Acraglas resin turned to wax... still ok?

steveo83

steveo83

Joined
Aug 4, 2008
Messages
88
Hi Guys.
I've had a bit of a break from knife making over the past year or so, but I've just dusted off the tools this week. I had a brand new box of Acraglas resin + hardener, unopened, sitting inside the house on a shelf. I purchased this towards the end of last year and when I went to use it today, the resin had turned to wax.
I took the hair dryer to the container and it seemed to turn back into liquid - I have it sitting in a sink of warm water as we speak.
I read a post from a while back with someone claiming they did the same thing and the resin was fine to use, is this definitely the case?
New resin would be better obviously but with shipping times to Oz, it will be a long wait.

Anyone else had experiences with this? Acraglas claims a long shelf life, and I have had this for no more than a year. It hasn't been outside in the shed during low temp conditions, just inside the house the whole time in an unopened bottle. Is this a common problem with Acraglas?

Cheers all
 
I have AcraGlas that is over 3 years old and is still liquid and hardens like new. The only was to find out if it is still good is to use it. In the meanwhile, I would contact Brownells with that info. The have very good customer support and may replace it.the last article I saw estimate the shelf life at something like 5 years IIRC.
Chip Kunkle
 
It should be good for five years, but the trouble is, if you didn't buy it directly from Brownells, how long was it in the re seller's inventory when you bought it?

The only way to know is to test it. And hardening is a poor test. You need to test the adhesion, so I suggest you prep some liner material and some handle material like you normally would and glue a test piece. Let it sit a couple days and try to peal the liner off. It should come off in pieces, leaving big chunks behind.
 
I cant speak for Acraglas but I use an alum filled industrial epoxy for investment casting molds and every winter the gallon cans turn some what solid like stiff bread doe. If anything I wish it would be like that year round -- it would save me mixing it every other day in the summer when it is very liquid. In the winter I just dig some out with a screw driver and into a paper cup and then set it on the warm wax oven and it turns back to liquid. The molds seem to harden just like they do in the summer and work just as well. I don't think you have a problem.
 
Thanks for the info guys. I will test the adhesion and see what comes of it. I have a feeling it will be ok because it's behaving exactly as usual, but we'll see in a few days.

I did get it directly from Brownells but I have no idea what it was like on arrival because I never took it out of the box. It just went straight onto the shelf until today. Probably pays to check these things.

It did liquify well after heating (sitting in hot water) so at least if this test works, I'll know it's all good in the future.
 
I had the same thing happen to me I mixed it up and it became like it was when new and tested it on a knife and a test piece and it was fine. go fo it.
 
This may sound crazy (shouldn't be a problem here), but microwave it. I had the same thing happen when I first started using Accraglass and after some research found that this is the suggested cure for this problem. In the congealed crystallized state the hardener will not mix evenly and you can get varying consistency. Heating the resin (not hardener) in a microwave will reliquify it, apparently with no ill effects. Once I do this treatment the stuff stays liquid from then on with no troubles.
 
Thanks guys, seems to have held up fine. I'll try the microwave next time now that I know you've had success Kevin, I was worried it might be do aggressive.
Next time I'll have to remember to spread the glue out after it's mixed - it reacts fast and hard when left sitting in the mixing pot for a few minutes :eek:
 
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