<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD><META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset= =US-ASCII"></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: = Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT= id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV>    <FONT size=3>Dear Contrarian Brother</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>  I was merely suggesting a  type of epoxy for= a very small job so that I don't waste the west sytems stuff for 4 dabs of epo= xy. Also by inserting the screws in this repair aformentioned it squishes it int= o the wood. If I have a failure I'll be the first to tattle on myself. Thes sc= rews can be tihgtend further after complete dryin as well so I'm very pleased wit= h the repair</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>  However your point is well taken & when I nee= d epoxy advice You da man Terry</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>   Dale Erwin</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blu= e 2px solid"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial = color=#000000 size=2> <DIV><FONT size=3>At the risk of sounding like I am of the opinion that = there is only one type of epoxy worthy of use on this planet, I offer the follow= ing for your consideration.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>From my experience, the source of failure with epoxies= in general, when they occur, is between the epoxy and the substrate bein= g bonded - in a repair like a rim, it would be the epoxy-to-wood joint = that can be of concern. An epoxy bond is a mechanical bond: the epoxy must penetrate the wood sufficiently so that after it hardens it will not work loose. You've all heard/seen/experienced an auto-body repair with "Bondo" = that separates from the metal after some time. This is because a proper mechani= cal bond was not made between the Bondo (yes, I know, Bondo is a polyurethane-based product - but the analogy works) and the metal substrate. The same can happen with the epoxy-to-wood joint.</FONT></= DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>A thick, putty-like epoxy, simply does not penetrate a= wooden surface well on its own.</FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>Now in a low-stress joint like filling a divot in a pi= ece of wood, the thick epoxy might work just fine. But be sure to moosh the epoxy= into the wood a bit to be sure it will interlock with the surface fibers o= f the wood.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>In a high-stress joint, an epoxy like West System with= its various fillers really shines. The basic principal here is to wet woo= d surfaces down with an unthickened epoxy - you can watch as the epoxy soaks= into the wood - if it soaks in fast, you may want to apply unthickened epo= xy again - with end grain you will want many applications of unthickened epox= y until it doesn't take any more. Then you add your filler of choice and thi= cken it to whatever consistency is appropriate for the application and make you= r bond. Doing this "preparatory wetting of the surfaces" will yield an epoxy= bond that quite simply will never let go.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><BR><A title=http://www.farrellpiano.com/ href="http://www.fa= rrellpiano.com/" target=_blank><IMG SRC="cid:X.MA1.1089643180@aol.com" = title=http://www.farrellpiano.com/ alt=http://www.farrellpiano.com/ = border=0 DATASIZE="7001" XWIDTH="100" XHEIGHT="100" ID="MA1.10= 89643180" ></A> </DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>