My rod building is hit-miss, & I may go several months between a build. Added to my problem; our house does not have central heat or air conditioning and it can get down into the 40° range in my rod building room. Bottom line, I often have trouble with one bottle of the epoxy mix “setting up” where it will not pour or flow enough to pull it into a measuring syringe. So far I have managed to heat the solidified bottle in warm water enough to get what I need for my mix. Sometimes I get in a hurry and slightly heat the bottle with a heat gun on low setting. According to sales hype, an electric heated epoxy warmer is very advantageous & solves many of the rod builders problems; sorta’ like the guy trying to sell waterfront property in south central AZ.
I would like to hear from someone(s) who has actually used a desktop epoxy warmer.

Rex

Anything that gently warms the epoxy (Part A, the resin) is good - a pot of hot water, bottle warmer, scented candle warmer, even putting the resin bottle in your pocket for a while works. I've got an electric warmer and it works but it is slow. A microwave oven is, to my thinking, ideal as it is fast. Just a couple seconds of "nuking" the resin to just warm to the touch and you are good to go. And the microwave oven will make a hot, adult beverage to enjoy while you admire your finish work.

Rex,
As has been suggested by Donald, just keep a small microwave in the shop and use it when needed. Put in the bottles with no metal on or in them and set the timer for 30 seconds and turn it off after about 3-5 seconds and will thin the epoxy just fine.

If one or both of the bottles is still a bit stiff, just give them another 3-5 seconds.

Notice - I said 3-5 SECONDS. No need for any longer than that at one time.

Good luck

You can also store the epoxy somewhere else in your house - somewhere that is heated. That way the epoxy will be closer to normal room temp when you prepare to measure and mix it.

.................

Way back when... I purchased a couple of candle warmers at Wally World. I found the Microwave to be much faster to use. The candle warmers are sitting on the self and need a new home....any takers?

Don Campbell
don@sensorfishingrods.com

Easy to pick up an inexpensive microwave that will serve a multitude of needs:

[www.walmart.com]

Rex Mason Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My rod building is hit-miss, & I may go several
> months between a build. Added to my problem; our
> house does not have central heat or air
> conditioning and it can get down into the 40°
> range in my rod building room. Bottom line, I
> often have trouble with one bottle of the epoxy
> mix “setting up” where it will not pour or
> flow enough to pull it into a measuring syringe.
Why not add some Heat to the room you use ? Lot's of Safe options out their Nowadays, And I'm sure you would enjoy your self a bit more when using your work space.

Rex,
When I do rod wrapping in the winter, I will sometimes use a room portable space heater to add some additional heat to the shop on extremely cold days.

If I happen to have a need to do some finish work, I will just set the epoxy containers on a stool in front of the space heater and let the space heater add a bit of heat to the epoxy at the same time that it adds heat to the work shop.

I have a few of these "milk house style" heaters that I use for temporary heat in an enclosed area when the need for more heat is needed. I have had some of the heaters for years. i will run into them from time to time at garage sales and can sometimes pick up one for $5-$10. If one goes bad, I will just cartridge in a replacement.

[www.google.com]

The heaters all have a thermostat on them to make them easy to control and to have them automatically shut off when a desired temperature is reached - if ever - in the space being heated.

When drying, I like to keep the shop at about 85 degrees for a quicker and more perfect final finish on the rods. As a result, I will just turn on the heater and leave it turned up a bit to keep the room nice and cozy during the drying period.

Good luck

Hi Rex

As an option you can look at the Epoxy Bottle Warmer by CRB.

[www.mudhole.com]

Happy building...

Regards.
Team Mud Hole Custom Tackle
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