West System mixture

R

rhncue

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Has anyone come up with pumps for the west system that provides the correct proportion of hardner and resin but in smaller amounts than the ones from West System? With the West System pumps I waste so much glue for smaller jobs that many times I have to use a different epoxy that I don't like nearly as well. I asked West Systems but they said all they have is their standard size pumps.
Dick
 
rhncue said:
Has anyone come up with pumps for the west system that provides the correct proportion of hardner and resin but in smaller amounts than the ones from West System? With the West System pumps I waste so much glue for smaller jobs that many times I have to use a different epoxy that I don't like nearly as well. I asked West Systems but they said all they have is their standard size pumps.
Dick
Click to expand...

I don't have any pumps but for smaller jobs you can mix the resin and hardener using a set of scales or syringes. I can't remember the ratio off the top of my head, but I think it's 5 parts resin to one part hardener.
 
rhncue said:
Has anyone come up with pumps for the west system that provides the correct proportion of hardner and resin but in smaller amounts than the ones from West System? With the West System pumps I waste so much glue for smaller jobs that many times I have to use a different epoxy that I don't like nearly as well. I asked West Systems but they said all they have is their standard size pumps.
Dick
Click to expand...

Much more accurate mixing by weight. A nice way to work with the West System is to put it in small pump bottles. I buy the cheap hand washing soaps at the super market that come in small pump bottles. Just dump out the soap and clean the bottles and use them. Like I said I measure it by weight and the pump bottles let you dispense it in little droplets so you don't have any real waste. I also buy small 3 ounce plastic cups at the supermarket for mixing small amounts. You get like 50 for a $129. The easiest way to do a weight mix is to put in the resin and using the weight of the resin calculate how much hardener you will need. I use a triple beam scale so I just set the scale for the desired weight and add the hardener till it balances.Very easy and accurate every time.
 
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I Was In The Same Boat As You. I Bought The Pumps And Wasted Tons Of Material. I Invested About 80 Bucks In Nice Little Digital Scale, Good Investment. The Ratio Is 5 To 1 (6 Parts Total). I Have Mixed Amounts As Small As 4.2 Grams (3.5 Resin To .7 Hardner). Another Draw Back To The Pumps Is That If You Have Long Periods Of No Use They Will Actually Drain Back, When This Happens The Stroke Method For Mixture Is Out The Window, The Weight Method Is The Way To Go Unless You Are Using Lots Of The Stuff. I Get The Little 2 Ounce Plastic Sauce Containers From My Food Supplier (at My Pool Room) And Use Slim Popsicle Sticks For Stirring. Hope This Helps.
 
Here is a poor mans fix. Mark three or four equally spaced lines on the pump stems. If you mark four lines then just push the each pump to the first line for the correct mix for a small job and so on. One thing to always do is prime your pumps by pushing them a little until you see something start to come out. Then let the pumps raise back up to the top and push back down to the desired line to get the amount of glue you want.
Chris
www.cuesmith.com
www.internationalcuemakers.com
 
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