Customer Reviews

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

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This stuff is not too stinky so you don't have to use it outside. It bonds very well to anything I have tried it with and sets up quickly, but not too quickly. One thing I used it for was cementing the dryer exhaust vent to the house. Just be sure to mix it up with something disposable -- I use a paper plate and a popsicle stick. It will dry to a gray color, so don't use it on something that needs to be clear.

Over many years, I've used J-B Weld for many repairs, dissimlar material attachments and fabrications. One job was creating a hard, inside, closed bottom for a 10" length of a 3" PVC pipe section used to house electronics. Simply stand-up the pipe section, fill the inside of the 3" tube with moist sand about 1/4" from the top. Carefully spread about 3/16" thickness of J-B (about 4 oz. worth) to the top surface of the sand inside the tube, let cure and you've made a hard inside bottom. This will allow the tube to stand-up by itself. A typical PVC cap has a rounded bottom and won't stand-up. If the J-B is warm, it will spread itself over the 3" diameter area. Where the J-B is to bond to the PVC, prep the PVC surface by roughing-up the PVC tube surface with 100 or 180 grit sandpaper.

To repair a broken, hollow aluminum tube, fabricate a piece of 2" to 5" of oakwood (or other hard wood) that will slip into both ends of the broken tube section; it should be a tight fit. A radial arm saw drum sander attachment is handy to hand-fabricate the hard wood piece. Once happy with the fabricated wood, apply a thin coat of J-B inside broken portion of the aluminum tube and coat the hard wood repair section with J-B. Now slip the wood splint into the aluminum tube and let the J-B cure. Might need to support the broken sections if the wood doesn't provide a tight fit. I've repaired a few outside restaurant umbrellas with this method that suffered wind damage. The repaired section is much stronger than the hollow aluminum tube portion. Also molded plastic umbrella parts using J-B. Great stuff!!

THis is good stuff. I used it to hold metal together as part of a non-load bearing frame. Does great. If working in cool temperatures, 45-35 F, warm it first. I set the tubes in the sun on the dashboard of my car, did the prep, then mixed in the car and quickly applied. Worked great.

I had an accident with an aluminum fishing boat. It had been years since I last used JB Weld, so it certainly wasn't the first thing to come to mind to use for repairing the holes in my boat. It didn't make sense to pay the kind of money boat repair shops want to repair my little aluminum boat (that didn't cost a whole lot anyway). I found some scrap aluminum sheet metal and used the JB Weld to bond it to my boat using rivits to secure it in place... Using my boat again.

EDIT: Sept 4, 2011. The JB Weld repairs are still holding up 4 years later. Boat has even been in salt water, and still no problems. Water tight!

I've been using J-B Weld for 36 years. For a DIY'er with a house, workshop, vehicles, tractors and mowers, the uses are endless. I keep a supply of both the industrial size as well as the smaller size on hand. However, there is one BIG secret:

PREPARATION!

If the joining surface of the material to be fused is not prepared correctly, it will NOT work.

First, the surfaces must be roughed up a bit. On steel, iron, aluminum or any metal, I use a course grinding wheel if possible. A file works fine if you have a supply of elbow grease. My favorite method on small surfaces is using a tungsten carbide cutter bit with a Dremel.

Second, clean the surface thoroughly with acetone. Do not use alcohol.

Acetone evaporates in a very few seconds.

Once the surface is dry, apply J-B Weld and allow it to cure. Repairing cracks is a breeze. If I have a broken item in two parts, I rig some sort of jig to keep pressure on the joint while it cures.

With J-B Weld, Liquid Nails, Acetone and fiberglass cloth, there are not too many things that can't be repaired.

I had a concrete fountain bowl that weighed over 200 pounds in the front yard. Weather extremes and age caused it to break in half on the pedestal. My failure to keep the drainage holes clean in winter might have had something to do with it. I cleaned it up, propped up one half on its side, covered both halves thoroughly and liberally J-B Weld and placed the halves together. I allowed them to sit there and cure for a week. I then covered both sides with a thick layer of exterior construction Liquid Nails and allowed it to dry another week before placing the heavy bowl back on the pedestal. That was over a year ago. The repaired joint will last longer than the original concrete.

If you are so inclined, you can mix up a thin mixture of J-B Weld with acetone so it will completely saturate a piece of fiberglass cloth and repair a 6-foot crowbar.

Repairs are only limited by one's imagination.

I glued some rocks together. ( Don't ask) When a few fell over and came apart, the rock broke not the bond. Nuf said.

J-B Weld was recommended by my heating contractor for repairing leaking radiators. The inside of the radiator must be completely dry. So far, so good. I attempted to install a fitting too far and a crack occurred near the threaded hole for a 1 1/2" fitting on the top of the radiator. With a crack in cast iron it is important to drill a 1/8" hole at the end of the crack to keep the crack from growing. I turned the radiator upside down, put a substantial amount of J_B Weld inside the radiator over the area of the crack and then used it also to glue in a 1 1/2" to 1 1/4" bushing. After hardening, I did a pressure leakdown test and the radiator appears to be FIXED! My contractor suggested the possibility of repairing leaks between radiator sections by using a vacuum pump to suck J_B Weld into the leaks. I have not tried this repair yet but I have two radiators that leak between sections and so I will try this in the future, perhaps I'll post an update.

J-B Weld is part of my tool inventory!

As a hobby, I also make hidden tang knives (No pins holding the handle). I once used epoxy for this, but it didn't adhere the steel tang to the wood/plastic/bone handles well.

J-B Weld forms a "permanent" bond from steel to handle and I have yet to ever have a handle break or come apart! Even after using the knife with a baton through other hard wood, the J-B Weld appears as strong as the steel!

There is none better! ... PERIOD!

JB Weld has been around for years and has developed a great reputation for good reason. While I have used JB for simple repairs requiring just gluing broken parts back together with good results, sometimes one has to get creative for more difficult or high stress situations. Some things you can do to augment the bond:

1. Mix in or embed some fiberglass (the pink stuff works ok) to improve the tensile strength - works good on plastic.

2. Make your repair in multiple steps, one to get it aligned and one to add extra gusseting etc.

2. Embed scrap metal, brackets or steel cans pieces, paper, cardboard etc., to add strength. File and grind it down and add more layers.

4. Use tape, straws etc to create mold structures - pour in the JB. Cut excess JB away while still relatively soft with a shark Xacto. Drill and tap holes and then mount brackets, add more JB....you get the idea.

5. Drill holes to allow the JB to get more bite.

While it won't fix everything, it is absolutely amazing the permanent repairs I have seen over the years. For the person with common sense, creativity and patience, JB Weld is an essential tool.

JB weld is one of the most useful tools that a homeowner can have in the toolchest. I have used it for over 10 years & repaired hundreds of items. It's uses are endless.