Plane old epoxy resin is very brittle and really doesn’t have much strength, just like plane old cement doesn’t have much strength. The strength comes from the matrix of sand, gravel and cement to make concrete. Epoxy works the same way, if you use it to bind a filler such as carbon, glass, metal etc., together it works great. Alan’s use of JB Weld is an example of metal filler suspended in an epoxy resin, very strong in compression but the resin may not be formulated to be flexible. 5Min epoxy applied to close fitting parts with enough area in tension is also quite strong. The peel strength of it however is almost nil also it is quite brittle also. With out a filler I would expect 5min epoxy to fracture from any flexing, with a filler in it I believe basically have the same product as JB Weld.
The product Eastwood is selling to repair steering wheels should have a filler in it similar to the original compound, also the epoxy should be formulated to flex to some degree. The excellent reports I have heard about this product would lead me to believe that their product is properly formulated and that they did do their homework.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
