berfle
starting to shine!
Member since April 2018
Posts: 42
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Post by berfle on May 8, 2018 8:25:34 GMT -5
Hi Pat, The 330 Epoxy is the most popular amongst lapidary and craft folks but I honestly couldn’t say it was significantly better for our (Intarsia) purposes. It certainly appears to be the most expensive. I have used several brands of clear 5-min clear epoxy in classes and on my own over the years and never had issues with any of them. Therefore being basically a thrifty feller (i.e. cheap) I usually opt for the least expensive. I’ve had good luck with the small tubes of Harbor Freight clear 5-min epoxy item# 92665. I think it retails for under 2 bucks and frequently I’ve gotten it on sale for less.
Adding “matching” dust to epoxy is a good trick for blending seams particularly if your seams have irregularities or undercutting. Along these lines, you can also add colorants to epoxy. There are colorants specifically made to use with epoxies but I’ve had good luck with India ink. For example, I frequently back my pieces with black (basenite, basalt, jade, etc) and if I’m having trouble getting the back of the intarsia and/or the backing piece absolutely flat prior to glueing, then I’ll add a drop of India ink to the epoxy mix. This disguises any seam irregularities. Note that adding any liquid to epoxy thins it out a bit and usually lengthens the curing time but not significantly and you can always speed the cure with some heat such as under an incandescent light.
Haven’t quite figured out how to add pictures...🤔
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berfle
starting to shine!
Member since April 2018
Posts: 42
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Post by berfle on Apr 29, 2018 15:43:51 GMT -5
Hello, I’m new to the forum and was perusing the posts and came across this interesting Intarsia discussion. I’ve been making Intarsia and also teaching classes for a number of years. Regarding the super glue and backing discussion... I love super glue for building intarsia as it dries quick and makes a strong bond. However using it alone has 2 major disadvantages. First it is very brittle and simply dropping your constructed piece on a hard table top (not to mention the floor) COULD possibly result in sufficient jarring to cause one or more joints to come apart. Second, super glues (cyanoacrylates) will eventually break down with exposure to water/moisture. The solution is to attach a backing with (clear) epoxy then it will never come apart.
If you have a piece that’s interesting on both sides such as in some picture jaspers, a solution I’ve had a lot of success with is to attach the final bordern with epoxy.
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