bote cote

[inoz]

Hi All,

I usually use z-poxy to pore fill, it ran out so thought I'd try bote cote this time.
I left it overnight to dry but it still felt tacky.
It's been a little cold in Perth, not too bad so I left it 48 hours to be safe.
When I went to sand, it balled and picked up like crap. Checked the ratio was correct at 2:1, all good....any thoughts?

Thanks,
Ray.

[56nortondomy]

Maybe your ratio was a little off Ray. I've been using it for a couple of years and never had a problem, and i'm sure Melb. is as cold if not colder than Perth ( i lived there for 4 years ). I use syringes to mix mine and they're spot on with quantity.
Wayne

[kiwigeo]

Check mixing ratios, age of the product and ambient temperature in your workshop.

I warm the shop up for any resin work and for measuring out quantities of resin and hardener I use syringes (I'm using West systems resin).

I've found temperature can affect curing time by many hours. Yesterday I didn't crank up the heater prior to working with the resin and it took about 12 hours to fully cure. Today I had the shop warmed up and the stuff was rock hard in about 5 hours.

[inoz]

I use digital scales so it'd be +/- 1 gram ???
I'll try heating the place up a bit next time.
Thanks guys.

[Allen]

The weight the ratio is not the same as the volume ratio. This is from Ian at Boatcraft Pacific.

Hello Allen,

The weight ratio is 44 parts of hardener to 100 parts of resin.

For the first coat, add TPRDA, 20% by weight of the mix. So if making 15 grams, use 10 grams of resin, 4.4 grams of hardener and 2.88 grams of TPRDA.

Of course these figures are too finicky to do with readily available scales. I suggest 36 gram mixes, using 20grams of resin, 10 grams of hardener, 6 grams of TPRDA.

(These are quite close enough, it does not have to be absolutely precise.)

[garryalb]

The first time I used Bote Cote I thought I had made a mistake as it had not gelled after a few hours. Turned out it just has a different cure cycle than epoxies I had used before. The temperature can make a massive difference, a 10 degree variation from lab conditions (25 degrees ) will double / half cure times. Just leave it longer and /or put the job somewhere warm.

Allen, what is TPRDA?

Has anyone experienced high shrinkage levels with Bote Cote? A spruce lattice I glued the joins on recently warped in a way that could only be caused by shrinkage. I haven't experienced this with West systems, planning some comparative testing.

Garry.

[demonx]

I've never used Bote Cote, but it sounds like temp to me.

I've had the same thing happen with both West Systems and Z-proxy. Anytime it's coldweather I need to have the woodfire going to make sure the temp is comfortable enough (minimum 15 deg+) for these things and any paint products I may be working with. Twenty degrees is a ideal temp to aim for.

[kiwigeo]

Anytime it's coldweather I need to have the woodfire going to make sure the temp is comfortable enough....

Hope you've got your firewood and tonewood clearly labelled

[demonx]

If it's on the floor, it's probably firewood!

[Kamusur]

Have used this product before and the only thing i would add to Allens information is what ever time you use to mix the base and hardener, then double your mixing time. I have found that for some reason they look like are blended but seem to have not combined as intended.

Steve

[kiwigeo]

If it's on the floor, it's probably firewood!

Good God man....there's IRW pieces in that pile...I can see at least 3 bridge plates!!!!!

[Allen]

The first time I used Bote Cote I thought I had made a mistake as it had not gelled after a few hours. Turned out it just has a different cure cycle than epoxies I had used before. The temperature can make a massive difference, a 10 degree variation from lab conditions (25 degrees ) will double / half cure times. Just leave it longer and /or put the job somewhere warm.

Allen, what is TPRDA?

Has anyone experienced high shrinkage levels with Bote Cote? A spruce lattice I glued the joins on recently warped in a way that could only be caused by shrinkage. I haven't experienced this with West systems, planning some comparative testing.

Garry.

TPRDA is there thinner for better penetration into the wood. They had designed it for epoxy stabilising of wood rot on boats where repairs were required. In instrument use it's good to get that first coat thinned so that it really penetrates.

In other epoxies like Smiths brand it's just Acetone that they add to their penetrating epoxy version.

[garryalb]

Thank Allen,

Garry.

[demonx]

If it's on the floor, it's probably firewood!

Good God man....there's IRW pieces in that pile...I can see at least 3 bridge plates!!!!!

It burns well!

I've got box fulls of the stuff piled up that's bigger pieces, too good to burn, these piles are the smaller rubbishier stuff that just piles up, when you're cutting timber every day you really run out of ways to re use, I sell a fair bit off but even then only so much can be sold off, so these boxes are just kindling. Every day though I'll be looking for little bit and pieces for something and I'll rummage through the kindling, but at the end of the day, this is all just firewood. For example, the bridge plate on my latest build came from this pile! The sound hole reinforcement came from this pile