Ready Steady Eddy

[EddyCurrent]

I wonder if applying some sort of grease to the draft excluder before pouring would help with that?Jim

Vaseline maybe (no jokes now!)

[EddyCurrent]

I found that a warm air gun flashed across the surface got rid of the bubbles. As a matter of interest the Wests System was still like thick water 6 or 7 hors after the pour before its started the cure. With no sticky stuff on the top when cured. Also the mixing was just done with a flat bit on thin ply and gently stirred it round. ..Clive

You mentioned this before so I tried a hair drier (it's the wife's, no use to me now) on it's lowest speed but it was moving the epoxy round like the seas at Cape Horn.
Yes I think this epoxy was still flexible after 6 to 7 hours but maybe just beyond any self leveling properties on the scale required.
It's interesting you confirm the slow mixing method.

[njhussey]

I was told by someone to mix it in one container and then transfer it to another for the final bit of the mix and that way any unmixed bits round the sides/bottom edge etc. either get left or poured into the new container and you don't get any soft sticky bits...

[Clive S]

You mentioned this before so I tried a hair drier (it's the wife's, no use to me now) on it's lowest speed but it was moving the epoxy round like the seas at Cape Horn.
Yes I think this epoxy was still flexible after 6 to 7 hours but maybe just beyond any self leveling properties on the scale required.
It's interesting you confirm the slow mixing method.

I meant to say hot air gun straight after the pour so the waves won't matter. I was told by the people at Wests a good way would be to mix in a container with a small hole at the bottom on the side (say 7mm) with some tape over it, when mixed remove the tape and let the epoxy flow out of the hole into your trough that way you don't get the bubbles. I never tried though. ..Clive

[EddyCurrent]

I meant to say hot air gun straight after the pour so the waves won't matter. I was told by the people at Wests a good way would be to mix in a container with a small hole at the bottom on the side (say 7mm) with some tape over it, when mixed remove the tape and let the epoxy flow out of the hole into your trough that way you don't get the bubbles. I never tried though. ..Clive

That was likely okay with your moat design but with the draught excluder there's not much height before the banks are breached. That sounds like a great idea for pouring.

Also I'd like to thank everyone for their input because I feel I've learned a hell of a lot more about this epoxy idea these last few days.

[Wobblycogs]

Brilliant update Eddy, great idea with the draught excluder.

I've watched a few videos about clear coating wood with epoxy. To get the air bubbles out they normally play a blow torch flame over the surface for a fraction of a second. I guess the faster you can apply the heat the less you move the epoxy around. They always remove the majority of the bubbles before pouring though and I've seen two good techniques for this. The first requires some skill, you pour the epoxy from one container to another but lift the top container up as high as you can creating a very thin but constant stream. It seems the thin stream forces the bubbles out on it's way down. I've tried this and it works but it's easy to screw up and end up with epoxy everywhere. The other is to pour the epoxy into a big tub and put it under slight vacuum which will suck all the bubbles to the top, obviously you need some way to make a vacuum though and you've got to be careful not to fill your vacuum making device with epoxy by accident :-). Next time I need to de-bubble some epoxy / resin I'm going to give the vacuum method a go as I have a spare vacuum cleaner hanging around.

What are you planning on doing about the meniscus? I was wondering if it might be worth trying to route a chamfer into the epoxy as that would remove the meniscus, clean the edge and help stop it chipping all at the same time.

[JAZZCNC]

You could also try Easy Composites - they do low viscosity infusion resins with a variety of timed hardeners, which I've used for vacuum infusion projects - the resin needs to be thin for that as you are essentially sucking it through your carbon/kevlar/glass fibres. The West System is probably similar, but if you need another price point......

Don't know how I've missed this debate.? . . . . I've always used Infusion resin's with slowest hardner I could find for doing this. Most Infusion resins will work with slow hardener.

[Lee Roberts]

Also I'd like to thank everyone for their input because I feel I've learned a hell of a lot more about this epoxy idea these last few days.

Me too, thanks everyone !

[EddyCurrent]

What are you planning on doing about the meniscus? I was wondering if it might be worth trying to route a chamfer into the epoxy as that would remove the meniscus, clean the edge and help stop it chipping all at the same time.

I'm thinking it would be difficult to control a router for that operation. The method I propose is to use a file where you stop when the central epoxy starts to show signs of contact, then run a bead of liquid nails along each edge of the epoxy, run your finger along, thus creating a nice fillet between the epoxy and the underlying metal.

[njhussey]

I meant to say hot air gun straight after the pour so the waves won't matter. I was told by the people at Wests a good way would be to mix in a container with a small hole at the bottom on the side (say 7mm) with some tape over it, when mixed remove the tape and let the epoxy flow out of the hole into your trough that way you don't get the bubbles. I never tried though. ..Clive

One slight problem I can see with playing a heat gun over the epoxy is that the moat is foam...heat and foam aren't the best of friends in my experience! Only takes for the heat to be on a fraction of a second too long and you've a leak in your moat!

I think I'm going to do a mix of ideas for getting the bubbles out. Firstly I'll mix it slowly in one container and hopefully not induce too many bubbles. Then I'll transfer it to a second pot to ensure its all mixed and no pockets of just resin. This pot will have a hole in the side to aid pouring. I might even pinch a bit of 100 mesh SS filter wire from the works to strain it through. This should trap all the bubbles on the way through the mesh.

Some cracking ideas in this thread...