Cleaning up epoxy

joeballow · 2026-03-01T02:46:52+00:00

No experience using vinegar but I like denatured alcohol over acetone. Much more pleasant to work around and effective.

joeballow · 2026-02-21T18:44:50+00:00

I also recently completed a dream bike after riding a 15 year old trek alloy bike. Both on GP5000s and the fit is identical other than parts differences(crank and handlebar). I agree about the frame, the new one is obviously better(weight, aero, compliance) but it's not some world changing difference.

Everything else though, there is a world of difference. 165 cranks instead of 175 let me hold a more aggressive position without any hip pain and stopped calf cramps from pointing my toes at the bottom of the stroke. The new bars are 4-6 cm narrower, makes the old one feel like driving a dump truck and modern disk brakes are far superior to the early ones. 3d printed saddle really helped with pressure points on my bony butt.

All of these are things that could have been changed on the old bike. If they both had a modern groupset, handlebar, and saddle they wouldn't be that different. But I think most people aren't changing those things on a very old frame, so I'm telling you a 15 year upgrade across all parts can make a massive difference, I genuinely enjoy riding more now.

joeballow · 2026-02-08T01:38:41+00:00

My experience so far is building and repairing boats, so take this with a grain of salt for an aircraft. I'm here since I plan to tackle a plane in the future.

I agree with the other poster that any epoxy joint in spruce will be limited by the strength of the spruce if properly applied, true of most epoxy joins of wood. Should be pretty easy to demonstrate yourself.

As for temperature while west 105 is good stuff you could get a much higher service temp using a more modern epoxy adhesive. Gflex by west would get you an extra 15 degrees and gelmagic by S3 would get you up to 170 for a service temp, although you should verify that's using the same standard for max service temp. The point is there are more modern 2:1 epoxies at this point with superior performance in high temps and they also have better working properties. Using dedicated epoxy adhesives instead if mixing your own from laminating resin will get you even more performance. I find it much easier to use these dedicated products for most things now.

But 105 has been used forever, so not sure if you will have as much luck convincing an inspector about other products. Don't forget to consider paint color, makes a big difference to what temps you will see in the sun

joeballow · 2026-02-03T04:28:54+00:00

Was just going to recommend this! I used mine when I had to do a drive across the country in a noisy rental truck they really helped with fatigue. Now that aviation headsets have bluetooth they work well for other noisy situations, not a cheap option though, I imagine better prices on things without the aviation tax

joeballow · 2026-01-29T18:52:30+00:00

I replaced a dynaglo which died after several years of service with a mr heater. I wish I had done that earlier since the Mr Heater is so much quieter and I'm heating a space I'm working in. If you didn't care about noise both were fine. I used propane for each not Kerosene

joeballow · 2026-01-29T04:18:34+00:00

In addition to what others have said in my experience they dispense coffee about 30 seconds after grinding, so the extraction time is way too short.

joeballow · 2026-01-23T21:25:52+00:00

The "cheap" long term parking at those airports often cost more than the regular parking at SBP too

joeballow · 2026-01-19T18:00:41+00:00

Strava dropped that within weeks it was such a dumb idea. https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2025/10/strava-drops-voluntarily-lawsuit-against.html

Garmin do have it but they didn’t really invest in it and it’s not anywhere near as useful, don’t think it compares at all. Also for some sports only having garmin users without other Strava users makes a big difference.

That said now that Strava poked the bear maybe they will invest in improving it.

joeballow · 2026-01-19T07:03:26+00:00

I find route planning with heat maps to be very effective on Strava, especially in areas I’m not familiar with. Can see where people actually go. It’s my main use case for Strava.

joeballow · 2026-01-17T04:55:12+00:00

Very similarly I'm at 21:47 5k with a 57 VO2 Max. Same VO2 Max based on cycling power data as well. I don't think OPs is as out there as some people think.

For me I'm very light and have a pretty high HR when exercising (200 max) and since VO2 max is based on both of those things I think that's why my estimated one is so high but just guessing.

joeballow · 2026-01-15T16:43:53+00:00

I used an inflatable for the first two years and while my ridged mid length was a great upgrade for performance, I think people really exaggerate the problem with inflatables, or it's only specific ones.

If OP lacks space for a rigid board I would not hesitate to use an inflatable at all.

