# Epoxy vs CA for infill



## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

I'm going to turn a banksia pod for the first time. I plan to infill the seed holes with inlace. I see people using CA, epoxy and Alumilite resin as filler. Is this just a matter of personal preference, or is one better than the other? 

CA seems fast, but it seems to get really hard and more difficult to turn. 

Also, are epoxy and Alumilite resin more or less the same thing?


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## tewitt1949 (Nov 26, 2013)

I've used CA to fill holes and it turns pretty easy.


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## Brian(J) (Feb 22, 2016)

Quickstep said:


> I'm going to turn a banksia pod for the first time. I plan to infill the seed holes with inlace. I see people using CA, epoxy and Alumilite resin as filler. Is this just a matter of personal preference, or is one better than the other?
> 
> CA seems fast, but it seems to get really hard and more difficult to turn.
> 
> Also, are epoxy and Alumilite resin more or less the same thing?


Don't know a thing about turning but used West Sys3 epoxy for years and for me epoxy is more messy, takes a lot longer, is more hazardous (you can get sensitized by the catalyst which makes you react to some plastics, like car seats). With CA you want a fan or some air movement to keep fumes away from your eyes. I get the CA on my skin almost never now that I use these tips: http://tinyurl.com/yc59luao

I got a big bottle of CA and leave it in the fridge and top off my little bottle as needed. The CA costs less in the big bottles and I use a lot of it.

I put 3M packaging tape on my bench and to mask off any area I don't want glue on. CA, and maybe epoxy, doesn't stick to it and would rather flow over it than under it so makes for pretty good masking. http://tinyurl.com/ybp9nsa5

Turns out the 3M tape is a pretty good bench protector against paint/glue/ etc.


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## tewitt1949 (Nov 26, 2013)

If you decide on CA, www.starbond.com is the cheapest price you will find.


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## bornleader (Mar 18, 2014)

I usually use CA, but sometimes it turns the wood darker around the fill area. I plan to try epoxy next time. 

Has anyone tried wood glue? 

Dave


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## WeebyWoodWorker (Jun 11, 2017)

I use CA for inlays all the time and I never really have any problems with it (Unless it's my fault). I've never turned it with my chisels though I just sand the excess away instead. No Idea about epoxy though...


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

I recommend Inlace which is actually an industrial resin used to create faux marble countertops --- Reichhold Polylite 32153. I use it a lot and it remains crystal clear and eventually gets harder than epoxy. I sometimes use Starbond CA, but I have to be careful with CA for several reasons:

It gets very brittle and easily chips out when using turning tools 
It's difficult to avoid trapped air bubbles 
For large filled holes there is a likelihood that there will be pockets of uncured CA.

I generally use CA for other tasks such as filling tiny holes, cracks, and stabilizing bark on natural edge turningis. Getting epoxy to cure without lots of tiny trapped air bubbles is a challenge.


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## NCPaladin (Aug 7, 2010)

I agree with Bill to use the Inlace binder if you are using it for fill.
I can't remember the name, maybe Dryer, who turns beautiful pods. He suggest using thin CA in the cracks between the "lids?" and the main body. This is not to fill the hole but to adhere the solid brown lid; sometimes you can see a gap and sometimes you cant. They tend to chip where the solid meets the speckled.


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## bornleader (Mar 18, 2014)

Try using whatever finish (oil of some kind?) on the piece before applying CA. The CA won't get into the wood to stain.


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