What's your preferred bedding epoxy?

[B Nettesheim]

The amount compounds expand and eventually contract over a period of time is worth testing.

 

[squint-n-squeeze]

What was the exact process that incurred the most shrinkage?

This may be common knowledge, but it was news to me at one point: make sure to weigh your epoxy components. Scooping by volume is too hard to do! Some epoxies, like popular "2-ton" epoxy etc are pretty tolerant of the mix being a little off. Devcon and some others are less so. Make sure you get the mix exactly right!

 

[tonyben]

Bisonite is good stuff. Ive seen it still going strong after 50yrs on m14 match rifles

I don't think it's available any more, at least not in the old formula. I've looked for it but I also hear that the original Bisonite is horrible to work with.

Tony.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I don't think it's available any more, at least not in the old formula. I've looked for it but I also hear that the original Bisonite is horrible to work with.

Tony.

Yes it was awful. Thats why you dont hear about it even if they did still make it. Folks quit using it before the internet- mainly due to the m14 falling out of favor

 

[Sniperhandle]

I've been using Acraglas, from Brownells, for fifty years and I like it fine. The regular stuff, not the gel. I couldn't begin to guess how many stocks I've bedded with it. I have also used various Devcon products, Bisonite, Belzona, Duro concrete patching compound, and JB Weld. WH

Thank you for mentioning "Belzona" I was trying for the life of me to remember the name of it. We used it at Caterpillar to repair blocks that were damaged from electrolysis, Very good stuff!

 

[AlNyhus]

I had one here a few days ago that was bedded with JB Weld by a pal of mine that does really, really good bedding work. The bedding under the receiver had moved around significantly and the barrelled action had a good bit of stress in it. When working with it, it seemed quite a bit gummier than normal JB Weld. It was in a stock that is just a 'glass shell and foam filled, even under the action.

I've seen some of those older foam filled stocks where the foam has dried and crumbled up. I can't imagine anything in the old dried foam that would affect the JB...more likely the area under the receiver moved due to a loss of support from the old foam under the area.

Thoughts? -Al

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Al, I have seen it in all types of stocks. Thats why these "what epoxy" threads are missing the mark, imo. The epoxy is maybe .050 thick. Meanwhile the stock is 1" thick under the action. What is going to move more? Wood moves a lot, so do fiberglass stocks. The type of epoxy is probably the last thing in the whole process to worry about. One of the reasons I like glue ins is that the contact between the stock and receiver is always the same if done right. Thats impossible to achieve with a bedding job.

 

[AlNyhus]

Alex, I've got a plan for reinforcing the area under the action.

The bad news is there's 4 oz. to work with to make weight.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Al, I hear you. I have experimented with bedding blocks that I also glued and screwed the action too. They dont hurt but didn't help. In your case it may since the stock seems unstable. If you have something to work with I'd just glue it in right and be done.

 

[Will Henry]

Those hollow stocks were, in large part, responsible for the move toward aluminum pillars for bedding. I always just drilled through the stock and cast Acraglas pillars. WH

 

[AlNyhus]

This one has aluminum pillars. I was able to tweak the bedding enough to get the 'cracked action screw' movement back in the ballpark. I'll check it after he shoots the 100-200 VFS event on Saturday and see how it held up.

 

[jackieschmidt]

For years, I have used JB weld or Devcon.
Sometime back, our Push Boat customers and shipyards started using this product from LocTite.

I tried some on my latest bedding, (bolt in, Bat M action), and it worked great.
one of it’s features, besides being quite strong, is the “no sag” property, making it excellent for gluing in non metallic rudder bushings, propeller shaft bearings, and even steering linkage bushings………and bedding the actions in rifles.

It released with no problem with the standard Kiwi Neutral shoe wax.

I get it by the cans from shipyards, but I think it is sold at Home Depot in the standard tubes.

Loctite 398466 - 9460 Hysol Epoxy Strutural Adhesive, Grey, 200mL

<p>The Loctite 398466 is a non-sag epoxy adhesive that comes in a 200 ml dual cartridge. The high viscosity, liquid adhesive features a 40 minute worklife and is a great for bonding dissimilar substrates including metals and engineering thermoplastics.</p><b>Loctite 398466 Features:</b><ul><li>...

www.hisco.com

 

[AlNyhus]

Jackie, that Hysol is one of the materials I'm considering to reinforce the area between the action inlet and stocks outer shell.

The other one is 3M's Panel Bond, which I've worked with a lot on the carbon fiber pieces at the race car shop. A lot of these panels have been bonded with the Panel Bond:

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40066467/

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Jackie, that Hysol is one of the materials I'm considering to reinforce the area between the action inlet and stocks outer shell.

The other one is 3M's Panel Bond, which I've worked with a lot on the carbon fiber pieces at the race car shop. A lot of these panels have been bonded with the Panel Bond:

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40066467/

Where’s the stereo and AC controls?

 

[Limafoxtrot2]

In the past I have used gallons of Devcon and Marine-Tex and had good results. I tried Pro-Bed 2000 a few years back back and feel that I get much better bedding. It flows well, seems to have minimal to no shrinkage and it looks great once cured.

 

[spike-55]

It was just my first attempt with JB, so I didn't know what to expect. With Devcon I just let it cure, and one sharp rap it popped right out with a snap, perfect bed job. Right now the action has about 50% splotchy full bed coverage but I not going to monkey with it as it is turning out to be one of my best shooting rifles.

make sure you get the original slow cure JB Weld and coat both surfaces with JB. don't use the quick-weld it will set up too fast and leave voids and bubbles like you describe. just in case you might have grabbed the wrong type. i use the kiwi shoe polish, let set and buff to shine - then i spray on Polytek Pol Ease 2300 Release Agent from amazon, 24 bucks a can last forever. releases with a rap and pops out clean.
stan

 

[ar15Jeff]

make sure you get the original slow cure JB Weld and coat both surfaces with JB. don't use the quick-weld it will set up too fast and leave voids and bubbles like you describe. just in case you might have grabbed the wrong type. i use the kiwi shoe polish, let set and buff to shine - then i spray on Polytek Pol Ease 2300 Release Agent from amazon, 24 bucks a can last forever. releases with a rap and pops out clean.
stan

The voids were caused by half of the JB sticking to the roughed up existing bedding and the other half sticking to the action. And yes I was using the slow cure stuff. It was just the wax I was using wasn't quit cutting it or the coating on the Origin action wouldn't let the release agent (car wax) stay on. Next time I'll try some heat.