Extramite glue - how to mix?

[Chris Knight]

I decided I would try Extramite again but seem to have stumbled at the first hurdle - how do you mix this stuff?

I tried to follow the directions on the plastic pot which say - use two parts Extramite (by weight) to one part water or 3.5 parts (by volume) to one part water but this produces great lumps with no hope of applying it. Adding more water I get to a stiff cream - a bit like semolina - with about one part of Extramite to nearly two parts water (I borrowed SWMBO's scales!) but this is completely opposite to the words on the container of Extramite - did they get it the wrong way round or what?

 

[Steve Maskery]

Chris
Extramite is VERY fussy about its consistency, in my experience.

First of all, it's much more accurate to mix it by weight than volume, especially if you only want a small amount. I bought a pair of electronic scales from UK Scales, but I've just looked at their site and they are now wholesale only. Try Maplins.

Anyway, they are excellent for the job.

When it goes lumpy, you just have to stir it a bit more and it suddenly goes smooth. A bit like doing a buerre manié.



Steve

 

[Lord Nibbo]

I never bother weighing. I suppose it's down to how much you need but I use a tea spoon, spoon out two heaped spoonfuls then add a spoonful of water stir it in to a thick paste then add another spoon of water one at a time until it's how I want it. Don't try adding it to water though always add water to it if that makes sense :?

 

[Woody Alan]

I use a very small plastic measuring cup by volume,(from photography chemicals) after finding by experience like Steve, it is very particular about it's consistency, too thin and the strength is compromised significantly. I also found it doesn't seem to be mixing until you persist and then suddenly it goes creamy, maybe you need to persist with mixing longer? I also only mix small amounts at a time, so there is no room for error and adding a splash here and there definately doesn't work for me because if you have to add water to it, and if you are adding to thin it and add too much you've blown it. Once you've cracked the measuring mixing method you'll get consistent results every time.

Alan

 

[Chris Knight]

Thanks everybody. It is now clear that the instructions on my pot of the stuff are back to front and I need 1 part by weight of Extramite to 2 parts by weight of water (the pot says the reverse!). As Steve and Woody say, the transition to a creamy mix is quite sudden.

 

[JFC]

I also use a tea spoon or small medicine pot , 3.5 parts extramite 1 part water .

 

[dickm]

Grandmothers and eggs again, but are you sure the Extramite has not started to go off? I've found that being difficult to mix is the first sign of this. Shelf life is its one major disadvantage, in that it does not keep too well even in a sealed container, and the time spent on the retailers shelf can result in it having an even shorter useful storage life.

 

[Chris Knight]

Dick,
I have had it quite a while but it looked very dry and there was no sign of deterioroation at all. There is absolutely no doubt my instrcutions are just printed erroneously although when I got it mixed to about the sort of cinsistency I would expect it still doesn't apply like glue - it's too thin when spread on - needs to be stickier at this stage in my view.

As I am laminating my table legs, I am not going to take a chance with this, I shall use epoxy instead.

 

[Paul.J]

Chris.
What sort of container are you mixing it in.
We always used to mix Cascamite as it was known,always in a plastic container.Glass or metal would have some sort of reaction with it sending it lumpy,and no good to use.
Whether this new stuff is different now,i don't know. :roll:
Paul.J.

 

[Keith Smith]

I agree with Dick, the stuff goes off all too quickly. It looks perfect when dry but doesn't mix or spead properly when it's going off. This is one product that should have a use by date rather than a batch number.

 

[Lord Nibbo]

Chris.
What sort of container are you mixing it in.

Paul.J.

Yes a plastic beaker is best, you can always let the remains of glue harden then it's just a matter giving the beaker a squeeze and hey presto it just falls out.

 

[woodbloke]

Chris - when I worked in the trade the way I was told to mix it was 'just runny'.....that is, when it will just form drips and fall of the end of the mixing stick in an even 'drippy' flow, so thinner rather than thicker - Rob

 

[Chris Knight]

Paul, I was mixing it in a plastic container.

Keith, I think you are right. Mine is oldish (can't remember how old exactly) but the dry powder looks fine -very deceiving if age is an issue here.

LN - I buy those plastic food containers from a Chinese restaurant wholesaler - they cost next to nothing for a couple of hundred so are eminently disposable - global warming aside.

Rob, I guess I just need more practice - it just doesn't feel like glue when it is that runny!

A couple of test joints I made have failed with minimal stress - ugh. Thanks everyone for the advice but I think me and Extramite will never be friends - West System Epoxy here I come, at least for this job. I shall get a new small pot of Extramite in case my stuff is just too old and make some test joints with that, I would like to be able to use the stuff at some point.

 

[tim]

I use one of these containers for glues etc.

Costs just over a quid and can be turned out easily to clean.

Cheers

Tim

 

[Jake]

It goes off in months in my experience, at which point it just goes lumpy (and the open time is massively reduced) no matter how you try and mix it.

 

[Nick W]

I feel I need to add a note on the other side, as I have never had problems with it 'going off', despite keeping it for many, many months. But then I do keep it in a sealed container, and my workshop is dry.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I use one of these containers

I usually have a supply of yogurt pots in the workshop, so cleaning up isn't really an issue.

But in John Lewis yesterday I saw some baking trays made from rubber. Oven and dishwasher safe. I didn't note how much they were, but one bun tin would yield a dozen such mixing pots. I must remember to buy one next time I go in to town.


S

 

[Jake]

My workshop isn't the driest (it's in a (dry, half above, half-below ground) cellar), but I keep it sealed. I give the stuff about six months max.

 

[Adam]

I'm sure I had some that looked perfect but didn't form a good joint despite mixing very carefully. For the cost of a few pounds, no matter how dry it looks you'll regret it if you get a joint failure. On the same note, I'd buy it from a supplier that has a good turn over of stock, not you local hardware store that has had in the shelf for several years.

Bite the bullet Chris and dump it.

Adam

PS: My joint failed. Hence the advice above.

 

[MIGNAL]

I've had more experience with the old Cascamite version, My workshop is a dry attic room and there's no doubt that it used to have a limited shelf life - months rather than years. The newer Extramite has a stronger smell of formaldehyde and according to the tin has 'improved performance'.
I know the tins have a bar code but is there anything that indicates a 'date code' - in the same way that titebond has?