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Devcon Question

rcol317

Silver $$ Contributor
I've used Devcon for years and have had great experiences with it while bedding several rifles. I bedded an action yesterday and appears I didn't get it mixed properly. After 24 hours the Devcon is still a little soft, can take a screw driver and make a dent it it. Do I need to dig it out and re-do or will it get hard over a longer cure time? Curious before I pull the action from the stock. Thanks for the advise .
 
Dig it out. If it didn’t harden properly it will never achieve full strength. I prefer Marine Tex grey mixed by weight but Devcon is close in shrinkage percentage and has plenty of strength. Good luck with your bedding project.
 
I don't think it's age related.
I recently did one where the putty part was so hard I could barely dig it out of the container. After kneading like a bitch with the softer part II it softened up to where it was workable and hardened normally like a rock. Must've been mixed wrong. Marine Tex I find to be MUCH more finicky with mix ratio (by weight is best as mentioned), forget rifle bedding- I've restored boats with gallons of the stuff. Excellent product but mix ratio is critical.
 
Marine tex is easy by volume just put out 5 little globs that look close to the same and 1 catalyst the same and mix.
Devcon use to be different it seams to stiff now unless you have a lot of room for bedding.
 
9 to 1 by weight and you will never have an issue. Id bet I have used 100lbs of the stuff and never had a problem. Same goes for any of them actually but I always mix by weight.
 
"but I always mix by weight."

I use a set of Ohaus triple beams and Ohaus counter weights to weigh out Devecon or Marine Tex. Have two drafting table lamps with 60 watt bulbs on the bench that I use to bring the material up to 70 deg. F before mixing it is very workable at that temperature .

As a side, I had some 10110 left that I bought in 2009. Not enough to bed a rifle so I used it as an experiment on aged material. Would not have risked a bedding job even if there was enough to do one. The resin had a "skin" on it that blended in when warmed up and mixed and the catalyst had a very pungent odor to it. Mixed it thoroughly for 5 minutes, timed and mounded it up in a pyramid 2.5" base x 5" altitude. It started getting "rubbery" in 45 minutes, was too hard to penetrate with a scribe in a couple hours and the following day it survived a hard throw against the concrete floor with no damage other that 1/2" of the point of the pyramid breaking off. Material had been stored in original containers at 65 degrees avg. temp. Lids had a double wrap of Scotch 33 electrical tape around them and the container for an air seal. Would not use it for bedding unless it was all that was available but would not hesitate to use aged out material for setting up odd shaped work in the mill or patching a fuel tank or radiator if it was soft enough to mix.
 
I mixed by percentage, 4/1 it is probably 3 years old. Tonight when I checked it's seems to be hard. Thanks for the info. I'll bet it's getting to old, down to the last 25% of the jars.
 
I mixed by percentage, 4/1 it is probably 3 years old. Tonight when I checked it's seems to be hard. Thanks for the info. I'll bet it's getting to old, down to the last 25% of the jars.
You didn't say which Devcon so I'm guessing you have 10110 plastic steel. The correct mixing ratio, by volume, is 2.5:1.
 
There was some Devcon a few years ago that had a new formulation of hardener. The hardener would go bad quickly after opening and produce uneven mix and the finished surface would have soft spots. They changed it again and seem to have the problem "cured".
 
my friend Jon Beanland turned me onto pro bed and im not looked back. great stuff and no waste! Lee
 
It's the 10240. Seems to very hard now maybe I over reacted after first 20 hours.
10240 Devcon is a 5 minute epoxy and the mix ratio is 1:1. Anyone that can use that stuff is many times faster at the process than I am.
 

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