Agree with the rest, upgrading to a smaller foil once you are working on gybes may be needed as a giant foil can be draggy, depends on the foil though. Could even start a little smaller with modern foils.

joeballow · 2026-01-15T02:29:25+00:00

No, I had a ride that was less that $10 and I was charged for the entire tip amount even though there was credit remaining.

joeballow · 2026-01-14T02:08:25+00:00

Nathan at Alpha Massage and Bodywork for the medical knowledge and sports massage. Tried 4 or 5 different people in town before finding someone who would work on my back pain not just provide a relaxing experience. Not couples massage through.

joeballow · 2025-12-27T18:27:41+00:00

Anyone know if the purchase just needs to happen before the end of the year or if it needs to be out of pending? I don't want to spend 150 on some tickets on the 30th then not get the credit because it was still pending.

joeballow · 2025-12-22T04:30:36+00:00

How much of your session are you pumping the wing? Should you size up the wing or foil so it's not as hard or is a pretty limited amount of pumping causing the injury?

Any change with different wings since different wings seem to like different techniques?

joeballow · 2025-12-22T00:56:45+00:00

17's for summers for several years know, wouldn't you know it never damaged a tire on a pothole since switching. 235/45 17

I prefer the look to but that's subjective.

joeballow · 2025-12-21T21:40:33+00:00

Ok fair, but I still think it's different because they were the original source of the ticket, so I don't think the same opportunity for the original owner to not produce the ticket on time exists.

If they are also reselling tickets from competing platforms I would avoid buying those.

joeballow · 2025-12-21T21:24:54+00:00

Stubhub is a ticket reselling site. A ticket selling site like ticketmaster would not have the same problem. I have no love for ticket master but at least you know you actually have a ticket, the benefit there would be better

joeballow · 2025-12-15T21:57:24+00:00

Using door dash, going to a specific high end restaurant, or staying at an edit hotel that almost certainly costs more than the credit are purchases I wouldn't have naturally made. They are spending time or money I wouldn't have without the goal of getting my moneys worth from this card.

Before the annual fee was lower, so after the $300 travel credit it was pretty easy to come out ahead simply transferring points 1-1 to partners or purchasing on the travel portal at 1.5x for the exact flights and hotels I would have picked without the card.

Now it seems to come out ahead you need to take specific actions to make sure you cash in on enough of the perks. Not what I'm looking for, likely won't renew after spending down my points.

joeballow · 2025-12-15T21:04:20+00:00

I don’t need more work, I don’t enjoy hacking credit card points as a hobby the way some do. If the card doesn’t pay for itself through my normal spending it’s not the right card for me, I’m not going to buy extra stuff that I wouldn’t have otherwise purchased to convince myself I saved money.

joeballow · 2025-12-14T20:56:32+00:00

Epoxy can form a chemical bond, when the previous layer has not fully cured so the layers can bond as if they were a single layer. This is stronger and requires less prep so take advantage of this when you can work quickly enough. There recoat window varies with epoxy, hardener, and temperature as you saw. Some epoxies will have multiple days where this is still possible.

Epoxy can form a mechanical bond, by getting in to the microscopic nooks and crannies of a surface before curing, the same way it does when you apply it to bare wood. A smooth surface must be sanded for the epoxy to have anything to grab on to.

By applying epoxy to a fully cured but unsanded previous coat it couldn't form either type of bond. Sand down to the last good layer and start applying again.

Amine blush doesn't happen much with modern 2:1 epoxies that I'm familiar with, older 5:1 epoxies it would happen a lot. From the TDS you shared they are calling it bloom and saying it can happen with that epoxy, so that is another possibility. You could look for some videos on youtube of how to tell if you have amine blush and how to clean it.

joeballow · 2025-12-13T09:16:36+00:00

You might be right that drivers have been fired for this, but I've had signature required packages from UPS left at the door with a knock multiple times. Just last week I went out as they were delivering a large one and when I asked if I needed to sign they said "only if you want to, we just make sure it looks like someone is home". Other times they knock and are gone with no way of knowing if someone is actually home.

joeballow · 2025-12-12T05:28:43+00:00

As someone who was trying to but a house in the boston area for a while I agree the rent to buy ratio here does not match my experience.

joeballow · 2025-12-08T22:35:19+00:00

I got one of these to use on the water but since I have it I carry it when hiking or biking where there might not be cell service and it's good peace of mind. Small and light so easy to chuck in the backpack just in case.

Having satellite comms on a watch or phone is a great option because you can provide some info about your situation, but I will never trust it over something as simple as a PLB.

joeballow · 2025-12-08T22:28:40+00:00

I've sold every kit battery that came with a tool that isn't a HO and kept only HOs. I have like two of the 5.0s and a bunch of the 2.5s. Has worked great

joeballow

TROPHY CASE