The Accurate Reloading Forums
Wheeler Engineering Miles Gilbert Bedrock Glass Bedding

This topic can be found at:
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/2441035932

26 February 2018, 04:54
hivelosity
Wheeler Engineering Miles Gilbert Bedrock Glass Bedding
who uses this bedding what are your thoughts Thanks Dave .
26 February 2018, 05:32
dpcd
Way too long of a name for bedding; I use Acraglas. Works.
26 February 2018, 05:38
JTEX
JB Weld is even shorter..... Big Grin

.
26 February 2018, 05:53
speerchucker30x378
coffee

MarineTex. Except MArineTex was specifically engineered to plug holes in boats with salt water, oil and diesel fuel sloshing around in them.
DO NOT USE IT ON GUNS!
Only I can.



Wheeler Engineering Miles Gilbert Bedrock Glass Bedding ?

After reading a bit on line. It appears that someone has invented some sort of epoxy and micro balloons. There are lots of these kinds of products in the firearms industry. From basement made oils and bore cleaners to, well, you name it.


When I was a kid. I had the stick. I had the rock. And I had the mud puddle. I am as adept with them today, as I was back then. Lets see today's kids say that about their IPods, IPads and XBoxes in 45 years!
Rod Henrickson
26 February 2018, 20:29
Bill Leeper
Sounds like an exciting development. One time, Bob Forslund showed me some bedding he did using industrial epoxy and micro-balloons. This was in 1977 though and I'm sure the concept has evolved considerably.
One bedding mix which should have caught on but didn't was formulated by a guy name of Richard Bledsoe, as I recall. He claimed it greatly increased the rigidity of the stock and called it "Dick's Stiffener". A catchy and descriptive name with lot's of advertising potential but he never followed through and sales drooped. Regards, Bill
26 February 2018, 21:32
nopride2
quote:
"Dick's Stiffener".

Where can I get some, oh wrong subject. Sorry couldn't resist.

Dave
26 February 2018, 22:00
speerchucker30x378
quote:
Originally posted by Bill Leeper:
Sounds like an exciting development. One time, Bob Forslund showed me some bedding he did using industrial epoxy and micro-balloons. This was in 1977 though and I'm sure the concept has evolved considerably.
One bedding mix which should have caught on but didn't was formulated by a guy name of Richard Bledsoe, as I recall. He claimed it greatly increased the rigidity of the stock and called it "Dick's Stiffener". A catchy and descriptive name with lot's of advertising potential but he never followed through and sales drooped. Regards, Bill


Like you said, there have been a lot of advancements in that technology. Now they stir in the micro balloons using a counter clockwise stirring motion. Using a clockwise motion causes the micro balloons to settle before hardening.


When I was a kid. I had the stick. I had the rock. And I had the mud puddle. I am as adept with them today, as I was back then. Lets see today's kids say that about their IPods, IPads and XBoxes in 45 years!
Rod Henrickson
27 February 2018, 01:20
WoodHunter
quote:
Originally posted by speerchucker30x378:
quote:
Originally posted by Bill Leeper:
Sounds like an exciting development. One time, Bob Forslund showed me some bedding he did using industrial epoxy and micro-balloons. This was in 1977 though and I'm sure the concept has evolved considerably.
One bedding mix which should have caught on but didn't was formulated by a guy name of Richard Bledsoe, as I recall. He claimed it greatly increased the rigidity of the stock and called it "Dick's Stiffener". A catchy and descriptive name with lot's of advertising potential but he never followed through and sales drooped. Regards, Bill


Like you said, there have been a lot of advancements in that technology. Now they stir in the micro balloons using a counter clockwise stirring motion. Using a clockwise motion causes the micro balloons to settle before hardening.


What side of the equator are you on? Makes a big difference.
27 February 2018, 02:11
Juglansregia
a ground up viagra tablet in the bedding gloop works wonders
27 February 2018, 02:45
speerchucker30x378
coffee

I tried using runny acraglass and epoxies mixed with micro balloons years ago. I found that the micro balloons settled out while the epoxy cured and when I did manage to keep it mixed, the bedding was quite weak and broke apart very easily. Like very brittle version of Styrofoam. About the only thing I use micro balloons for now is annealing parts. I heat them up to red and bury them in the stuff. It seems to have some amazing insulating properties. It will keep stuff hot far longer than other mediums I've tried. Silicon also likes to hold on to minute amounts of moisture. The hot parts will cause little micro balloon volcanoes to form and erupt for what seems like forever. LOTS OF FUN ! ! !


