Epoxolite (2024 Update)

SIG. Ain't he that child molester guy?

winnard

It was SIG. I think it was largely regular epoxy with lots and lots of microballoons, although there may have been other fillers in there to make it more thixotropic.

You can get microballoons, that may get you close enough.

If you don't mind the smell I once saw a version of Bondo that used microballoons instead of talc as a filler.

I suspect that Sig still sells it..pretty good stuff and light too..I have used it for fillets and all I had to do was wet my finger and smooth it out..only took a bit of sanding when it set up. Why not give Sig a call and see if they still sell it. Sig doesn't have an up to date catalog..but their 2001 shows it as available in 5 oz 8.75 oz and 2 quart (!!!) sizes at 9.95, 15.95 and (get this..) 125.00. Stock numbers: SIGEP001, SIGEP002 and SIGEP003 respectively... Good luck.. Frank Schwartz

You better make sure you get the shape you want before it cures, 'cause there's no way to sand it to shape afterwards. It's like concrete, only much harder.

Ed --

There is an aviation product made by Poly Fiber called "SuperFil". It's mixed 2:1 and is very light -- specs say a full gallon would only weigh

Pot life is one hour; cures in 8 hours; cure to sand 12 hours.

It adheres to most anything, sands far easier than Sig, let alone Micro-Balloons and Epoxy, and feathers wonderfully. I've used it for all the filling necessary on my Bonanza as well as a FW-190, which has huge fillets. Both had canopies/cabins that had to be faired into balsa. The Bonanza is now 4 years old with no cracks showing.

I haven't seen that or Celastic in years. Probably victims of the EPA.

Ed Cregger

On Thu, 9 Feb 2006 08:51:52 -0500, "Ed Cregger" wrote:

Ed, I have three sheets of Celastic in heavy and less-so. I have to admit that I was an unimaginative modeler. I messed with the chemicals since the fifth grade and I never knew a fellow could get high on them...by accident..until about 1975 (I was only 41 then) and a fellow and I were building three Thornburg Top Cats in an assembly line in my 12' x 24'. The next task in the process fell to me and was to slather the two pieces of 6" x 10" Celastic on the top and bottom of the wing joint of each wing. I figured the fastest way to do this would be to get a dining plate, fill it with thinner, and sop the stuff through that. This necessitated waving a saturated piece in the air in front of my face, flopping it down on the wing joint (on the bench under my nose) and mashing the goo into the wood with my fingers. I would have to keep dipping my fingers in the thinner to keep them from sticking. I had done this many times before...quickly on one wing, but not three wings. I was getting a little light-headed and sillier than normal and when I started giggling, my friend said something about the fumes getting strong and he looked at me, ran to the door, threw it open, opened the windows and told me that I was white all around the mouth. This, I must have thought hilarious, because I burst in to near-hysterical laughter. He led me to the porch and sat me down on the steps. This seemed childish to be led outside and made to sit on the porch ("and don't go play in the street, young man!") and this made me laugh all the harder. Then I noticed that each hair on my arm had a little diamond at the bottom of it...no...wait...it wasn't a diamond...it was a droplet (a real neat one!) of sweat. This, too, seemed funny. I had never seen sweat that precisely placed before -- or since, I might add. I remember leaning back on the porch real mellow like and looking up at the birds in the trees -- the birds were unusually colorful and their songs were near angelic. Unfortunately, this wore off after awhile, I was aggravated again that I let a guy talk me into building a model for him and I knew he would just crash it...and the real world came back. I learned then there were was much that could be said positive about the stuff we toyed with. But I am glad I never discovered this when young and a little more stupid. I remember it took three days for the taste of plasticizer to wear off. I would like to see someone have that much fun with an ARF!

Ken

You know, Epoxolite is still my favorite too. It makes great fillets, and the thing I particularly like about it is that nitrate dope gets a strong bond to it, and the silk covering I use on sheeted fuselages will not lift to shorten chord across the inside curve of the fillet. I can't say that for epoxy and microballoons. I never had any great trouble sanding it, except that it gums up the paper a little; but then again, we're making airplanes here, not trying to save sandpaper... I'll have to check out superfil next time I get over to A/C Spruce, although my Bonanza is aluminum, and don't need too much filling. Paul Brea, CA

Ed Smega wrote:

although my Bonanza is aluminum, and don't need too much filling.

Paul, I guess you Bonanza is full scale? mk

Yes, it is- a 1955 F35 bonanza, currently with a few radio problems. After routinely replacing the battery every two years or so for the last 16 years, I hooked it up backwards this time. It's easy to do since the cables are long, unmarked, and the battery is not well labeled either. It started, and only after the smell of frying electronics filled the air, and the failure of the radios to turn on, did I realize my error... I fixed one of them, and fuses protected a couple more, but I gotta fix or replace a couple still. Talk about your bonehead maneuvers... -Paul

And are the cables _still_ unmarked, or do they now have callouts for the unwary?

Well here is the Epoxolite!

What I hated was when you ran out of "wet" half way down the fillet and then stuck your finger back in your mouth...

Ed Cregger

You sound as bad as me when I was in high school.

I used to assemble my control line models in my upstairs bedroom. The only money that I had to work with was my school lunch money and whatever else I could scrounge up by doing odd jobs, etc.

One Winter evening I had finally accumulated all of the parts needed to assemble a Scientific Stunt Master kit. I had the kit, a brand new Fox .15X, one 4 oz. bottle of black butyrate dope (Testor's), a single solitary paint brush, some brass screws for mounting the engine and a couple of old razor blades. No, not single edged razor blades, that would have been too easy.

I began work after I finished doing the dinner dishes (one of my family chores) and worked and worked and worked. The paint and glue fumes (Ambroid) made me lose track of the time. I had assembled the kit and just finished painting when I glanced toward the window. One of the neighbors was leaving for day shift at "The Plant". It was morning and I had school that day. Where did the time go? Later that year, I flew the dickens out of that model. It was the first model that I intentionally flew inverted.

Looking back on it, how did the Ambroid dry quickly enough to do all of that work in one night? Not likely, is it? But that's how I remember it.

Ed Cregger

"Sport Pilot" wrote

Celastic was dry strips of cloth that had been soaked in a kind of thick binder, kind of like those old muffler bandages that you could buy to repair car mufflers.

Instead of soaking it in water, as you did the muffler bandages, you soaked this in dope thinner. Apply it to the surface that you wanted to join and then let it dry. The stuff was kind of an early attempt at fiberglassing, I suppose. It did have its uses.

Ed Cregger

I have had extremely good success with "light" spackling compound. It has a vinyl adhesive base and sands well. Need to avoid high pressure on the sanded surface to minimize heat build up so that you don't tear the surface and get little gummy wads of stuff.

Charlie

WHY DON"T YOU MARK THEM? RED AND BLACK WORK.

winnard

Paul, Sorry you got bit by the reversed battery thing, that sort of thing has always worried me. FYI, if you look at the connectors, the post size is different for each pole, sort of a poor mans guide to systems not well marked. I know it is closing the barn door after the horse is out, but there you are.

I found out how and were to get a Celastic replacement...

Speak to your professional air conditioner folks, it is used to build and repair air duct and air boxes around air handlers. Guess how *I* found out. Cheap scum who built this place put the expensive systems in where we could see them. The out of sight air handelers were the cheap garbage that naturally failed in dramatically less than 10 years, as did the water heaters, and several plumbing connections. Never do business with a man who does not manage his own projects...

I always thought it was used for making puppets. I thought acetone softened it. mk