So… Im looking for an easier/neater way of decanting resin into my bucket for laminating/hotcoating etc?
Currently, Im working out of a 20 litre pail -
the 20 litre pail lid removes completely, and the lid also has a screw cap incorporated into it … currently I remove the lid completely and use a small disposable cup to scoop resin and load into my pouring bucket, which leaves me with a cup covered in resin to throw away.
Ideally I would like to have a system where I wasn’t scooping and repouring.
Occasionally I work out of a 4 litre can which has a removable lid, again Im using a disposable cup to scoop resin and pour into a pouring bucket, again leaving me with a cup covered in resin to dispose of.
Would be great to get some suggestions or tips on an easier, cleaner way to g about getting my resin from my pail, into my pouring bucket for laminating and hotcoating.
Well you could go over to the sways Surf shop and buy one of those five gallon dispensers, but I see your problem as being a relatively simple fix. I am assuming that your 20 liter bucket is about the same as a five gallon pail. My lam resin is in a five gallon pail and I have no problem pouring and I don’t scoop. I pour from the spout without a mess. The reason is that I punch an air hole in the lid opposite the spout. I don’t drill the hole because I don’t want plastic shavings in my lam resin. I punch the hole with a punch or screwdriver and a hammer. If the lid has an air hole it will pour easily from the spout. Of course it is not easy to pour from any full five into a Dixie cup, but it will pour easily into a quart or two quart work pot. After I have poured, I place a piece of masking tape over the air hole to keep my resin dust free. I think pouring from a five without an air hole in the lid is you problem. I never remove the lid from the pail. That just sets you up for another whole set of problems. When I am doing ding repair, I pour off a quart or two of resin in a two gallon bucket with a lid. Then I pour small quantities out of that into paper cups as needed for each repair.
my resin is in a round 20litre steel drum , so not necessarily a real option to ‘punch’ a hole in the lid, and pouring our of the screw cap (located within the removable lid) makes a real mess across the top and down the side of the pail. So i remove the lid and scoop my resin out which again is messy and creates its own problems … i wondered about using some sort of hand pump (perhaps one used for engine oil (ie thick viscous liquids)… something like this attached … id remove the hose and reattach the spout to the top of the pump (no need for the hose)
Trick I have used with oils, hydraulic fluids and the like. Works for the 5 gallon/20 liter buckets or full on iindustrial sized drums. Actually this technique can be applied to putting quartts/liters of oil in your car/truck without getting it all over the engine, pouring molasses from gallon jugs into bread dough you’re mixing, the list goes on. .
Now, typically the plastic bucket/drums that size have a screw cap with a spout that pulls out, set close to the edge of the top. Dunno about the metal one’s you’re using. . Pull it out, uncap it first, put the cap back on. Then lie the drum/bucket on its side with the capped spout at the top. Incline the drum up ( wood plank under the end or something) if you have to. Uncap it, you shouldn’t be getting anything dribbling out, if it is, raise the incline some until it isn’t dribbling. This, by the way, is easier on a table or stand.
Still with me? Okay, hold your cup or whatever under the spout as you roll the drum slowly and carefully and when the contents start coming out, stay there until the cup’s full enough, set the cup down,roll the drum back, cap it and either chock it so it doesn’t roll (55 gallon industrial drums) or set the drum upright again. As you use up the drum, you roll further, etc. Eventually you will be picking up the drum to pour out the last few cups.
No spout? Make one. Duct tape is your friend here. . Or get a cheap plastic funnel, all sorts of options. For all I know there are spouts/tubes that screw in in place of the cap - check with industrial suppliers.or for that matter Amazon. Or try a threaded piece of PVC tubing/pipe- you never know, industry doesn’t like reinventing the wheel…
Right? Useful on a boat offshore, where you can’t really go and get something, you have to get cute with what you have.
Also good when you don’t want to risk cross-contamination switching pumps around, say getting lube oil in hydraulic fluid. . You can have pretty good control pretty quickly too.
Best to stand buckets back up, with big drums you chock them just in case. In case somerbody bumps into the cap or similar. .
Hey Doc,
Yep i could follow that!! bloody genius!! My pails don’t with a ‘pull up pourer’ … I’m located in australia and have used a few different brands of resin but never had the pull up spout thing, hence the idea of having to remove the entire lid (which is held on by a metal ring with lever for tightening), and scoop my resin out. The lids themselves have screw cap access located with the lid itself, so i could possibly find a spout that would thread onto this access and simply pour from the pail … i just had visions of having a tap set up or a pump system to make it even easier, cleaner and more precise! attached is a photo of a typical 20 litre metal pail that resin is sold in australia! Cant quite see the top of the lid, but there is a screw cap (around 50mm) incorporated in the lid, and can see the metal ring with tension handle holding the lid down on to the pail itself.
(chuckling) if there’s any genius involved, it’s whoever came up with it. Probably somebody around the time of Archimedes. All I can take credit for is having seen it and remembered it.
Looking at that, I can’t help but think "jeez, what a nice, handy bucket that would make with that nice quick-release top and all’. Probably steel, probably could weld it if you got cute, etc. Anyhow- if you take that screw cap on a trip to the hardware store or plumbing store, I’ll just bet it will fit something. It’s a lot easier to use an existing thread pattern than come up with something new, make tooling for it and everything else. Could be a standard thread, SAE or metric, could be a standard pipe thread. There are some particularly odd ones for things like detergent containers, but sure enough there is something out there.
So you get a tube with the right threads on it, well, Robert is your mother’s brother.
yep I think your right … using the screw cap in the lid i think is going to be the best bet … and finding/adapting a threaded nozzle to allow me to pour, and or use the ‘archimedes’ method is the way.
I’m picturing attaching the nozzle, pouring what i need then at the end of the day, removing the nozzle for an acetone bath, clean up around the thread on the pail with acetone and a rag, and replacing screw cap.
I did wonder about the pump idea clogging/crystallizing … maybe in a professional glassing factory where they are using copious amounts of resin and can give it a clean between resin drums it might be the answer!
Good question. A buddy of mine does boats with a chopper gun, he;s got glass filament feeding in, one line for resin ( to a drum), one tube to a jug of catalyst and a compressed air line and there he goes. But he is very industrial. Builds stuff around 15 meters/20 tonnes.
Done a little hunt around just now, and it seems I can access 58mm pourers (internal thread which will screw direct onto screw cap opening on top of pail) which will definitely make the pouring process easier, as it gets the pouring point away from the top of the pail itself … nice wide diameter means it will clean relatively easily in an acetone bath … could be onto something here!!!
People who can resin up that way are idiots. Just extra expense that is passed onto you the customer. That’s probably a $15 or $20 can and lid. Ask me how I know. I know because I sell five Gal. Pails and have to pour those pails from a 55 Gal. Drum. The cheapest, most effective container is a plastic pail and lid with a pull out spout. Usually runs about $10. Otherwise a Five Gal. Metal pail with a crimp on lid and a pull out spout is the best, but cost quite a bit more. One gallon paint cans for resin is another sign of stupidity. I’d buy my Poly Resin from somebody else.
interesting … being based in australia, I have not seen poly resin available in plastic (2o litre) sized containers. the minimum standard here is 20 Litre metal pail containers, but would be interested to see if anyone else located in australia can show me otherwise.
