Can I mix q-cell with epoxy resin? How much catalyst would I need? Thanks for the help!
Ignore the catalyst question!How much epoxy resin would I need to mix with the q-cell?
Is it how much q-cell to mix with epoxy? I make it about like mayo in consistency and it works pretty well for a filler.
i don't eat mayo. haha. thanks.
I use Qcell in epoxy all the time. I think qcell is just microscopic glass balls so it inert with most things.
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I dont change the ratio of catalyst because the resin volume is the same, but a mix with qCell does set slower and its easier to sand.
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awesome. thanks for the info. Would I mix surfacing agent with epoxy resin as well to make a hot coat?
Howzit t3d, You don't use SA with epoxy, That's what additive F is for. Aloha,Kokua
Never thought to use something like wax in styrene with epoxy, it sands well enough as it is. But it wouldnt hurt to make a tiny mix first to see if you like how it sets. Best wishes with it and let us know how it goes.
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Can I mix q-cell with epoxy resin? How much catalyst would I need? Thanks for the help!
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Mix the epoxy resin / hardener...stir really good....mix in filler material...stir really good.....fill ding.....
On the internet lots of different things get called "q-cell".
I like the white powder that looks like a bag of cocaine.....I've also used milled fiber and cabosil and some other super light weight lung clogging stuff.....I'm not sure what all the names are.....or what is best.....
Ray
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Mix the epoxy resin / hardener...stir really good....mix in filler material...stir really good.....fill ding.....
Ray
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Geez Ray, now you tell me ! Ive been mixing the resin with the filler first so its smooth and THEN adding the catalyst.
Its not unusual that Ive been doing things wrong..
Q cell might be quartz micro spheres. There are glass micro spheres looking very white and powdery. Phenolic micro sphers are brown powdery, wet they have a burgundy color. Mixed Cabosil isn't light weight but it drys clear. West System has a few fillers and a tan colored sample I had said not to use it with PE resin. Burt Rutan says not to use Quartz micros with his formerly recommended Safe T Poxy because the hardener disolves the spheres which caused slow setting. Glass micro spheres from the glassing supply store seem to work good with everything.
Be sure to wear a mask when handling, mixing etc because Q-Cell, Cabosil, Glass Bubbles, Aerosil or whatever are not good for your lungs! Probably one of the bigger hazards of board making.
regards,
Dave D
1 Like
To add to GTFD response
I have been using the west system lightweight filler (tan colour) for the last 3 years instead of Qcells, so easy to sand! and heaps lighter! (dont use with fast harderner if you dont want air bubbles appearing) Though I Do paint my boards … unless you are going for a earthy eco feel…
Most all of the micro-balloon fillers which are colored white are silca-glass based. These is often sold as “Sil-cell” and “Q-cell” besides plain old micro-balloons. If you pour a small amount in a cup and tip it, it moves like a bunch of rolling balls. Cabosil (fumed silca) is different and used to radically thicken fillers, and is more like foam dust. Micro-balloons by itself cannot get a filler to a heavy paste consistency (i.e. stick upside down). Beware that fillers retain heat when the epoxy exotherms and will melt foam. Never fill deeper than 1/8" on repairs, add foam instead. Always add the fillers AFTER you have weighed and thoroughly mixed the two epoxy parts. The epoxy mix ratio by weight doesn’t change using fillers, always .45 to 1.00.
The reason I ask this question is because I need fill in small little missing chunks of foam on my epoxy board. You said that the filler will "melt the foam". Is this only for cabosil or q-cell? Which do you recommend I use to fill little foam chunks on my epoxy board?
use epoxy resin to patch your epoxy board. You cannot use poly resin, the solvent will eat the EPS foam.
The comment about heat bears interpretation: the filler material is a heat insulator, so that heat given off by the resin is retained in the patching mix. As long as the patch is relatively thin ("thin" varies with the type of hardener and the ambient temperature, among other things), the patch will give off heat to the air fast enough that the patch temperature will not rise to the point where it will melt the foam.
So to summarize:
use only epoxy to fix epoxy,
add your chosen thickener after mixing resing parts A and B,
add enough to make it the consistency of whipping cream,
don't breathe the unmixed thickener, and
spread it on in thin layers rather than a deep blob.
I have been using the 3MK1glass bubbles from fiberglass Florida. snow white very powdery, great for sealing eps blanks and around fin boxes. Wear a dust mask while mixing. Got some Q-cell from them which they claim is also glass bubbles but not as fine. Q-cell is slightly brown compared to 3MK1. looks blotchy on a seal coat and around boxes. I had to lightly paint the blank to even the color. There was a big difference in weight. I weighed a gallon of Q-cell and the new gallon of 3MK1. the Q-cell weighs almost twice as much per volome. 3MK1 also seems eaiser to get a good spreadable mix.
We have been adding Q cell in AFTER mixing the hardener, but someone just told me at the store to add it in BEFORE the hardener. I see that a couple people said to add q cell after the hardener, but what is the exact reasoning behind the steps being in that order? Is it just for weighing purposes or some molecular bonding purpose? Curious.
You can do both. That’s way you can find 2 composant epoxy mastic on the market, filler are mix in resin part then you add hardener when you use. Be carreful to respect ratio if you add filler in resin first.
Ever wonder what happens if you Spackle with microbaloons and epoxy, wait for it to be well into B stage, tacky but flexible, and lay your cloth into it, and immediately laminate?
Answer:
The cloth lays perfect, and doesn’t drag around, and you don’t have to sand the Spackle mix…