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Suitable epoxy for carbon fiber rods — can’t get the usually recommended names
Hello — I would like to make my first neck (Tele style) with carbon fiber rods. I always see West Systems, Total Boat, and a couple of other brands being recommended. I live somewhere that sells none of these, and forbids imports of liquids. I can find craft epoxy RESIN (I’m not sure if this is a substitute for epoxy GLUE) and may be able to find Chinese/Indian epoxy A/B pots.
Any thoughts on what you would do? Use epoxy resin (eg, for river tables) or no-name epoxy glue? I just don’t know how much difference there is between prominent brands and the rest.
Any thoughts on just getting a few syringes of regular Gorilla epoxy (we get those here) and just using that? An obvious problem is the 5-minute set time…
Thanks!
(An example of a RESIN I may be able get locally is TotalBoat 5:1 Epoxy Resin Kit (Quart, Fast Hardener), Marine Grade Epoxy for Fiberglass and Wood Boat Building and Repair, Clear. But is this equivalent to glue?)
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8 Replies
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One thing you might look at is sticking with the west systems and adding a filler that promotes adhesion. https://www.westsystem.com/products/404-high-density/ . Also make sure to abrade everything.
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This reply was modified 2 months ago by Ian Davlin The Looth Group.
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This reply was modified 2 months ago by Ian Davlin The Looth Group.
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Thansk Ian — the problem is that I cannot find West Systems, Total Boat and other mainstream brands at all where I live (Bahrain) and can’t import them 😕.
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Oh, Im sorry for the reading comprehension gap. Do you have any links to the contenders ? One thing you can do is get what is available and run some tests. Could you get any of the West systems filler since it’s not a liquid ?
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This reply was modified 2 months ago by Ian Davlin The Looth Group.
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No problem Ian — and thanks for being all over this forum.
It looks like I might be able (maybe) to get the TotalBoat kit linked below from a neighboring country to which I could drive. Am I correct in understanding that the filler is a must or is it optional given the tight fit of the carbon rods in their channel — ie, no gaps to fill? Thanks!
https://www.totalboat.com/collections/epoxy-resins/products/5-1-marine-epoxy-resin-kits
totalboat.com
TotalBoat 5:1 Traditional Marine Epoxy Resin Kits
5:1 Marine Epoxy Resin Kits include epoxy resin, hardener, and mixing pumps so you can tackle epoxy repairs and fiberglass projects.
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Forgot to mention that I can try to get the filler.
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if the fit is tight, I wouldn’t worry too much about the filler. The filler could make it a bit harder to install the tubes, depending on how tight the fit is. My fav shop epoxy for this sort of stuff is West G Flex gel. I think total boat has an equivalent.
If you are only using it to glue the tubes in, I would probably feel fine with the gorilla glue two part epoxy. I wouldn’t feel great about glueing the fingerboard on with that stuff but the rods wouldn’t bother me too much.
I glue the fingerboard on as the same time I do the rods so I use the same glue for both.
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Thank you Paul — appreciate the reply!
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I bet if it’s tight and you abrade the crap out of the tubes, you might be ok. The cf is pretty slippery though.
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This reply was modified 2 months ago by
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