November 13, 2002

To: Dick Morano

From: Dan Smullen

Subject: RWS Furniture SIG Minutes from 11/7 Meeting at WoodCraft

Attendees: We had 41 people for this meeting, including 4 new people, Rick Buck, Tom Ruflin, John Smith and Dave Smith [no relation]. Welcome, everyone!

Next meeting: On December 5 the meeting will NOT be at Woodcraft; instead we will meet at Jon Rouleau’s shop. I trust we’ll hear about directions from Jon before the meeting.

RWS news:

§ There about 10 openings left for Tom Moser’s workshop on 11/22.

§ The RWS board seasons runs from June to June. An appeal for “new blood” was made to the group, since several current board members are “retiring” this June.

Video Stand for Woodcraft

Sean has requested us to design and build a stand/cabinet to hold a 32” TV and employ lockable areas for a VCR and video camera. This would avoid the need to drag equipment into the store for workshops, etc. The equipment could be used at any time to help those seated in the back rows to see the action better, since there is often a robust turnout for meetings and workshops. Rick Diehl and Craig Smith offered to head up the project, but anyone else who wants to participate is welcomed!

Program

Since Woodcraft carries a number of System 3 epoxy based products, Sean had arranged for a System 3 representative to visit the meeting to expand our knowledge of these useful components. Steve Delmonico gave us a thorough grounding in the basics, do’s and don’ts, and other handy data. Steve handed out “The Epoxy Book”, a piece of epoxy preview literature, and all of us received samples of product to try at home.

As with some previous presentations, the distributed information is fairly comprehensive, so I will try to report the points Steve made in bullet form. This will give us a quick reference to things which may not be in the published stuff.

• System 3 has been around for ~25 years, and had primarily been a boat product; new uses and woodworking have now adopted these products as standard as well, especially in restoration work
• Epoxy is about 5 times as strong as yellow glue. Of course, yellow glue can create bonds as strong as wood itself also. Some repairs, such as to chairs, etc. can wind up being stronger with an epoxy fix.
• Epoxy by itself has NO UV protection
• Use the right ratios! A little too much hardener does NOT = faster cure – you may just get a sticky mess!
• Catalysts are not the same as epoxy hardeners
• Follow directions for mixing – simple concept, but Steve has run “time tests” on lots of people asked to mix for 2 minutes without a clock around – almost nobody lasted the 2 minutes!
• Working time is usually 75% of gel time [see chart on page 37]
• System 3 offers 3 hardeners to allow user to adapt product to the needs at hand, #1 is fastest cure, #3 is slowest [22 min to 89 min range at 70^o]
• Sales is 85% #1, 14% #2 and 1% #3
• System 3 will work down to 35^o F
• Mixing in a cup creates heat [epoxies are all exothermic] – when the cup gets hotter, you lose work time – thin out on a flat tray after mixing to keep work times high!
• So-called “penetrating” epoxy does not penetrate; molecules are too large vs the wood molecules
• Thicker epoxy cures faster; thinner coats cure slower
• User can add pigment for color during the mix process
• For Mirrorcoat tabletop coatings:
• Put about 1/16” on in one pour after thin squeegee coat to seal [5 oz covers about 1 SF]
• It’s better to work when temperature is rising, not falling to prevent dew point problems and fogging
• Teak and other oily woods need a lacquer thinner wipedown prior to using epoxy
• When using epoxy as an encapsulant, cover all surfaces!
• Mixing species specific wood dust with epoxy is OK
• Always wear gloves to avoid developing a sensitivity
• White vinegar, isopropyl alcohol, acetone will cut epoxy, but doun’t use solvents to remove from skin – it removes all oils, and the epoxy can “bite” all the better.
• Epoxy can be sprayed, but be mindful of the working time – best to get a new cup to use just for this. HVLP works great for clear coating
• Sculpwood is a moldable, sandable, carveable “putty” which is good for rotting wood repairs or for making a sanding block that conforms perfectly to special contours – use saran wrap to mold it to shape, let cure overnight. Note: when using any epoxy to repair rotten wood, make sure the fungus is killed before proceeding.
• It’s OK to use a little more resin if you’re not sure of the ratio, but never use extra hardener. 10% more resin is about the limit.

We thank Steve for visiting us and sharing some of the depth of knowledge with us.

[I have used the sculpwood on an exterior cedar trim repair after some squirrels got through sharpening their claws. It worked fine, but I did learn a trick or two from Steve that I wished I’d known earlier.]

Happy woodworking,

Dan