J-B Weld 8280 Original Professional Size Steel Reinforced Epoxy - 10 oz.

I hate the choices at the big box stores and have had poor results from several name brands. I needed to 'weld' some dissimilar metals so I bought this larger size JB Weld. First, this is not the tiny 1 oz tubes that don't have enough material to glue anything other than costume jewelry. Of course, 10 ozs is more expensive, but it also has a long shelf life so if you are any kind of handyperson, you will likely use it before it expires. (Also, it is not in those silly, useless "injector" tubes that look like syringes. I've tried the injector style tubes and they are a total waste of money IMO. If there is a secret to getting the two parts to come out of the injestor tubes, I haven't mastered it yet or at my age, maybe I just lack the hand strength to compress the injectors. Trying to squeeze a very viscous glue through two tiny openings, is near impossible and I ended up throwing the tubes away.) These two parts come in toothpaste liike tubes and are easy to use, squeeze and estimate equal amounts. Both components are very thick. For best results, mix well, and then keep mixing for at least three minutes! This is not fast drying, so you have several hours of workability, but within 24 hours at room temperature, it feels as hard as metal. Even though the mixed epoxy is pretty thick, it will "run" for several hours so plan accordingly.Update: 1/16/17 Two years later, my original box and tubes are still going strong, and I haven't had to buy more yet. Very happy with product ... every use I have come up with, it seems to work well. I actually used it to "weld" a metal gate post to a mounting base bracket and two years later, it hasn't failed. One comment: I recently used it to attach a small exterior item in <60 degree weather, and it took over 24 hours to set up. Although I expected slower cure times for cold weather uses, this was a little longer than I anticipated. Moral: Be prepared for very slow cure times for cold temp use. I've also used it to attach my car's rear view mirror to the windshield and it has worked flawlessly (better than Loctite!).

This is good stuff for all sorts of repairs, but it has some limitations. Here are some notes from years of experience:1. The internal mechanical strength is pretty high.2. The adhesion isn't always great, especially on smooth surfaces. Roughing up the surface is a good idea, but not always enough. When using, I recommend thinking about ways to use the high internal strength of the JB Weld to compensate for the adhesion, say by using large blobs that wrap around corners, or by covering as large a surface area as possible.3. While the curing time is listed at 24 hours, it is my distinct impression that it continues to harden past that. So if after 24 hours you're unsatisfied with the cure, just wait a week or more.4. I like to shape and smooth JB Weld (e.g., by shaving the surface with a razor-type blade, or by pressing down with a putty knife) after about 4-12 hours of curing. Once it cures fully, it can still be sanded, but is so hard that it's not that easy to sand. Better to shape it when it's still a bit soft.5. If you've masked with masking tape, I recommend removing that at the 4-12 hour point, as with more curing the masking tape will be hard to remove.6. The cost of great hardness is some brittleness.7. Because JB Weld is very hard, it's obviously not a solution when flexibility is called for.8. Working time is in practice so long that one doesn't need to worry about it. I expect one can keep on readjusting for at least half an hour, and probably a lot more.9. If one needs the JB Weld to be a bit more runny, one can dilute it with isopropyl alcohol. If one needs it to be putty-like, one can mix it and leave it to set for a couple of hours before applying or shaping.10. Cleans up with isopropyl alcohol when it's not set.

to repair a fountain cement fiber statue my son accidentally fell into and knocked over and broke. One arm had broken into four pieces. Thankfully, it wasn't the arm that held the water outlet, so it was repairable. I've used JB Weld putties for years and when I found this, I knew it was exactly what I needed so I bought two boxes of it. I only needed one box for this repair though.I applied the epoxy to each piece, one at a time and let each piece cure for a week at a time before adding each subsequent piece. It took forever, but I had to do it on the weekends in-between working. Each piece was held in place by straps until they were set. After all the pieces were epoxied and cured, I sanded it, re-stained it and finished with a sealant. That was 3 years ago and she still looks as good as the day I put her back in service! I've posted pictures of the broken pieces, epoxied pieces and the finished statue and fountain. The last picture was taken today. I cleaned the fountain today, so that's why it's not running, but as you can see, the statue is still in one piece and you can't even see where the repair was done on it. The white spots are where the stain has worn off in the last 3 years.If you need to repair anything heavy, buy this. Best stuff on the planet for repairs and worth every penny spent on it.

Great quality, but isn't super fast setting. I purchased epoxy from Home Depot and it sets up in about 10min. This Epoxy took about 20-30min. But the end product is great. Definitely does the job.