Monthly Archives: November 2014

Brian's western red cedar and epoxy fence.

Fence Construction Revisted

My Western Red Cedar & Epoxy Fence

by Brian Knight—GBI Technical Advisor

Above: Brian’s western red cedar and epoxy fence still looks beautiful despite constant exposure to harsh Michigan weather.

Every now and then it is good to look back at an epoxy project to see how it has held up over several years. Above is a photo of the western red cedar fence I built in the summer of 1998 (as it looks today) and below, the fence as it looked during and just after construction five years ago. This fence uses no nails, screws, bolts, etc. to hold it together. Only WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy holds the spindles to the rails and the rails to the posts. Continue reading →

installing a basketball goal with threaded rod

Installing a Basketball Goal

by Brian Knight—GBI Technical Advisor

Above: Bob was installing a basketball goal with threaded rod and needed to know how much tension the rods would hold.

Bob Warters: I am installing a basketball goal in my driveway. My pole has a 10″ diameter flange on the bottom (9″ bolt hole diameter) with six holes for ½” anchors. I intend to use ½” stainless allthread (threaded rod) for the anchor bolts. If I drill 9/16″ holes in the concrete 3½” deep and use your system to fix the threaded rod to the concrete, how much tension would you estimate the rods would hold? The concrete is about a year old, it’s 4″ thick and has ½” rebar on one foot centers.  Continue reading →

Testing Bolts Epoxy Bonded into Concrete

by Brian Knight—GBI Technical Advisor

Above: The final version of the test Brian devised to determine the holding power of bolts epoxy bonded into concrete. When the load cell registered 4000 lbs, he stopped the experiment.

The email exchange with Bob Warters in the article Installing a basketball goal is typical of the process we sometimes go through to answer a technical question. Most questions do not generate laboratory testing, but, in this case, the data we had available was limited. I was able to give Bob some shear strength data on concrete block from previous tests but was unable to find specific data on fasteners bonded with epoxy into poured concrete. I suspected poured concrete would hold a bolt better, but another data point would be reassuring. Continue reading →

The second darkroom sink

Building Darkroom Sinks

By Spiros Polemis

Above: The second darkroom sink is 86″ x 30″ x 7.5″ deep x 31″ high.

We built two darkroom sinks using WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy: one for tray developing photographs, the second to hold our Jobo film processor, and two archival print washers. The two sinks are end-to-end on one wall of the room and fit flush with waterproof caulking, the taller sink sitting on top of the side of the shorter one. Continue reading →

Cosmic Muffin awaiting passengers at her berth in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

The Three Lives of Cosmic Muffin

by Jennifer Jones

Cosmic Muffin, a unique houseboat owned by Dave Drimmer, has quite an interesting history. She started out as a Boeing 307 Stratoliner, which was acquired by Howard Hughes in 1939 when he bought TWA. The Model 307 was the world’s first high-altitude commercial transport and the first four-engine airliner in scheduled domestic service.  In 1948, Hughes had her interior redesigned, named her Flying Penthouse, and she became one of the first commercial airliners converted into a plush executive transport. Continue reading →

wooden runabout

Readers’ Project, Issue 21

Wooden Runabout

Mark Bronkalla of Waukesha, Wisconsin, built this Glen-L Riviera wooden runabout using WEST SYSTEM Epoxy. The Riviera is a 20′ double cockpit traditionally styled wooden runabout. It was built with cold molded construction techniques (epoxy and wood laminations). Top speed as measured by a GPS is 53 mph! For construction photos and building information, visit www.bronkalla.com.

Continue reading →

Installing a Teak Deck on ZATARA

by Ken Newell
Epoxyworks 20

Cover Photo: The intricate plank layout of ZATARA’s finished teak-covered cockpit, before the hardware was reinstalled.

The Zatara refit project began two years ago when my partner Steve Gallo (a mortgage banker) and myself, Ken Newell (a materials engineer), decided that we wanted something to do with our spare time and money. What we didn’t realize was the level to which the refit project would absorb every weekend and every non-critical dollar we had and cause our significant others to chastise us for our obsessive behavior. Continue reading →

We mixed and applied a third coat thickened with 406 Colloidal Silica Filler to create the non-skid texture.

Creating a Non-Skid Deck

by Bruce Niederer — GBI Technical Advisor

Above: We mixed and applied a third coat thickened with 406 Colloidal Silica Filler to create the texture for the non-skid finish on the deck.

This racing season onboard Triple Threat has been filled with the usual mix of tedium, laughs, and excitement. It’s a good thing when the exciting part is due to close racing and fast downwind surfing-it’s a bad thing if the excitement occurs when the foredeck crew nearly goes overboard because the deck is wet and the non-skid finish has the texture of a Slip n’ Slide! I’m happy to report no instances of skidding off the foredeck this year, as there had been in years past, because this year the non-skid finish was brand new. Continue reading →

Bonding surfaces should be as dry as possible.

Avoiding Surface Contamination

For Good Adhesion

by Brian Knight—GBI Technical Advisor

Above: Sanding the bonding surface is important to good adhesion with epoxy.

“Cleanliness is next to Godliness,” the old expression goes. This is certainly true when preparing a surface for an epoxy application. The surface has to be clean to begin with or there may be adhesion problems. But often, our good intentions with respect to cleaning a surface result in contaminates deposited on the surface. Below are some potential surface contaminates, ways to avoid them, and an almost foolproof method to determine if a surface is clean or contaminated. Continue reading →

Plywood/Epoxy Sump Cover

Above: The plywood/epoxy sump cover, created by Richard Jobe. It will be buried under pea stone but we think it’s pretty nice looking nevertheless.

Richard Jobe was faced with having a sump located in the middle of a prominent landscaped area in front of his Newburgh, Indiana home. His solution was to build a sump cover out of plywood and epoxy. This way it would be light enough for one person to handle, strong enough to hold the weight of half a foot of pea stone, and water-resistant enough to survive being buried under landscaping.

He made the sump cover from one sheet of ¾” plywood, epoxied together and well coated with WEST SYSTEM® 105 Resin®/207 Special Clear Hardener®.  The sump will be mostly hidden under the landscaping but readily accessible, when necessary, by raking back the pea stone.

Richard’s front yard sump without its cover.

A wood/epoxy sump cover.

The plywood/epoxy sump cover nearing completion.

plywood/epoxy sump cover in place.

The completed sump cover. It will be under pea gravel and obscured by landscaping.

Epoxy coatings that will be exposed to sunlight need to be protected, as ultraviolet light will degrade epoxy over time. Richard’s plan to rake pea stone over the sump cover is sufficient to shade the epoxy coating from the sun’s UV rays. An alternative would be to paint the epoxied surface or apply a UV-protective varnish over it.