I knew there had to be a good reason for sticking with epoxy...by the way epoxy can be thinned slightly with MEK (methylethylketone, 2-butanone), but MEK is very flammable (and available in most paint stores). The few times I've thinned epoxy I've mixed it and then added a slight amounts of MEK and mixed until I got the consistency I wanted. If you thin the epoxy, it is paramount that you do not use any heat!!! If you heat the epoxy with solvent in it, you are guaranteeing bubbles. You should do this in a very well ventilated area. All that being said, I usually just use fresh tubes of Devcon 2-ton epoxy, cures in 30 minutes, so everything goes on the wheel. (Unless the color is yellow or I'm tyhing for demos, then I'll use 5-minute)
Be careful with solvents. Mark is a chemist and knows what he is doing. I'm sure he is very cautious and is sure to be working in a well-ventilated environment. He doesn't smoke, either.
The Indianapolis area was dramatically reminded of the flammability of solvents yesterday.
A paint crew was heading back to the shop after a days work in a big box truck. There were four guys in the cab and 13 others riding in the back with all the leftover paint and solvents. They think one of the guys lit a cigarette. Or they may have been smoking pot. They're not sure, because 12 of the guys that were in the back of the truck are in induced comas in the burn units of 3 different hospitals. The 13th died this morning. The four guys in the front received bad burns on their arms while trying to get their buddies out. The ones in the back had 2nd & 3rd degree burns on 40 to 90% of their bodies. Both local hospitals that have burn units are full. They had to airlift 2 or 3 of the victims to the only other burn unit in Indiana about 100 miles away (Fort Wayne).
The driver thought he heard a fight in the back. Apparently the ones in back were banging on the front wall to try to get the attention of the ones up in the cab. A semi-driver forced them to the side of the road. By that time, the rear was fully engulfed in flames, which eventually totally demolished the truck.
As Mark said, be careful with solvents. It can't be stressed enough. Solvents that are flammable are VERY flammable and burn with severe intensity.
Now that I'm done with my lecture, I'm going to get some MEK tomorrow to thin epoxy.
Also, I'm proud of Mark for using both the common name (MEK) and the I.U.C. name (2-butanone). Kinda takes me back to the good old days in the organic labs!
Allan --
Allan Fish Greenwood, IN [EMAIL PROTECTED]
