The Devcon 2 Ton® epoxy has a cure time of 12 hours, so 12 hours after putting together the acrylic jewel and the finding, I wanted to test the strength. I took the jewel in one hand and the finding in the other and, with a simple twist of the wrists, broke the two apart. There was almost no hold provided by the glue. It is as if the epoxy was just another layer of resin instead of a glue. All that roughening of the surfaces was a waste of time because the dry epoxy showed all the scratch lines from the finding.
Why did it fail? Several reasons come to mind. These include not roughening the surface enough, measuring and/or mixing the epoxy incorrectly, and use of excessive epoxy on the two surfaces. The last part can be easily tested, and the first part would require use of a rougher sandpaper grit. The middle part, however, will be hard to accomplish; this difficulty was the major argument against using a 2-part epoxy in the first place.
For test #2, then, I will weigh the epoxy to get equal amounts, I will mix it for a longer amount of time, I will spread it thinner on the two surfaces, and I will scratch the hell out of the surfaces as well.
The pictures on the page appear smaller than they are. To see them larger, simply double click on the picture. Also, I always welcome your constructive criticism. Click on the Comment link below next to the icon of a pencil; it may say "No" or have a number in front of it.
Why did it fail? Several reasons come to mind. These include not roughening the surface enough, measuring and/or mixing the epoxy incorrectly, and use of excessive epoxy on the two surfaces. The last part can be easily tested, and the first part would require use of a rougher sandpaper grit. The middle part, however, will be hard to accomplish; this difficulty was the major argument against using a 2-part epoxy in the first place.
For test #2, then, I will weigh the epoxy to get equal amounts, I will mix it for a longer amount of time, I will spread it thinner on the two surfaces, and I will scratch the hell out of the surfaces as well.
The pictures on the page appear smaller than they are. To see them larger, simply double click on the picture. Also, I always welcome your constructive criticism. Click on the Comment link below next to the icon of a pencil; it may say "No" or have a number in front of it.
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