West System pumps
- Thread starter Newton
- Start date
I've had mine for as long as I can remember, 10 or 12 years. I've cleaned it 4 times, 3 because, I just thought it needed it, One time recently because I got distracted and poured it in the wrong tank. That was a real bone head and expensive thing to do, Good thing they also sell the rebuilding kits.
Michael / Royce
I did read up on it last night and they look like a good thing to have but I was wondering ; is it ok to leave larger portions of resin/epoxy in the containers over time or do you fill the day you plan using it?
In a high throughput enviroment like Royce is running I see the need for it, but I'm a one man band and the machine would spend some time on the shelf when I'm at my buissiest at my daytime job...
Thanks
K
I did read up on it last night and they look like a good thing to have but I was wondering ; is it ok to leave larger portions of resin/epoxy in the containers over time or do you fill the day you plan using it?
In a high throughput enviroment like Royce is running I see the need for it, but I'm a one man band and the machine would spend some time on the shelf when I'm at my buissiest at my daytime job...
Thanks
K
RBC
Deceased
Canadian
I haven't had it that long, but don't see the need to clean it at all.
The 2 components never come in contact with each other until they are in the cup, and they don't go bad so we just let it sit.
Royce
RBC
Deceased
Thanks for the response Michael and Royce. That looks like something I may invest into, thanks for the link.
West system pumps
Had one of these for 10 years for another business.
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cmpages/portionator.php
We cleaned it maybe twice. First time we used acetone, bad mistake.
Ate the seals. Denatured alcohol worked fine.
We were in an unheated warehouse and would put heat lamps right next to the two metal tanks. Preheated epoxy on demand. They use to make heat strips for the tanks, but we cheaped out. Thought someone who used epoxy for a sealer would find that useful. We mainly bought it to make it employee proof. Pull the handle, stirr and use. The mix we were using wasn't super critical, but after approx. 800,000 golf clubs, we never had a glue failure.
Had one of these for 10 years for another business.
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cmpages/portionator.php
We cleaned it maybe twice. First time we used acetone, bad mistake.
Ate the seals. Denatured alcohol worked fine.
We were in an unheated warehouse and would put heat lamps right next to the two metal tanks. Preheated epoxy on demand. They use to make heat strips for the tanks, but we cheaped out. Thought someone who used epoxy for a sealer would find that useful. We mainly bought it to make it employee proof. Pull the handle, stirr and use. The mix we were using wasn't super critical, but after approx. 800,000 golf clubs, we never had a glue failure.
Last edited:
I use the west system scale kit and it works great for small batches. I also save the cups for the same reason, but found out that you need to be careful what type of plastic cup you use.....
It hardened fine, and so did the plastic cup eventually. I now use cups that can handle the heat.
It hardened fine, and so did the plastic cup eventually. I now use cups that can handle the heat.
Ever since meeting with an Industrial chemist many years ago and I first got into using composite materials, I was told to put the hardener into the mixing pot first then the resin amount.The calculator is your friend.By using the smaller portion 1st, it becomes easier to get the total mix volume correct. In a 5 to 1 ratio, for every .1 of hardener there is .5 of resin, so if you get to a total of .5 or .6 when adding the resin is not as far from what is required when adding the hardener and then adding .1 or .2 of hardener.AS you can see in my above example, trying to mix an amount with 1 decimal place accuracy is not sufficient when the total mix is still in the 1 decimal point range.
The other info he shared was to check the ratio portions that work with the particular resin being mixed and ensure that the volume /weight being mixed is achievable within those limits.
To lengthen the pot time of the mixed resin, placing it into a ali foil lined shallow plate increases the pot life. By reducing the thickness of the resin mix and dissipating any chemical heat being produced does the trick.
I'm not a cue maker (yet), but I have used a lot of epoxy in my work over the last thirty years.
Weighing is by far best for small quantities, but you must know the specific gravity of each component. I use System Three products, and their website contains these figures.
I put a small piece of clean plastic on my triple beam balance, tare off the weight of the plastic and add the resin component, then multiply the actual weight of the resin by the conversion factor to get the weight of the hardener needed.
I add the figures together (plastic, resin and hardener), then I very slowly add the hardener to the resin until the beam just starts to move. I usually only need another drop or so to get it perfect. I use a small metal spatula to blend the stuff together (helps reduce the amount of bubbles formed).
For larger amounts, I snagged a pack of those little plastic sample containers from the grocery store. I used a graduated cylinder to add 10ml of water and used a fine-line Sharpie the mark the meniscus. That's the hardener line. Then I added 20 ml more and marked that for the resin line. Now I had a master container to mark the rest of them as needed. The result is well within the mix tolerances as stated by the manufacturer.
Weighing is by far best for small quantities, but you must know the specific gravity of each component. I use System Three products, and their website contains these figures.
I put a small piece of clean plastic on my triple beam balance, tare off the weight of the plastic and add the resin component, then multiply the actual weight of the resin by the conversion factor to get the weight of the hardener needed.
I add the figures together (plastic, resin and hardener), then I very slowly add the hardener to the resin until the beam just starts to move. I usually only need another drop or so to get it perfect. I use a small metal spatula to blend the stuff together (helps reduce the amount of bubbles formed).
For larger amounts, I snagged a pack of those little plastic sample containers from the grocery store. I used a graduated cylinder to add 10ml of water and used a fine-line Sharpie the mark the meniscus. That's the hardener line. Then I added 20 ml more and marked that for the resin line. Now I had a master container to mark the rest of them as needed. The result is well within the mix tolerances as stated by the manufacturer.