Epoxy, a sticky subject.

[Benn]

This spring, I was going to hit the beach for SRC's the next day and my epoxy flies from the previous season were looking yellow and bedraggled. At 9:00 PM I realized that I was out of resin and had to run to the store. I had always used a relatively expensive two part rod-building epoxy (Flexcoat) that I ordered on-line, so I guess I had become a bit of a snob.

The "Super Glue" brand in the duel tube with plunger the was the only epoxy that was available at the local Safeway at 9:30 that night so I got it, thinking it would at least get me through one outing, and it was only $2.49 so no real harm done.

I had played around with other brands available at Eagle and Home Depot and I was never happy with them as they did not dry evenly, remained tacky, yellowed quickly, and were often cloudy right from the start. I did not really have much hope for this brand at first since it says right on the ackage “curing color: light yellow,” which I figure would mean it would be cloudy and yellow right off the bat.

Well about 4 months and many tubes later, I have to say that I have become very impressed with the “Super Glue” brand of 5 minute epoxy, especially when it is thinned with a couple drops of rubbing alcohol. It is one of the clearest brands I have found and seems to really resist yellowing. I was also impressed how smoothly it goes on and how firmly it sets up. A lot of “5 minute” epoxies are still tacky for hours. This is dry to the touch in about 10 minutes and can be re-coated quickly. In addition, it appears to remain somewhat flexible and does not chip and crack after a couple uses of the flies like some brands. So if you are in the mood to experiment, I would highly recommend this product.

I see from the "Super Glue" webiste that they do have a 30 minute epoxy, and I'd like to try that, but I have never seen it in stores. I would like a recommendation from the group for a brand of 30-minute epoxy that you have found to work well. It would be great if was available locally at most major retailers, but if not that would be fine as long as I don’t have to order it from Norway or have a contractor’s license to purchase.

- Benn

[Philster]

Any 5 minute epoxy will yellow over time. Exposure to UV will speed it up. Yellow heads don't put fish off in my experience, but I do like a pretty fly box as much as the next guy!

Yeah, superglue 5minute works great, and I do enjoy the double plunger. Devcon works great also and is usually the cheapest high quality epoxy out there. Z-poxy is very good, but yellows faster in my experience, and Zpoxy has the most pronounced "rotten flesh" smell of all of them.

I have found 30 minute superglue and Elmers at Home depot in the past, and used them when I was tying sea habits commercially. The reason was that I was tying in batches, and I could do a dozen and a half heads at a time with one epoxy batch, where with 5 minute I could only get about a half dozen on the wheel before the tackiness would require me to pay WAY to much attention and cost me time. But for my personal beach flies, where I almost never do more than a half dozen on an as needed basis, I stick to 5 minute epoxy as it does the job.

One little tip I will pass to you is if you are tying surf candies, alfs, or other "sculpted" expoxy flies where you manipulate one at a time until they harden and don't just slap them on the dryer and and let centrifigul force shape them round, I use 1 minute epoxy for the first coat, so far Enrico Pugliese. The reason is I can get the shape I want in, well, about 1/5th the time :clown: Second coat I splurge on the 5 minute stuff. Saves you about 40 percent of hands on time on surf candies, which is awesome! Don't trust if for the second coat as it isn't waterproof. Sticklers will tell you 5 minute epoxy isn't waterproof either, but for 99% of practical fishing purposes, it is.

[Nooksack Mac]

I've used a lot of Devcon 2-Ton epoxy (also a double-plunger dispenser) for a lot of rod building. Working time is 30 minutes. (Once, when assembling a spey rod handle cork-by-cork, it got too thick to work halfway through.) Full strength in eight hours.

[Benn]

I found a couple tubes of Devcon 5 minute and 30 minute epoxioes on ebay and I'll give them a try. Also thanks for the tips. I appreciate (need) them.