kitchen flour = silica ? | SouthernPaddler.com

kitchen flour = silica ?

Obie

Active Member
Mar 15, 2006
27
0
Wisconsin
question for you-all,
i'm out of silica to thicken the epoxy for filling cracks on my canoe(just done stripping), i read that common flour(kitchen type) can be used instead of collodial silica for a thixotropic agent.
anyone else try this? I'm filling cracks in white cedar so it will be a very light-colored fill.

thanks !
 

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
I have never heard of using it.
The flour I use is the wood flour which is nothing more then the fine dust gathered from sanding the wood. I have used some from the band saw after it was sifted thru a piece of screening to remove the splinters and larger pieces.

The only use I know of for normal flour (kitchen type) is baking , making gravy or using some on a cut to stop the bleeding.

Not much help ... am I ... Hopefully, someone on here has a better answer for you.

Chuck.
 

bearridge

Well-Known Member
Mar 9, 2005
3,092
4
way down yonder
Truthful Jack uses grits. I reckon that turns hiz whole boat inta anuther safety gizmo. If he gits stuck 'n runs outta food, he kin eat hiz boat. 8)

regards
bearridge
sideways bound

I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.
 

woodonly

Member
Jun 24, 2006
8
0
Flour

I recently had the same problem. I mixed regular flour and fine sawdust from the belt sander. Mixed it up in a food processor. It seems to have worked just fine. Different color then the maple wood from Raka though.
 

aub77

Well-Known Member
Nov 15, 2003
193
0
Birmingham, Alabama
I used kitchen flour before (late one night after I had run out of wood flour). It worked pretty well but it will sag much worse than silica. I had a bit better luck with talcum powder.
 

Bullhead

Well-Known Member
Mar 27, 2005
172
0
Indiana
There is a site on the net that says flour will work just fine for making fillets. ( He actually builds boats too!).