Author Archives: ewadmin

Colorful kitty by artist Christopher Tully.

Artist Christopher Tully

by Mike Barker

Above: A colorful clay relief kitty by Christopher Tully.

Artist Christopher Tully does two unusual things with epoxy in his work. He creates large clay relief scenes with lots of detail made up of many tiles. After they are bisque fired he brushes on epoxy and heats them with a torch so the epoxy penetrates deeply into the porous clay. This creates an extremely strong surface that still has great detail. He then applies a primer and paints it with acrylics and a clear coat. Continue reading →

Single Outrigger Motorboat by Russell Brown

Readers’ Projects, Issue 29

Single Outrigger Motorboat

Russell Brown designed and built this single outrigger motorboat for his friend Josh Sutherland. Although not completely finished when the photo was taken, it was “pretty well tested and didn’t seem to have any really bad habits,” says Brown. It is 24′ long and built fairly ruggedly. It uses a 20 hp Yamaha four-stroke and goes about 18 knots with three people on board.  Russell, the son of legendary boat designer Jim Brown, designs and builds foils, boats, and other composite projects in Port Townsend, Washington. Visit www.ptwatercraft.com.

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This lounge chair is a piece of handcrafted furniture by Michael Fitzpatrick

Readers’ Projects, Issue 28

Handcrafted Furniture

Growing up in Wesley Hills, New York, Michael Fitzpatrick was influenced by his grandfather, a furniture maker and housewright. He set up his own studio in Boston a few years ago and makes exceptional, handcrafted furniture to order, like the lounge chair (above). He uses WEST SYSTEM Epoxy for most of his projects, especially the bent laminated pieces. He also just purchased a COZY license and is considering using epoxy for the experimental airplane. Visit his website for more information about his handcrafted furniture. www.bostonfurnituremaker.com

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Storm the Castle

Building a Trebuchet

by Tom Pawlak — GBI Technical Advisor

Above: Robbie loads the trebuchet for another practice shot before the competition.

A while back, my nephew Robbie, about 15 years old at the time, asked for help building a trebuchet (a form of catapult) for an upcoming Science Olympiad competition that his school was involved in. He had located a nice set of plans online that were based on a lattice-type structure using hardwoods. The website offered a fairly detailed plan and included project photos to help during the build. Continue reading →

1. The metal surrounding the lawn mower wheel had corroded and was too weak to keep the wheel from flopping against the deck

Quick Lawn Mower Repair

by Tom Pawlak — GBI Technical Advisor

I hesitated to write this article about repairing my old lawn mower because my friends accuse me of being a cheapskate. The text and photos to follow will only strengthen their argument. That being said, I can’t be the only person who would prefer to fix something rather than buy new. Besides, I can’t resist the opportunity to experiment with WEST SYSTEM® epoxy. Continue reading →

This joint style in an edge-glued, 1/8" thick HDPE strip holds tight when deflected and is great for gluing plastics.

Gluing Plastics with G/flex Epoxy

by Tom Pawlak — GBI Technical Advisor &  Jeff Wright — Vice President of Technical Services

Above: This joint style in an edge-glued, 1/8″ thick HDPE plastic strip which holds tight when deflected and is a good choice when gluing plastics.

One of our goals for G/flex® was the ability to bond to a variety of plastics. This was an ambitious goal because plastics historically have been used as mold release surfaces for epoxy, allowing the epoxy to release from the plastic when cured. While developing G/flex, we tested adhesion to a number of plastics with a variety of surface prep methods. Continue reading →

Royalex Canoe Repair with G/flex Epoxy

By Bruce Newell and Stan Bradshaw

Above: Stan and Glenda Bradshaw in the Mad River Freedom 16′ Royalex canoe repaired with G/flex Epoxy in August 2007 on the Blackfoot River near Ovando, Montana a couple of miles downstream of the Roundup Bar.

The wooden gunwales of Royalex canoes can rip a hull apart if left out in bitter cold temperatures. Somewhere south of freezing, the plastic body of the canoe shrinks while the dampish wooden gunwales expand. Unless the screws affixing the inwale and outwale are backed out, they pin a shrinking hull to an expanding gunwale, and something will give. That something is always the hull. Continue reading →

D-Ring Pads and G/flex Epoxy

by Tom Pawlak — GBI Technical Advisor

New Possibilities for HDPE Boats

D-ring pads are often attached to flexible surfaces with urethane adhesives to gain load-carrying capacity where there otherwise wouldn’t be any. They are used on waterproof fabric cargo bags, heavy tarpaulins, and inflatable boats. They are also sometimes used on the decks of canoes and kayaks to hold cargo in place on long trips. D-rings are not typically used on polyethylene canoes and kayaks because the urethane glues are not recommended for use on HDPE (high-density polyethylene) plastic. We experimented with gluing D-ring pads with G/flex 655 Thickened Epoxy Adhesive to HDPE plastic with that end-use in mind. Continue reading →

2. I brushed WEST SYSTEM® 105/206 onto both surfaces and fit the joint together.

Upright Bass Repair

by Bruce Niederer — GBI Technical Advisor

Above: I brushed WEST SYSTEM® 105/206 onto both of the upright bass’s repair surfaces and fit the joint together.

Just by luck, I was in the right place at the right time to purchase an old upright bass from the local school system for $50 because, sadly, the orchestra (stringed instruments) program was being discontinued. The bass needed strings and a new peg but was in decent shape—until I got my hands on it! As it was standing in the corner of my room patiently waiting for me to get to it, a gust of wind got there first, knocking it down and breaking the neck at the heel. Continue reading →