[JMcDonald]

Good morning. I have been working on my mill, tubular steel structure. Once assembled and aligned, it will be cast into a block of simple e/g (for the base up to the y-axis rails), and the column will be filled. Being conservative with my mox ratios (18-20% epoxy by volume), I figured up about 5 gallons of mixed reson should do the trick, depending largely on the final dimensions of the base. The filled portion of the column will be a 4x8x.375 square steel tube. The base is 18x32 horizontally, and I will probably make it something like 12" tall but with a "hollow" core to save a little weight and epoxy.

1) The USComposites website shows using their fast (4:1) hardener has leaving the most rigid material once cured. So, that is good, right? I also read an anecdote in the big EG thread about the results using the slow hardener being relatively soft.

2) Will 635 epoxy self-level? I am looking for something I can also pour in a thin layer over the steel onto which I can mount my rails without a lot of scraping. I called USC and they recommended their Kleer Kote. I probably wasn't clear enough and it was only a quick call while I was driving, but it sounded like they thought I was looking to pour it onto a table or something and get a thick build with a glass-like finish, whereas I would actually be pouring it into a walled-in compartment and am not particularly concerned about a transluscent or satin finish.

So yeah, what have been your results with the various hardeners, and will 635 epoxy self-level?

[Zekyx]

Hi
I can give some answer on 1)
You may have great problems when mixing resin with short potlife. For example, once I mixed around 400 grams of epoxy with potlife roughly 30 minutes (some general purpose resin) and it generated so much heat that it started to smoke within 2-3 minutes (it was summer, that definitely didn't help ), and it was unusable. More resin you mix, more heat will generate, faster cure.

Maybe get some samples and see what is best for you.