# Epoxy/Glue station



## Bob Adams (Jul 5, 2014)

I like using epoxy with West System being my favorite. The problem is I buy gallon and quart size cans, that use pumps to dispense the epoxy. When I am doing a small project even 1 pump from each dispenses too much epoxy so there is a lot of waste. I spent close to 3 months in the hospital at the beginning of this year and became intimately familiar with these syringes.:surprise: Having nothing better to do laying in the hospital bed I thought of things I would like to add to my shop. The syringes gave me the idea of an epoxy station. This is what I came up with. Besides West System epoxy I added a Titebond II, and an epoxy made by Abatron. This epoxy is very thin and is used primarily for restoring punky/rotten wood. It is great for filling cracks, firming up punky wood while turning etc...and again comes in large quart size cans that lead to waste. I get the syringes from Amazon they are about .57 cents apiece. They come with caps, and a reducer for squirting smaller quantities. Both epoxies are 1 to 1 resin/hardener so I am hoping for much less waste. I buy the stainless creamers from a local restaurant supply house, for about .75 cents apiece, they are great for stirring and pouring, and clean up very easy. The station hangs on the wall out of the way and is easy to take to the project.


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## CharlesWebster (Nov 24, 2015)

Clever!


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Good tip Bob.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Those are the 2 oz feeding syringes. Had throat cancer and depended on them for nutrition during 7 weeks of radiation. Couldn't swallow water without pain. Now use them for othe medical reasons, but also for applying glue. I also bought the same type, but in the half ounce size. I like the square ended type because it's easier to control flow. The small ones are similar, but make it easier to inject glue into a crack or split for repairs. The 2 oz on Amazon are about 50 cents each in a pack of 30. 

https://www.amazon.com/Medline-DYND...6&sr=8-1-fkmr2&keywords=2+oz+feeding+syringes


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Great solution to your problem, Bob! Clever, indeed.

Davd


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## Knot2square (Jul 11, 2015)

I too use syringes for gluing up cracks. Mine are syringes that are a bit smaller but still have the needle attached. You can get into very tiny cracks with them and apply glue without making such a mess around the area. 
BTW, great job on the epoxy station. Keeps things organized so you don't have to hunt for everything.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

DesertRatTom said:


> Those are the 2 oz feeding syringes. Had throat cancer and depended on them for nutrition during 7 weeks of radiation. Couldn't swallow water without pain. Now use them for othe medical reasons, but also for applying glue. I also bought the same type, but in the half ounce size. I like the square ended type because it's easier to control flow. The small ones are similar, but make it easier to inject glue into a crack or split for repairs. The 2 oz on Amazon are about 50 cents each in a pack of 30.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Medline-DYND...6&sr=8-1-fkmr2&keywords=2+oz+feeding+syringes


I had a cat bite get infected about 20 years ago and had to get intravenous antibiotics every day for 6 weeks so they inserted a catheter in the back of my hand and gave me syringes and saline solution to keep the catheter from getting plugged by clotting blood. I wound up with quite a collection of syringes from it but the needles are too fine for wood glue so I go the drugstore periodically and get a large gauge needle for using that way. I've gotten some very strange looks asking for the largest gauge needle they have (that usually turns out to be a 17 1/2 but 15 is better). The needles last a long time if you flush them with water after but the syringe wears out after a half dozen or so uses and the rubber plug on the plunger won't stay on if you are trying to suck the water back into the barrel for flushing it out.


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## senebraskaee (Apr 29, 2012)

*West Epoxy Mix Ratio*

I use a lot of West Epoxy and love your ideas. Two questions:
1. How long do the syringes last? I have trouble with the rubber deteriorating.
2. The West I use has an odd mix of about 1:5 (I don't remember the exact amount) How do you figure this? 
I agree the mini pumps dispense way too much for small jobs so I devised a spacer to fit under the pump head to only allow 1/2 of a full stroke. Still plenty but better.
Great idea on the station, will be doing something like this myself, just too good an idea to pass up! Thanks for sharing.
Mike


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

Bob Adams said:


> I like using epoxy with West System being my favorite. The problem is I buy gallon and quart size cans, that use pumps to dispense the epoxy. When I am doing a small project even 1 pump from each dispenses too much epoxy so there is a lot of waste. I spent close to 3 months in the hospital at the beginning of this year and became intimately familiar with these syringes.:surprise: Having nothing better to do laying in the hospital bed I thought of things I would like to add to my shop. The syringes gave me the idea of an epoxy station. This is what I came up with. Besides West System epoxy I added a Titebond II, and an epoxy made by Abatron. This epoxy is very thin and is used primarily for restoring punky/rotten wood. It is great for filling cracks, firming up punky wood while turning etc...and again comes in large quart size cans that lead to waste. I get the syringes from Amazon they are about .57 cents apiece. They come with caps, and a reducer for squirting smaller quantities. Both epoxies are 1 to 1 resin/hardener so I am hoping for much less waste. I buy the stainless creamers from a local restaurant supply house, for about .75 cents apiece, they are great for stirring and pouring, and clean up very easy. The station hangs on the wall out of the way and is easy to take to the project.


Bob that is a fantastic idea and well thought out. :smile: So what else did you think of while laying there?


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## Bob Adams (Jul 5, 2014)

senebraskaee said:


> I use a lot of West Epoxy and love your ideas. Two questions:
> 1. How long do the syringes last? I have trouble with the rubber deteriorating.
> 2. The West I use has an odd mix of about 1:5 (I don't remember the exact amount) How do you figure this?
> I agree the mini pumps dispense way too much for small jobs so I devised a spacer to fit under the pump head to only allow 1/2 of a full stroke. Still plenty but better.
> ...


Not sure how long they are going to last. I did fill 1 with alcohol and let it sit for a week to see if it was going to leak, it did not. Did the same with lacquer thinner, while it didn't leak, the rubber was shot. The syringes have markings in both cc's and ounces figuring out the various mix ratios shouldn't be to bad. I usually ask my wife if it I get confused.:laugh2:


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## Bob Adams (Jul 5, 2014)

hawkeye10 said:


> Bob that is a fantastic idea and well thought out. :smile: So what else did you think of while laying there?


How much I hate hospitals, I really want one of those beds, that move every which way. It would make a great assembly table.


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## hal (Sep 14, 2004)

I live in farm and ranch country (southwest New Mexico) so I go to the Farm & Ranch Supply to get my syringes and needles. You can buy one or a dozen what you need big or small. The last needles I bought were .25 cents and the syringe was .50. Also check your veterinary supply.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

senebraskaee said:


> I use a lot of West Epoxy and love your ideas. Two questions:
> 1. How long do the syringes last? I have trouble with the rubber deteriorating.
> 2. The West I use has an odd mix of about 1:5 (I don't remember the exact amount) How do you figure this?
> I agree the mini pumps dispense way too much for small jobs so I devised a spacer to fit under the pump head to only allow 1/2 of a full stroke. Still plenty but better.
> ...


All syringes are graduated so that makes it easy. 5 ml of one to 1 ml of the other.Bob even though the syringes probably won't last long it would still be cheaper to buy them than waste the epoxy. West system epoxy isn't cheap. I also read somewhere in their material that the primary cause for weak mixes is improper mixes where resin and hardener aren't in the correct ratio. I think the pumps probably do okay in larger batches but for very small batches I'm not so sure so being able to meter the small ones very accurately is another plus for the syringes.


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