Save & recycle your body filler dust!

[mel hubbard]

A little tip for ya guys,,,, I make my own body filler (bondo) by using filler talc & mixing it with lay-up resin ( catalyst added at around 2%). This filler talc is real cheap stuff, but I found a way to make it go even further > if you sweep up or have a dust extraction unit on your sander & save all the dust/talc (any type of filler dust/talc will do) you can recycle it by adding it to laminating resin. A little resin soaks up a lot of talc, so be warned. Obviously you want clean dry bondo dust with no lumps in,, but its well worth saving if your doing a lot of sanding. Im working on a new canoe plug at the moment so generating heaps of the stuff,,, just thought I would share my latest little money saving idea with you fellas. The advantages > its much stronger, cheaper,, you can mix it to your viscosity, you get much more time to work with it (unlike bondo that goes off real fast in the heat),,, it don't soak up water like some body fillers,, its real smooth to apply,,,, less prone to paint finish shrinkage on repair work and makes a real good strong bonding paste. The only disadvantages I can think of > its harder to block/rub down than the normal body filler and it takes longer to dry,,, but worth it on your pride & joy resto I reckon. Last little tip > you guys ever used that strand glass filler stuff? kinda like red filler with strands of glass fibers mixed in with it. Well, all ya need to make that stuff is cut up some fiberglass mat in small pieces/strands & mix it in with a thin resin/talc mix.