
Epoxy update
Our repaired
pot handle broke again. Anna only used it twice.
I guess I should've degreased
the area better, or maybe it was the heat?
Part of me feels like a wood
handle might work if the hole was drilled in just the right spot to
allow the support screw to thread through and attach to the pot.
Want more in-depth information? Browse through our books.
Or explore more posts by date or by subject.
About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed, or simply check the box beside "email replies to me" while writing your comment.
Hi Mark and Anna,
I have generally been disappointed with glues of various types.
Breakages like you found.
I find that some groves or holes and some wire gives much better results.
Mostly I use copper wire since it is easy to work with. Or a few nuts and bolts.
Baling wire is another favorite :).
Take care.
John
You should be able to tell by examining the failed bond.
If there are remains of expoy on both sides of the bond (on the same place), the epoxy itself has failed. This could have been because of the heat, especially if you've been using it as a frying pan. Cooking oil gets much hotter than water.
If the failure was between the epoxy and the substrate, it could be the case that the substrate was not clean enough. Or it could be that epoxy is just not the right bonding agent for it.
Despite what the manufacturers like to tell you, there is no real "universal adhesive". What adhesive you need depends on the materials you want to bond. Knowing what kind of plastic the pan handle is made of can be difficult to see, even for experts. Unless there is an identifying mark or recycling mark on it. Without that knowledge selecting the proper adhesive is not possible.
There are not many adhesives that will withstand temperatures over 100 °C, and a lot of those are (at least in Europe) only sold to professionals because they require special equipment of precautions to work with it safely.
Does the material melt when you heat it in a fire, or does it just char?