: I've heard people on here make the statement - pick a brand of
: epoxy and stick with it. I wondered why & what was wrong
: with switching. I used up my original purchase of West Systems
: epoxy a little while back and decided to go with Raka for $$$
: purposes.

: I got caught by the pumps. The West Systems pumps were metered to
: the correct ratio. The Raka pumps weren't - so, I was supposed
: to handle the 2:1 ratio myself. I realized this morning the
: reason my last batch of epoxy (and assumingly the one on top of
: that - though, I haven't been down to check it out) hadn't
: hardened. I did 1:1 on the resin-to-hardener.

: SO... what now? My assumption is that I sand off the gooey stuff
: and reapply new. Right?

: This is on a Yost SOF.

: -Doug

Hi Doug,
After dealing with West's, System 3, and Raka "Ketchup Pumps" (that's all they are) that always seem to burp and leave me wondering..

I finally bought a tiny digital scale from Harbor Freight. Actually it's on sale now for $10.99. see the link below. I now can mix the smallest batch with great accuracy. Raka 127/350 has a mixing ratio by weight of 1 to 44 (from Larry at Raka). Mixing by weight will work with all systems, just find out the ratio from the manufacturer.

I have been using this scale for about 4-5 years now. You set your cup on it, and turn it on, it zeros the weight to include the cup. I don't waste cups anymore, I reuse them with hardened epoxy still in them. You can set it to any measuring scale you prefer (i.e. ounce, gram, etc.)

Also, I buy replacement ketchup/mustard pumps at my local BJ's Wholesale Club. They are cheap and the only one I ever replace is the hardener pump, as it gets nasty after awhile. The resin pump I heat with a heat gun to liquify the crystalized resin.

I no longer waste any $1 per oz. epoxy and I can mix a batch so small, it's hard to see!
I slip my pump into a small plastic zip lock sandwich bag to keep drips off the scale. There may be other cheap little scales just as good, but the HF one has worked for me.

Here's the link:

http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-pocket-scale-93543.html

Larry C.