Acraglass won't set when used with the dye

[Doc Fill 'Em 67797]

Sometimes it will set with the brown or black dye, most times it just gets gummy and won't set completely. Am I using too much dye?

 

 

[Smithy]

Am I using too much dye?

 

Probably yes. I've always used powdered dyes in my acraglas mixes to great success in so far as strength is concerned. In fact Brownells sells a few color additives just for this purpose; ie. powdered aluminum, powdered charcoal, and at one time different powdered woods. Since these are dry ingredients they don't "water down" the mix of the acraglas but you still have to be careful as too much of a good thing can spoil the batch in any regard. Too much dry additive will cause the mixture to become cake like and to not adhere to the mating surfaces worth a darn. Try using less liquid dye on a sample batch, or shift over to a powdered dye. I use so much of the stuff that I purchase their shop kits in the quart and pint jars so if I mess up a batch it's no big deal. If you're just buying a single kit, maybe it would be for you? Buy extra. Smithy.

[Hacker, SASS #55963]

Are you using the Brownells Acraglas dyes?

If you are only a little bit is necessary.

Which Acraglas product are you using?

If you are using the gel product mix 1 to 1.

If the original product 4 to 1.

If you are too far off it might take a while to set.

 

I have had some gel problems.

But simply got a new container the old was over a year old and might have had a small gap in the seal.

IE the batch had gone bad.

So I threw it out.

Next attempt worked just fine.

I don't think it is the problem of the dye unless you use way too much or someone elses dye.

[Doc Fill 'Em 67797]

Hacker, good point on the mix ratio. I may have been mixing the original 1:1 like a regular epoxy. Guess I'll read the instructions better next time! Thanks.

[Adirondack Jack, SASS #53440]

Too much hardener and not enough hardenEE.

 

True story. Once upon a time I did a rebuild job on a performing arts center that had been hurt bad by a hurricane. Well some New Yawk City set designer, hired to outfit the place for a play, went and stole a bunch of my West System epoxy and used it with some additives as if he was working with cake frosting. He used a whole gallon of hardener and a whole gallon of resin, and a few pounds of microballoon additive.

I woulda been really hot that he stole the stuff (it ain't cheap, then or now), but he not only had to pay for it out of his own pocket, but it ruined the set piece he was doing, because it's supposed to be 4:1, not 1:1...... Came out like a cake that'd been rained on, and never dried. They sent him packing the next day.....

[Nate Kiowa Jones #6765]

I no longer use acraglass, for a number of reasons but mainly because it doesn't have much of a shelf life. If it's too old with or wityhout pigment it may not set right and it's too runny/messy.

I now use SYSTEM THREE RESIN SilverTip GelMagic It's more like a paste so it doesn't sag and isn't as messy. The color pigment they offer color in the "A" resin. You add it to the "A" part then add the "B" part proportionally so it has no effect on the cure.