roystr
12-05-2005, 08:40 PM
i ran across this and thought of you guys. :)
any of you ever hear of this? and of course,does it work ?
roy
"I'm an American wildlife biologist working in the country of Surinam, South America. Sea turtle conservation is an important part of my work here. As such, I spend a good amount of time on remote nesting beaches, where I often meet fishermen. Through them, I became acquainted with an interesting use of Styrofoam that I want to pass on to you and your readers.
The fishermen collect all kinds of chunks of Styrofoam they find on the beach and make it into a substitute for two-component epoxy to repair their canoes. It works great, and here is how to do it.
Crumble the Styrofoam into dice-size or peanut-size pieces, drop them a few at a time into a container holding a small quantity of gasoline, and watch them dissolve, stirring occasionally. You need very little gasoline, but a lot of Styrofoam. You will have to experiment with it. Start with maybe a one-sixteenth inch layer of gasoline in a tuna-can sized container. You will be amazed how much Styrofoam you are going to need before the mixture starts to thicken. When it is about the consistency of what you would normally get when mixing two-component epoxy, the mixture is ready for use.
Use it like you would epoxy. It will harden in a couple of hours, and you can work it like wood or metal. You can also melt the Styrofoam in paint thinner, but then it may take 24 to 48 hours to harden; this may be useful for some applications. At any rate, the fishermen in Surinam use it to repair their boats: fill seams, close cracks, repair holes, you name it. "
well,if it does work ok,might save a buck or two on the next repair. hmmmmm
any of you ever hear of this? and of course,does it work ?
roy
"I'm an American wildlife biologist working in the country of Surinam, South America. Sea turtle conservation is an important part of my work here. As such, I spend a good amount of time on remote nesting beaches, where I often meet fishermen. Through them, I became acquainted with an interesting use of Styrofoam that I want to pass on to you and your readers.
The fishermen collect all kinds of chunks of Styrofoam they find on the beach and make it into a substitute for two-component epoxy to repair their canoes. It works great, and here is how to do it.
Crumble the Styrofoam into dice-size or peanut-size pieces, drop them a few at a time into a container holding a small quantity of gasoline, and watch them dissolve, stirring occasionally. You need very little gasoline, but a lot of Styrofoam. You will have to experiment with it. Start with maybe a one-sixteenth inch layer of gasoline in a tuna-can sized container. You will be amazed how much Styrofoam you are going to need before the mixture starts to thicken. When it is about the consistency of what you would normally get when mixing two-component epoxy, the mixture is ready for use.
Use it like you would epoxy. It will harden in a couple of hours, and you can work it like wood or metal. You can also melt the Styrofoam in paint thinner, but then it may take 24 to 48 hours to harden; this may be useful for some applications. At any rate, the fishermen in Surinam use it to repair their boats: fill seams, close cracks, repair holes, you name it. "
well,if it does work ok,might save a buck or two on the next repair. hmmmmm