Boat Building Forum

Find advice on all aspects of building your own kayak, canoe or any lightweight boats

Re: use cheap mixing cups
By:Ross Leidy
Date: 11/16/1999, 9:22 am
In Response To: Epoxy pump dispensers, users beware! (Matthew Bastian)

This is especially true of pump that "burp". When in doubt, use graduated mixing cups, and here's a cheap way to make them. This is not my idea (I'm thinking Shawn Baker. Whoever it was, speak up and take credit).

Buy some bulk paper cups at your local Sam's Club or equivalent. Make sure they're the wax-free. For $6 you can get enough cups for many boats. Take one cup and cut a vertical window in it starting close to the bottom of the cup up to an inch or so of the top and about 1/2" wide. Put a 2nd cup inside the cup with the window, and using a graduated syringe or cup, start adding increments of water to the interior cup and marking the levels on the outer cup next to the window. I had to use a flashlight shining into the cup to be able to see the level, but it depends on how thick your cups are. For the initial marks, I filled in 1/2 ounce increments until the marks got too close together (because of the tapered cup) and then I switched to 1 ounce increments. Now you've got the one cup with the window marked, and when you're ready to mix epoxy, just pop in a fresh cup, dispense the resin, check the level, dispense the hardener, and check its level. If they're not right-on, it's easy to adjust the levels to get the proper amount.

Ross

> While pumping a lot of epoxy this past weekend I made a very interesting
> and somewhat disturbing discovery. My pump was not pumping out consistant
> amounts of epoxy!

> I was wetting out my hull and when coming to the more finiky areas I was
> pumping into a syringe to measure out half batches. That is when I
> discovered my pump would sometimes give me 27,25 and 23 ml's!!! The epoxy
> is a 2:1 ratio mixture and I have never had problems with the epoxy fully
> curing. I therefore suspect that I'm within the tolerance of the epoxy
> even though I'm getting these wildly varying amounts. I was very suprised
> because I had understood that these pumps were supposed to be very
> accurate.

> Has anyone else encountered this phenomenon?

Messages In This Thread

Epoxy pump dispensers, users beware!
Matthew Bastian -- 11/16/1999, 8:55 am
Coffee Creamers
Jay Babina -- 11/18/1999, 10:41 am
Re: Yogurt Containers
Shawn Baker -- 11/19/1999, 10:39 am
Mixing Cups Worked For Me
David Bryson -- 11/16/1999, 6:49 pm
Re: Mixing Cups Worked For Me
Paul Connolly -- 11/18/1999, 12:34 pm
Re: Mixing Cups Worked For Me
Nolan -- 11/19/1999, 6:26 am
Re: Cleaning the mix cups
Don Beale -- 11/18/1999, 5:13 pm
Re: Mixing Cups Worked For Me
Mike Hanks -- 11/18/1999, 1:37 pm
Re: Mixing Cups Worked For Me
Paul Connolly -- 11/19/1999, 1:21 pm
Re: Mixing Cups Worked For Me
Nolan -- 11/19/1999, 2:07 pm
Re: Mixing Cups Worked For Me
Paul Connolly -- 11/19/1999, 1:21 pm
Re: Ditto
Mike Hanks -- 11/20/1999, 11:01 am
Re: Mixing Cups Worked For Me
Ross Leidy -- 11/19/1999, 3:09 pm
Re: Mixing Cups Worked For Me
Shawn Baker -- 11/19/1999, 4:08 pm
Okay, you've provoked a rant
Ross Leidy -- 11/20/1999, 1:41 pm
Re: Okay, you've provoked a rant
lee -- 11/20/1999, 9:08 pm
Re: Okay, you've provoked a rant
Ian Johnston -- 11/20/1999, 3:28 pm
Re: Supporting the Rant
Shawn Baker -- 11/20/1999, 3:21 pm
Re: Epoxy pump dispensers, users beware!
Nolan -- 11/16/1999, 10:50 am
Re: Epoxy pump dispensers, users beware!
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 11/16/1999, 10:08 am
Re: Dispensers and Ketsup
Dan Lindberg -- 11/16/1999, 1:20 pm
Re: use cheap mixing cups
Ross Leidy -- 11/16/1999, 9:22 am
Re: use cheap mixing cups
addison m. -- 11/21/1999, 12:43 am
Re: use cheap mixing cups
Phillip Kearney -- 11/17/1999, 5:22 am
Re: use cheap mixing cups
Matthew Bastian -- 11/17/1999, 1:39 pm
Medical Dispensing Cups
Chris in Cajun Country -- 11/16/1999, 10:18 pm
Re: Medical Dispensing Cups
Rehd -- 11/16/1999, 10:53 pm
Re: use cheap mixing cups
Paul C. -- 11/16/1999, 12:19 pm
Re: use cheap mixing cups
Shawn Baker -- 11/16/1999, 11:00 am