When I was a kid. I had the stick. I had the rock. And I had the mud puddle. I am as adept with them today, as I was back then. Lets see today's kids say that about their IPods, IPads and XBoxes in 45 years!
Rod Henrickson
27 February 2018, 09:01
Bill Leeper
quote:
Originally posted by Juglansregia:
a ground up viagra tablet in the bedding gloop works wonders

Sounds like a great option and might reduce shrinkage as well. Regards, Bill
28 February 2018, 08:24
speerchucker30x378
quote:
Originally posted by Bill Leeper:
quote:
Originally posted by Juglansregia:
a ground up viagra tablet in the bedding gloop works wonders

Sounds like a great option and might reduce shrinkage as well. Regards, Bill


popcorn
A little hardening of the artillery?


When I was a kid. I had the stick. I had the rock. And I had the mud puddle. I am as adept with them today, as I was back then. Lets see today's kids say that about their IPods, IPads and XBoxes in 45 years!
Rod Henrickson
28 February 2018, 13:12
D Humbarger
I wish that Micro bed (oops! Im telling my age) was still in production.
It was a sort of a mom and pop operation. When they retired no one
Picked it up.



Doug Humbarger
NRA Life member
Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club 72'73.
Yankee Station

Try to look unimportant. Your enemy might be low on ammo.
01 March 2018, 19:27
Bill Leeper
I think Brownells offered Micro-Bed branded as "Brownells Micro-Bed" for a time but I don't think they do any longer. I think I used Micro-Bed for my first glass bedding job (On a 96 Mauser) in 1971. There was another 1-1 mix available at about the same time called Glas-bed Butter or something like that, which I used to bed the fore arm on my Ruger No. One at about the same time. Regards, Bill
02 March 2018, 01:26
Aaron Rust
What about devcon? Have you used it?
02 March 2018, 04:32
Bobster
quote:
Originally posted by Aaron Rust:
What about devcon? Have you used it?


I use DEVCON plus SS dust or Bronze dust and wood sanding dust(for color). Never had one come back. Need to use the dust as an aggregate cause the epoxy is to weak by itself. JB Weld for synthetics as it already has steel in it. I don't bother to drill anchor holes in the stock because the bedding is held in by compression. It ain't going anywhere.
03 March 2018, 02:24
gzig5
I've used the Miles Gilbert kit on two project and in both cases, following the instructions to the letter, the material never fully hardened. Even after several months I could take the action out and make an impression with my fingernail. Never had that kind of result using JB Weld, Acra Glas, or Devcon. The kit is nice with all the extras it comes with but I won't use that epoxy again.
03 March 2018, 09:14
npd345
I have done at least 6 stocks with it and never had a problem. I have tried it with and without the "balloons" never noticed a difference other than it cuts down on how much you need to mix up..

shane
04 March 2018, 09:25
Bill Leeper
I used Devcon quite often back in the mid-seventies. I discovered that it was degraded by Hoppes#9 so I quit using it and have stayed with Acraglas, mostly, ever since. Marine Tex is reputed to be great but I've not bothered to try it. Regards, Bill
07 March 2018, 18:41
jpl
quote:
Originally posted by speerchucker30x378:
It appears that someone has invented some sort of epoxy and micro balloons.


The micro balloons I'm familiar with are what they sound like: little hollow spheres of glass. In aerospace composites they are mixed with epoxy to reduce weight, not to increase strength. The balloons actually reduce the strength, but in some cases this is fine. It is used when attaching a composite skin to a foam core or as a surface filler to smooth the skin before painting. It sands easily and is sort of like a high density foam. The balloons can be added in different proportions to adjust the filler consistency. Adding more balloons to a liquid epoxy turns it in to a paste. This may be why it was incorporated into these bedding mixes, to get the mixture to stay put while the epoxy cures.

To increase the strength of epoxy you'd want to mix in something strong like metal, or glass, or carbon fiber. The various fibers are better than particles that are roughly round, but the mixture doesn't flow as nice.

I've seen carbon fiber based bedding compounds and I wonder if anyone here has used them. In particular I'm curious how they hold up over time with aluminum pillars. Usually, carbon fiber against aluminum is a no-no because the aluminum will corrode. Usually if an aluminum hard point or connection needs to be made with CF, a layer of fiberglass is placed in between them.

I've tried this before. Take a thin sheet of aluminum, sand it bare then draw a line on it with a pencil. In a rifle the strength is not all that critical, but I would curious to hear what happens over time.