I have been working on Minicup #2 but ran out of colloidal silica
epoxy thickener and do not feel like driving all the way across town
to West marine. So, I recalled some discussions about using talcum
powder or wood flour for this purpose. First, I used some of my wifes
powder till she found out and blew a gasket over it. I checked,
powder is expensive, makes the boat smell funny too. Then, I recalled
cornstarch is used as a thicken er for stews and soups and I had a
little and it worked fairly well. When it ran out, I used regular
flour, it does not work as well but is ok. I wonder if I could mix a
bug killer like Sevin dust with it to help preserve the wood.

Watch this space. It's gonna happen.
One of these days, someone will nominate garden dirt as an epoxy filler.
Hey, it's good for standing on and it's cheap.

Parallax wrote:

I have been working on Minicup #2 but ran out of colloidal silica
epoxy thickener and do not feel like driving all the way across town
to West marine. So, I recalled some discussions about using talcum
powder or wood flour for this purpose. First, I used some of my wifes
powder till she found out and blew a gasket over it. I checked,
powder is expensive, makes the boat smell funny too. Then, I recalled
cornstarch is used as a thicken er for stews and soups and I had a
little and it worked fairly well. When it ran out, I used regular
flour, it does not work as well but is ok. I wonder if I could mix a
bug killer like Sevin dust with it to help preserve the wood.

I'd wash it through a fine mesh seive first. I don't see why you shouldn't
use clean dirt. A nice sandy loam will be mostly silica. Clay is powdered
rock. Talc is powdered rock. You can mix dirt with cement. Done that. And
dirt doesn't contain perfume so the boat won't smell like the wife's face
powder.

Jim Conlin ) writes:
Watch this space. It's gonna happen.
One of these days, someone will nominate garden dirt as an epoxy filler.
Hey, it's good for standing on and it's cheap.

Parallax wrote:

I have been working on Minicup #2 but ran out of colloidal silica
epoxy thickener and do not feel like driving all the way across town
to West marine. So, I recalled some discussions about using talcum
powder or wood flour for this purpose. First, I used some of my wifes
powder till she found out and blew a gasket over it. I checked,
powder is expensive, makes the boat smell funny too. Then, I recalled
cornstarch is used as a thicken er for stews and soups and I had a
little and it worked fairly well. When it ran out, I used regular
flour, it does not work as well but is ok. I wonder if I could mix a
bug killer like Sevin dust with it to help preserve the wood.



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On Thu, 27 May 2004 07:54:05 -0700, Parallax wrote:

I have been working on Minicup #2 but ran out of colloidal silica
epoxy thickener and do not feel like driving all the way across town
to West marine. So, I recalled some discussions about using talcum
powder or wood flour for this purpose. First, I used some of my wifes
powder till she found out and blew a gasket over it. I checked,
powder is expensive, makes the boat smell funny too. Then, I recalled
cornstarch is used as a thicken er for stews and soups and I had a
little and it worked fairly well. When it ran out, I used regular
flour, it does not work as well but is ok. I wonder if I could mix a
bug killer like Sevin dust with it to help preserve the wood.

What filler to choose depends on what you want to achieve:

-Colidica Silica for just making a thick but heavy putty.
-Micro baloons for making light-weight and easy to sand putty.
-Fibres to reinforce putty.
-Pigments

You could mix any of the abovementioned fillers to blend the properties
of the putty. Fibres could be anything including sawdust.

Some of the substances you mentioned are probably no good but for
laughs. Stick to the ones I listed and live happy. Do experiements
to find out how the different fillers work and how much to use for
different applications.

--
================================================== ==================
Martin Schöön * * * * * * * * * *"Problems worthy of attack
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * prove their worth by hitting back"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Piet Hein
================================================== ==================

Parallax wrote:

I have been working on Minicup #2 but ran out of colloidal silica
epoxy thickener and do not feel like driving all the way across town
to West marine. So, I recalled some discussions about using talcum
powder or wood flour for this purpose. First, I used some of my wifes
powder till she found out and blew a gasket over it. I checked,
powder is expensive, makes the boat smell funny too. Then, I recalled
cornstarch is used as a thicken er for stews and soups and I had a
little and it worked fairly well. When it ran out, I used regular
flour, it does not work as well but is ok. I wonder if I could mix a
bug killer like Sevin dust with it to help preserve the wood.

