Regarding epoxy and vice grips:
I've been using the following epoxy for years, mostly as I was able to drive to the distributor in Oceanside CA, and avoid shipping costs. it is designed for laminating surfboards, with easy wet outof fiberglass cloth/carbon fiber.
https://fiberglasssource.com/products/ap...llon-kit-1
The 'pot life' is designed around giving a laminator about 25 minutes, at 75F, to fully saturate one side of a surfboard, and allow the board to be flipped over and laminate the other side within an 8 hour shift.
With polyester 'fiberglass' resin, one can control the rate of cure by the amount of catalyst added, but epoxy one can only choose the fast medium or slow hardener, if even offered, and then control the cure rate by temperature, if that is possible.
Polyester resin is cheaper and a bit easier to use and for those who learned with polyester, epoxy is a nightmare and they become professional complainers.
Epoxy must be mixed in the precise ratio of resin to hardener, with only a small window for error, and once the ratio is good, it has to be mixed completely, meaning the mixing stick has to be able to scrape the sides and bottom of the cup, none of the contents allowed to spill down the side of the cup, and once mixed, epoxy cannot be kept for long, in the mixing cup, as it builds up heat, and will turn into a blob of clear goo well before one is ready.
Basically once mixed, pour it into a paint tray or similar so spread itout thin and then use a roller or paintbrush to apply.
Applying epoxy to bare wood will seal and strengthen the wood far more than any polyurethane/varnish, but there are some tricks, like allowing the wood to heat up in sunlight, then bring it to shade then applying the epoxy and as the wood cures the epoxy is sucked deeply into the pores of the wood. The wood can blow bubbles through the epoxy, if the epoxy warms on cooler wood and the epoxy heats the wood as it cures and heats itself up. Some areas of the wood get super thirsty and will soak up more than others. the edges of plywood will drink and drink, but if one keeps providing as much as it wants to drink, then it basically becomes waterproof, after the first layer cures is lightly sanded then a second coat added.
There's tons of little tricks to working with epoxy with minimal waste and maximum results, and if it goes wrong, it can be the curse fest of curst fests. I recommend using a digital scale and weight the epoxy, rather than using the graduations on mixing cups and dealing with meniscus and inaccurate markings on the cup, which can be hideously off.
Right now I am rebuilding the threshold of the front door on the parents house. The originaluntreated wood was placed directly on concrete and completely rotted out within 1.5 inches of the concrete, over the 40 years its been installed.
I got a wide piece of oak, and used a propane torch to burn off the softer wood and make it look like it was stained.
This burning of the softer wood is a bit of a process, but ultimately makes the wood more scratch resistant, and for a unique look. I use a new fine bristle steel or brass brush to remove the burnt bits, and then the epoxy has a nice highway into the deeper portions of the wood when applied to warmed wood and allowed to soak in deeply.
The burning technique also allows one to immediately coat the wood. if one were simply wanting to stain the wood, they need to wait a long while before applying polyurethane or varnish lacquer or any of the other usual suspects, as the oils in stain, even the water based ones will repel and affect the bond of anything applied to it.
When burned and brushed the look is similar to applying a dark walnut stain, but one can apply the top coat immediately.
I've done this with cedar, pine, fir plywood, and now red oak. With the cedar, and when covered in epoxy, the appearance is far superior to the wood which I had stained, waited 3 weeks, wiped with mineral spirits, then acetone and multiple paper towels, then epoxied.
regarding plywood flooring in a van, coating the wood on both sides with epoxy will basically waterproof the wood, and prevent any mold or mildew from penetrating the wood and becoming impossible to remove. Burning the plywood then brushing the burnt bits, basically burns off the softest/spongiest parts of the wood, making it even more water resistant, but also harder. Its overkill, but spills happen and soon after, mold and mildew.
reagrding the 90 degree vice grips, i dont see a product I was envisioning. I was thinking more like bent nose needle nose plyers, which can lock.
I was using my unlocking pair to hold a razor blade, or scotchbrite pad/ sponge, to get into spaces and apply ospho with abrasive pressure, that than no other tool could access. The cheapo harbor fright needle nose bent nose long reach plyers soaked in ospho eventually got super stiff to open and close, and would hold the scotch brite on their own, but a simpler locking/unlocking mechanism would have been appreciated.
The epoxy i linked above, I brought about a pint with me to Florida from California, and am almost out. I did some shopping around on the usual suspect sites, and there is no shortage of products available, lost of casting resins and table top epoxies.
I could try them, learn them, their pot life and characteristics and find them adequateor lacking, or order more of what I know works and how to work with it. The Apex epoxy linked above, was 28$ to ship the gallon and a half and wound up cheaper than any of the other possibilities I had considered worthy of trying.
It bonds very well to properly prepped steel and aluminum, penetrates deeply into wood, though there are thinner 'penetrating' epoxies which would surpass it.
One thing to keep in mind with epoxy is there is a chemical bond window. If one rolls on a layer, they can likely apply another layer once to it after a period of time, but within a certain time span, and need not sand between layers, and achieve a chemical bond. ifone allows it to cure outside this window, then one must sand to allow for mechanical tooth and achieve the mechanical bond, which with epoxy, is nearly as strong.
Epoxy dust, when not fully cured is still toxic, but once fully cured is inert. if I sand and have the time to allow 3 days to pass, I do so. I prefer to add another layer about 1.5 to 3 hours after the first was applied. Depends on temperature.
One thing to also know, is that fiberglass matt, not fiberglass cloth, is not compatible with epoxy. polyester matt, with all the random strands, uses a styrene binder to hold it together, the styrene is dissolved by polyester resins, but will not be with epoxy.
Theres a million tricks to laminating with epoxy, properly, but are likely several hundred degrees of overkill for anything Van build related. The main thing to keep in mind is ratios parts A and B must be as close to possible to perfect, and that once thoroughtly mixed, do not leave it in mixing cup, but spread it out quickly, then work it around. if one aggressively pushes it around it can get white frothy with micro bubbles, so slow pushing with a bondo putty knife works better than a foam brush. One can use a foam roller, but must go slowly, and cant act like it is paint. Roll the roller once in the epoxy and then allow the roller to spin twice on the surface, then grab more epoxy. It will self level to some degree, if going for a thick coat.
Since epoxy is expensive and one usually mixes more than one needs, and a roller absorbs a lot of epoxy, have an item which needs water proofing to apply the excess. My plywood worktable is getting epoxied with any excess.
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