills better than plain liquid, for when a joint is not perfect. Remember I'm saying thicken it a LITTLE. It still needs to be pretty wet. Not as thick as you might use for a fillet.
When you are fitting boat parts sometimes you have compound angles, non-rectangular shapes, and curved surfaces all coming together in the same joint. Anybody that can pull that off without using a thick, gap filling adhesive is a better carpenter than I!! I don't doubt some of these guys can do it - I can not.
George
-I ran out of wood flour and didn't want to wait for more to come in the mail.
-I was too cheap and/or lazy to go to West Marine and buy something better.
Seems to work ok. Can't judge as to how much epoxy it soaks up because I've never used anything other than wood flour and wheat flour. Those two seem about the same to me.
It is indeed tough to sand, which may or may not be relevant, according to what you are using it for.
I'm confused about the previous two posts. One guy is saying glass bubbles are only for fairing, the other guy is saying they are only for fillets. ?
When I am gluing two pieces of wood to each other, I like to thicken the epoxy a little with flour. I believe this makes the epoxy easier to work with (less runny, less drippy), and I also think it prevents all the epoxy from getting squeezed out of a joint when you clamp is. It also obviously gap-fills better than plain liquid, for when a joint is not perfect. Remember I'm saying thicken it a LITTLE. It still needs to be pretty wet. Not as thick as you might use for a fillet.
When you are fitting boat parts sometimes you have compound angles, non-rectangular shapes, and curved surfaces all coming together in the same joint. Anybody that can pull that off without using a thick, gap filling adhesive is a better carpenter than I!! I don't doubt some of these guys can do it - I can not.
George
Can't speak for anyone but myself on this.. I use the glass bubbles and wood flour to thicken ( stretch) the epoxy when doing fillets , more bang for the buck so to say. If any sanding is needed then it is a lot easier and quicker to accomplish.
The rest of the time I use nothing but the epoxy to fasten the joints , panels and anything else to the boat. As I said , just speaking for myself and no one else , we all march to different drummers. :wink:
Chuck.
The rest of the time I use nothing but the epoxy to fasten the joints , panels and anything else to the boat. As I said , just speaking for myself and no one else , we all march to different drummers. :wink:
Chuck.
there are high density fillers that can be used for structural adhesives and low density fillers used for fairing
Here's what West Systems sells:
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/filler-selection-guide/
I think the fillers are mostly some sort of silica - which is glass. Solid or colliodal silica falls on the high density side and the glass bubbles are on the low density side. You have to be careful what you buy and what you use it for. Don't know the specs for other brands.
I save dust from the RO sander for wood flour and add a bit of West 406 to lighten up the glue line a bit.
Here's what West Systems sells:
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/filler-selection-guide/
I think the fillers are mostly some sort of silica - which is glass. Solid or colliodal silica falls on the high density side and the glass bubbles are on the low density side. You have to be careful what you buy and what you use it for. Don't know the specs for other brands.
I save dust from the RO sander for wood flour and add a bit of West 406 to lighten up the glue line a bit.
This is what Raka has to say.
" Microscopic glass bubbles. An off white high quality light fairing filler that sands easily. It has moderate strength and good
waterproofness. It can significantly lower your epoxy cost as it will expand your epoxy volume as you mix it with the resin."
I have used the glass bubbles for endpours. I don't think that they need a lot of strength and they do save epoxy and should save a little weight.
" Microscopic glass bubbles. An off white high quality light fairing filler that sands easily. It has moderate strength and good
waterproofness. It can significantly lower your epoxy cost as it will expand your epoxy volume as you mix it with the resin."
I have used the glass bubbles for endpours. I don't think that they need a lot of strength and they do save epoxy and should save a little weight.