Is this supposed to be a joke? If not, remind me never to board a vessel
that you've built.

Brian Nystrom ) writes:

Is this supposed to be a joke? If not, remind me never to board a vessel
that you've built.

talc and flour are used as thickenres in resins. the problem with scented
talc is the smell released when sanding. urea formaldehyde adehsive
(plastic resin marine glue) is sold as a powder which includes either
wheat or rye flour as a thickener.

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Martin Schöön wrote in message . ..
On Thu, 27 May 2004 07:54:05 -0700, Parallax wrote:

I have been working on Minicup #2 but ran out of colloidal silica
epoxy thickener and do not feel like driving all the way across town
to West marine. So, I recalled some discussions about using talcum
powder or wood flour for this purpose. First, I used some of my wifes
powder till she found out and blew a gasket over it. I checked,
powder is expensive, makes the boat smell funny too. Then, I recalled
cornstarch is used as a thicken er for stews and soups and I had a
little and it worked fairly well. When it ran out, I used regular
flour, it does not work as well but is ok. I wonder if I could mix a
bug killer like Sevin dust with it to help preserve the wood.

What filler to choose depends on what you want to achieve:

-Colidica Silica for just making a thick but heavy putty.
-Micro baloons for making light-weight and easy to sand putty.
-Fibres to reinforce putty.
-Pigments

You could mix any of the abovementioned fillers to blend the properties
of the putty. Fibres could be anything including sawdust.

Some of the substances you mentioned are probably no good but for
laughs. Stick to the ones I listed and live happy. Do experiements
to find out how the different fillers work and how much to use for
different applications.


I appreciate all of this info. However, given the choice between
doing something right and doing it weird, I am unable to stop myself
and inevitably choose weird.
Happened to have some copper dust from a previous experiment to make
antifouling that could be applied underwater (yes, it worked) so I
added some of this to the areas to be enclosed in the theory that it
would prevent fungal rot.

Brian, we are being trolled.

Brian Nystrom wrote:

Parallax wrote:

I have been working on Minicup #2 but ran out of colloidal silica
epoxy thickener and do not feel like driving all the way across town
to West marine. So, I recalled some discussions about using talcum
powder or wood flour for this purpose. First, I used some of my wifes
powder till she found out and blew a gasket over it. I checked,
powder is expensive, makes the boat smell funny too. Then, I recalled
cornstarch is used as a thicken er for stews and soups and I had a
little and it worked fairly well. When it ran out, I used regular
flour, it does not work as well but is ok. I wonder if I could mix a
bug killer like Sevin dust with it to help preserve the wood.

Is this supposed to be a joke? If not, remind me never to board a vessel
that you've built.

Jim Conlin ) writes:
Brian, we are being trolled.

Define "trolled". What you are reading may be non-conventional but that is
how progress is made. Many of the advances in boat design and construction
that have made their way into conventional big boat commercial shops came
from the non-conventional small boat projects of amateurs.


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(William R. Watt) wrote in message ...
Brian Nystrom ) writes:

Is this supposed to be a joke? If not, remind me never to board a vessel
that you've built.

talc and flour are used as thickenres in resins. the problem with scented
talc is the smell released when sanding. urea formaldehyde adehsive
(plastic resin marine glue) is sold as a powder which includes either
wheat or rye flour as a thickener.

One good reason I didn t just go to the store and buy powder is that
all I could find was scented. I can just imagine the inevitable
question from my wife, "Who have you been sailing with?" Furthermore,
it is fairly expensive.
Sevin dust is fairly cheap and supposedly innocuous to ppl but I didnt
like the idea. Even considered Ortho fire ant poison (remember, this
is Florida so it makes sense) but it stinks too much.