Epoxy on my hinges!!!!!

What is the best way to get Epoxy off/out of places you dont want it???? I put the hinges in my Cardinal Last night and some got in places it shouldn't be.

I oiled the pins so it shouldnt be in there....jsut surronding them ( I think ) how can I get it off without detroying the paint?????

I like to use Vaseline to keep epoxy out of hinges. Heat it a bit 'till it turns liquid then dip the hinge barrel in. The liquid will wick into the hinge and when it cools the viscous Vaseline creates a barrier to the epoxy.
That said, I think the only viable solution to your dilemma is to pick out the epoxy with the tip of an Xacto blade or some other sharp probe. If you can safely heat the area, which I doubt, this will make the picking easier.
If you used Klett hinges you can pull out the hinge wire to get easier access. You can try bending the control surfaces to the extremes of movement. Sometimes that loosens the epoxy too.
Derek Moran

If memory serves me correct, acetone, may soften epoxy; however it softens paint and other stuff as well. You need to make a dam to protect the rest of the plane and/or get real picky say with fuzzed up toothpicks or matchsticks and use a lot of patience. Put the toothpick or matchstick in your mouth and chew the end to create a very small stiff brush.

I did the same thing with my Stuka. pre greased the hinges like stated above. However, I was too liberal stuffing epoxy in two of the wing holes. When pushing in the hinges I apparently had too much epoxy in two of the holes and the squeezeout froze the two hinges. After about 10 flights I noticed the inboard flap was loose on the outboard two hinges which were frozen at the joint and broken. Could have been disastorous. The quick fix is making crystal clear "cloth hinges at that point. Works great for a working plane.

Question? What is the best way to remove/replace and repair broken nylon Dubro hinges? Any answers that leave a clean repair?

Perhaps we should inspect the hinges for epoxy squeezeout after the parts are together and use toothpicks, acetone etc. at that point to clean up any mess before the setting period. Duh, we live and learn don't we?

Bob Smiley
A Lancair 360 builder/pilot trying to be a modeler

Something I can relate too!
I epoxied the hinges on my first plane and noticed it had gotten into the barrels, this after oiling the hinges as the plans called for.
I used denatured alcohol, swabbing the hinge with Q-Tips, untill the epoxy was softened. I then worked the hinges while swabbing with the denatured alcohol untill they worked free. Didn't hurt the paint.
Rob Johnson
Orange,CA.

Wynn,
I know Windy U. once was using a #11 blade ground with a Dremel to match the radius of the hinge barrel. He would just scrape the hinges with this until they were clean.
Bill <><

It would scare the heck out me to anywhere near a finished airplane with acetone. Even with Monokote the acetone will eat the adhesive. The only choice you have is to pick it out as already stated. Tedious job but bet you won't do that again

>What is the best way to get Epoxy off/out of places you dont
>want it???? I put the hinges in my Cardinal Last night and
>some got in places it shouldn't be.
>
>I oiled the pins so it shouldnt be in there....jsut
>surronding them ( I think ) how can I get it off without
>detroying the paint?????

Outline the hinge with masking tape including the hinge gap. Use a cotton swab and methanol alcohol (not isopropyl alcohol) and swab the hinge to soften/loosen the epoxy. This may take a few applications to soften epoxy and then scrape off the epoxy from the hinge with an X-Acto blade. Be careful not to get the methanol on the finish as much as possible.

Wait a minute. Isn't methanol what our fuel is based on? If methanol (or ANY alcohol for that matter) dissolves epoxy, I've been foolishly using epoxy to "fuel proof" the engine compartment for years..

I know I've used plain old rubbing alcohol to wipe off excess epoxy while it wasn't cured.

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"Children are a great comfort in your old age-and they help you reach it faster, too." -Lionel Kauffman

>What is the best way to get Epoxy off/out of places you dont
>want it???? I put the hinges in my Cardinal Last night and
>some got in places it shouldn't be.
>
>I oiled the pins so it shouldnt be in there....jsut
>surronding them ( I think ) how can I get it off without
>detroying the paint?????

I have something that seems to work pretty well.

I use Kroil. It is like a super mega penetrating oil that I use for cleaning gun barrels. I put some in a hyperdemic needle and just apply a very, very small spot to the hinge. Epoxy doesn't like to stick to nylon anyway, so the penetrating oil whicks in under the epoxy bond and loosens everything up.

So, instead of dissolving the epoxy, you are debonding it.