ORIGINAL: KC36330
ORIGINAL: speedracerntrixie
Not all epoxies are created equal. I personally stay away from the 1:1 ratio epoxies for the reasons you have just stated.
Correct that not all are created equal but i disagree with the 1:1............
for some reason the glow end of this hobby is mostly unaware of the aerospace grade epoxy we use in the turbine side of the hobby. Hysol epoxy is a far superior product to anything Tower and most LHS have in the epoxy lineup.
9462 (white) and 9462F (gray) is an overnight (8hrs) 1:1 that is thixotropic (it doesn't sag/drip/run) so there's no need to add any fillers such as microbaloons, etc...after cure you'll pull wood/metal/fiberglass before you separate the glue joint.
E20-HP is a clear thixotropic with almost the same peal and tensil strength as the 9462 but a 20min pot life, it's a 2:1 ratio
E05-CL is a clear thixotropic high strength 1:1 ratio 5 min pot life.
the dispensing gun takes all the guesswork out of the ratio as it dispenses both equally and if you use the mixing nozzle it self mixes and you can apply it neatly like a calking gun.
While I agree with you about the Hysol products and I do use many of them at work, The average r/c guy is just not going to spend the extra money or make the additional effort to find it. They are going to buy what is at the the hobby shop or hardware store. This ends up being Tower, Devcon or any other low grade epoxy that is readily available. The truth is that many guys just don't build anymore and there are not alot of guys left to pass on knowledge. Just as seen here. One suggestion is to mix up some epoxy and snap it to judge strength. It's all about bond strength. The force it takes to peel the epoxy off a well prepped surface. Only once did I see mention of surface prep here and then it was just sanding with no reference to cleaning. Epoxy is just one of those widly mis-understood things we use in our hobby.