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Devcon bubbles

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Hi all,

I'm about to bed a couple of rifles. I have used devcon 100110 putty in the past which has been structurally ok but surface finish hasn't been anywhere near as clean as others I've seen. Usually get a few minor voids in the finish which I think is because of the high viscosity of the putty and maybe some techniques that I'm missing

I haven't had any joy getting marine Tex or pro bed into Australia so I'm basically stuck with devcon.

I have been throughout stirring the epoxy where recently I've read others recommend spreading it out and folding it to avoid bubbles so I'll try that.

I've also read others using a heat gun on epoxy to bring the bubbles to the surface and also make the surface more fluid. Does this work on devcon or does it just make it set quicker?

More reading. . . Suggests that you can buy devcon 100110 in a liquid instead of putty and some are doing bedding in 2 steps. Do a foundation of putty then rough up with 320 ish grit and skim bed over the top with the liquid. This might work well but I would have through the pros who do a lot of bedding or gun building would not like the time required for 2 lots of, prep, curing and cleanup if it could be done in one step. I also like the idea of bedding the pillars with the action so they are all on one plane and centralised.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
 
I put the devcon on an old plate and heat it up with a hair dryer till it is like peanut butter, then make sure it is heated again when you put the action in, I also heat the action when I put the devcon on it before I put it un the stock. Learned this from Chad Dixon at Longrifles from one of his posts way back.
Tarey

Oh and I mount the pillars on the action and use studs to hold them in place, cover with devcon and insert in stock.
 
Dusty Stevens said:
Vacuum chamber
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Not to hard to fashion a degas chamber using shop vac; or try mixing using the fold and smash method vs stir? I can't say devcon has made lots of bubbles in my limited use, I'm tagged in to hear other responses.

What's your release agent? Any chance it's giving you the surface imperfections?
 
gzig5 said:
With the thicker epoxy I normally butter the action with about an 1/16th inch layer of epoxy to make sure I get a good clean finish on top with no bubbles
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This is what I do but I put it on a little thicker at the bottom so I squeeze it up and out the top. It wastes a little epoxy but I know it’s solid when I’m done. I make the bedding and pillars one piece all Marine-Tex grey. I don’t use aluminum pillars. When I pull the guide bolts after the epoxy cures I come back a oversize drill the holes so the action screws don’t touch on the sides. Devcon is about as tough as Marine-Tex grey so it should work just as well.
 
With Devcon 10110, you definitely don't want to stir it real aggressively.

When forced to use it, I warm it up and fold it over and over until it's mixed. On a round action, I put a rib of it down the length of the stock after the rest of the compound is applied. Normally I'll apply bedding with a syringe but with 10110, the more you futz with it the more air gets trapped in it so it just gets carefully laid in there.

Warming the action helps it flow but be aware what the heat range is for the release agent you're using...don't use any release agent that has a film thickness.

Other than that, it's pretty straight forward. Using any more than you need will cause you issues with small air pockets.

I do the pillars as a separate step prior to bedding and sleeve them to center the action screws. When the bedding is done, the sleeves are removed and the screws are perfectly centered in the pillars.

For what it's worth.... -Al
 
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Mounting the pillars on the action when doing the bedding can also contribute to voids....the epoxy around the pillars is coming up as the action is coming down into the epoxy you've laid in the stock. -Al
 
hpshooter said:
Richard Franklin touched on doing this in his bedding video. It has worked for me.
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Same, but nobody told me. I just messed one up first.

It's also the best way to make sure you have glue worked into all the crooks and nannies where you want it.

I've never had bubble issues with 10110, but I don't get carried away with stirring. It has a very long open time, so just relax, stir gently for a few minutes, and then get with the program joyously spreading goop.

And the heat thing: yeah, maybe. But heating it up can DRASTICALLY change the open time, and could even alter cured strength. In general, slower curing epoxies tend to be stronger, and for almost any of them, altering timelines and stated compatible conditions will lead to a f***up sooner or later. Read the charts, maybe the SDS, and listen to what these companies say.

-Nate
 
When I bed with Devcon I use a trick I found somewhere on this forum.
The 10110 putty can be a little too thick especially if the temperature is somewhat low. Heating it up can drastically reduces the set up time. The devcon 10210 liquid is too thin to use by itself for bedding an action.
The trick is to use a mix of 2/3 putty to 1/3 liquid. Mix the putty hardener and resin together. Then mix the liquid hardener and resin together. When both are ready mix them together at the 2/3 putty to 1/3 liquid ratio. This will yield the perfect consistency for bedding. Since I have been using this method I have gotten much better results without the voids that can be encountered when using the putty alone. Once dry the mixed Devcon putty and Liquid combination looks like and has all the same properties as the putty alone.
 
From memory the last couple of bedding jobs I didn't use steel I used titanium or aluminium. I wasn't messing around but felt like it was going off during application. I'd have to check but maybe they have different working times.

Reading the data sheet on steel putty it's saying at 24C it has a 45min working time. That's way more time than I had with the other product. Data sheet is also a bit conflicting. One section it says cure time is 16hrs and another it says 7days

For those that heat it how much is it reducing your working time?
 
One Eye Pete said:
When I bed with Devcon I use a trick I found somewhere on this forum.
The 10110 putty can be a little too thick especially if the temperature is somewhat low. Heating it up can drastically reduces the set up time. The devcon 10210 liquid is too thin to use by itself for bedding an action.
The trick is to use a mix of 2/3 putty to 1/3 liquid. Mix the putty hardener and resin together. Then mix the liquid hardener and resin together. When both are ready mix them together at the 2/3 putty to 1/3 liquid ratio. This will yield the perfect consistency for bedding. Since I have been using this method I have gotten much better results without the voids that can be encountered when using the putty alone. Once dry the mixed Devcon putty and Liquid combination looks like and has all the same properties as the putty alone.
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That sounds perfect! If devcon lasted longer or I was doing enough to justify both products I would go this way for sure! Wonder if you can get liquid in the tubes. . .. .
 
I haven't had a problem with shelf life on the Devcon especially the liquid. As long as you keep the jars sealed tight and don't store it in a hot place I've had it last a few years. Sometimes I put a layer of Saran Wrap over the top before putting the lid back on.
Whatever you do don't buy it from a gun products company it's much more expensive. Try eBay Amazon or SIM supply.
 
Not a Devcon guy, feel free to sneer at me therefore.

LOVE the products from West Systems. Just great epoxy, no oddities of bubbles and stuff but most of all neat things like some (G-Flex) that cure plastic hard not steel hard, so do not pop free from plastic or fiberglass substrates when they flex or thermally expand. If you do lots of this, worth playing with other materials for sure.

Anyway, I have removed surface bubbles from some stuff, and found the heat gun doesn't work because propane torches do. I forget the chemistry reason, but it's not heat, but the lack of O2 or something, that causes the bubbles near the top to surface and disappear.

Interior bubbles (voids) are entirely the result of mixing procedures. One other that might help possibly (I'd experiment first) is adding glass microballoons. Normally used for other purposes (esp changing the finishing properties; easier to sand/feather such finishes) but it also turns the actual epoxy into a paste that works very differently, may be useful. 3M makes them, pretty easy to find them repackaged into small quantities.
 
It's all how you mix it, apply it, and set the action. That goes for all epoxy not just devcon. Paying close attention to what your doing and correcting mistakes as they appear is the only way to get good at it. It just comes with experience. Even then every once in a while one will still come out less than perfect and you have to re do it.
 
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